☰
🌙

Continue Statement in C

The continue statement is used to skip the current iteration of a loop and move to the next iteration immediately.

Syntax:

continue;
Example 1: continue statement in for loop
#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    for (int i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {
        if (i == 3) {
            continue; // Skip the iteration when i is 3
        }
        printf("Iteration: %d\n", i);
    }
    return 0;
}

Output:

1
2
4
5
Example 2: continue statement of skip negative numbers and sum.
#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
    int n, sum = 0;

    for (int i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {
        printf("Enter a number (%d/5): ", i);
        scanf("%d", &n);

        if (n < 0) {  // If the number is negative, skip it
            printf("Negative numbers are not allowed. Skipping...\n");
            continue;
        }

        sum += n;  // Add positive number to sum
    }

    printf("Total Sum of Positive Numbers: %d\n", sum);
    return 0;
}

Output:

Enter a number (1/5): 1
Enter a number (2/5): -5
Negative numbers are not allowed. Skipping...
Enter a number (3/5): -3
Negative numbers are not allowed. Skipping...
Enter a number (4/5): 4
Enter a number (5/5): 6
Total Sum of Positive Numbers: 11

Explanation :

You are writing a program that asks the user for numbers. The program ignores negative numbers but continues adding positive numbers to a total sum.

When to Use continue?

Skipping invalid user inputs (like negative numbers in this case).

Skipping unnecessary iterations in loops (e.g., ignoring weekends in a work schedule).

Filtering out unwanted data in file reading or database processing.