Break and continue behavior in Kotlin - Step-by-Step Execution

Concept Flow - Break and continue behavior

Start loop

↓

Check condition

Yes↓

Inside loop body

↓

If 'continue' condition?

Yes→Skip rest, next iteration

↓

If 'break' condition?

Yes→Exit loop

↓

Execute remaining code

↓

Next iteration

↓

Condition false

→Exit loop

The loop starts and checks its condition. Inside, if 'continue' is met, it skips to the next iteration. If 'break' is met, it exits the loop immediately. Otherwise, it runs the rest of the loop body.

Execution Sample

Kotlin

for (i in 1..5) {
    if (i == 3) continue
    if (i == 4) break
    println(i)
}

This loop prints numbers 1 to 5 but skips 3 and stops completely at 4.

Execution Table

Iteration	i	Condition i==3	Action	Condition i==4	Action	Output
1	1	false	No continue	false	No break	Print 1
2	2	false	No continue	false	No break	Print 2
3	3	true	Continue (skip print)	N/A	N/A
4	4	false	No continue	true	Break (exit loop)
-	-	-	-	-	-	Loop ends

💡 At iteration 4, break condition is true, so loop exits immediately.

Variable Tracker

Variable	Start	After 1	After 2	After 3	After 4	Final
i	-	1	2	3	4	-

Key Moments - 2 Insights

Why does the number 3 not get printed even though the loop reaches it?

Because at iteration 3, the 'continue' condition is true (i == 3), so the loop skips the print statement and moves to the next iteration, as shown in row 3 of the execution_table.

Why does the loop stop completely at number 4?

At iteration 4, the 'break' condition is true (i == 4), so the loop exits immediately without printing 4 or continuing further, as shown in row 4 of the execution_table.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution_table, what is the value of 'i' when the loop skips printing?

A 2

B 3

C 4

D 1

💡 Hint

Check the row where 'Action' says 'Continue (skip print)' in the execution_table.

At which iteration does the loop exit due to 'break'?

A 4

B 3

C 2

D 5

💡 Hint

Look for the row where 'Action' says 'Break (exit loop)' in the execution_table.

If we remove the 'continue' statement, what will be printed at iteration 3?

A Nothing, loop skips iteration 3

B Loop will break at 3

C 3 will be printed

D Error occurs

💡 Hint

Refer to the variable_tracker and execution_table to see what happens when 'continue' is not triggered.

Concept Snapshot

Kotlin 'break' exits the loop immediately.
'continue' skips the rest of the current iteration.
Use 'break' to stop looping early.
Use 'continue' to skip specific steps.
Both control loop flow inside loops.

Full Transcript

This example shows a Kotlin for-loop from 1 to 5. At each iteration, it checks if the current number is 3 or 4. If it is 3, the loop uses 'continue' to skip printing and moves to the next number. If it is 4, the loop uses 'break' to stop completely. The output prints 1 and 2 only. The variable 'i' changes each iteration from 1 to 4, then the loop ends. This teaches how 'break' and 'continue' control loop behavior by skipping or stopping iterations.