Control Flow in C++ (continue, break, return)

Video Reference: Control Flow in C++ by The Cherno
Full Playlist: C++ Programming Tutorials

1. continue Statement

Purpose: Skip to the next iteration of a loop.
Timestamp Reference: 00:02:34

Example: Skip Even Numbers

for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
    if (i % 2 == 0) {  // Skip even indices
        continue;
    }
    std::cout << "Hello World (i=" << i << ")\n";
}

Output:

Hello World (i=1)
Hello World (i=3)

• When i is even, continue skips printing and jumps to i++.

2. break Statement

Purpose: Exit the loop immediately.
Timestamp Reference: 00:04:07

Example: Exit Loop Early

for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
    if (i > 2) {  
        break;  // Exit loop when i exceeds 2
    }
    std::cout << "Hello World (i=" << i << ")\n";
}

Output:

Hello World (i=0)
Hello World (i=1)
Hello World (i=2)

• Loop terminates at i=3.

3. return Statement

Purpose: Exit the current function.
Timestamp Reference: 00:05:49

Example: Early Exit from main()

int main() {
    for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
        if (i > 3) {
            return 0;  // Exit program when i > 3
        }
        std::cout << "Hello World (i=" << i << ")\n";
    }
    std::cin.get();
}

Output:

Hello World (i=0)
Hello World (i=1)
Hello World (i=2)
Hello World (i=3)

• Program exits before printing i=4.

Key Differences

| Statement | Scope | Behavior | |———–|———————|———————————–| | continue| Inside loops | Skips to next iteration | | break | Loops/switch | Exits current loop/switch | | return | Any function | Exits function (returns a value) |

Common Pitfalls

1. return in main(): Must return an integer (e.g., return 0).
2. Dead Code:

   return 0;  // Code below this line never executes
   std::cout << "This will never print!";
   

3. continue Placement:
   • Useless if placed at the end of a loop (e.g., for(...) { ... continue; }).

Need a Visual Demo?
Revisit specific sections:

• continue Example: 00:03:20
• break Debugging: 00:04:28
• return in Practice: 00:06:18