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Break Statement in C

The break statement in C is used to immediately terminate a loop (such as for, while, or do-while) or a switch statement. When break is encountered, the program exits the loop.

Syntax:

break;
Example 1: break statement in switch
#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    int day;

    printf("Enter a number (1-7) for the day of the week: ");
    scanf("%d", &day);

    switch (day) {
        case 1:
            printf("Monday\n");
            break;
        case 2:
            printf("Tuesday\n");
            break;
        case 3:
            printf("Wednesday\n");
            break;
        case 4:
            printf("Thursday\n");
            break;
        case 5:
            printf("Friday\n");
            break;
        case 6:
            printf("Saturday\n");
            break;
        case 7:
            printf("Sunday\n");
            break;
        default:
            printf("Invalid input! Please enter a number between 1 and 7.\n");
    }

    return 0;
}

Output:

Enter a number (1-7) for the day of the week: 3
Wednesday
Example 2: break statement in for loop
#include <stdio.h>
    int main() {
    int i;
    
    for (i = 1; i <= 10; i++) {
        if (i == 5) {
            printf("Loop stopped at %d\n", i);
            break;  // Exit the loop when i == 5
        }
        printf("i = %d\n", i);
    }

    printf("Loop exited.\n");

    return 0;
}

Output:

i = 1
i = 2
i = 3
i = 4
Loop stopped at 5
Loop exited.