"break" Statements

This section describes 'break' statement, which is a branching statement that transfers the control to the end of the immediate enclosing 'switch', 'while', 'do', or 'for' statement.

"break" statements have 2 forms: non-labeled "break" statements and labeled "break" statements. Let's look at non-labeled "break" statements in this tutorial first.

What Is Non-Labeled "break" Statement? - A non-labeled "break" statement is a branching statement that transfers the control to the end of the immediate enclosing "switch", "while", "do", or "for" statement.

Here is the syntax for a non-labeled "break" statement.

switch|while|do|for ... {
   ...
   break
   ...
}
// break continues here

Note that non-labeled "break" statements can not be used in statements other than "switch", "while", "do", or "for" statements.

Here is a sample program that shows you how to use non-labeled "break" statements:

/* BreakStatementTest.java
 * Copyright (c) HerongYang.com. All Rights Reserved.
 */
class BreakStatementTest {
   public static void main(String[] arg) {
      java.io.PrintStream out = System.out;
      int max = 20;

      out.println("\"break\" statement in a single-level loop:");
      int sum = 0;
      int i = 1;
      while (true) { // loop level 1
         if (i > max ) break;
         sum += i;
         i++;
      } // break continues here
      out.println("   Sum of 1 to 20: "+sum);

      boolean isPrime;
      i = 3;
      out.println("\"break\" statement in a multi-level loop:");
      while (i < max) { // loop level 1
         isPrime = true;
         int j = 2;

         while (j < i) { // loop level 2
            isPrime = i%j > 0;
            if (!isPrime) break;
            j++;
         } // break continues here

         if (isPrime) out.println("   "+i+" is a prime number.");
         i++;
      }
   }
}

If you compile and run the above program, you will see:

herong> java BreakStatementTest.java

"break" statement in a single-level loop:
   Sum of 1 to 20: 210

"break" statement in a multi-level loop:
   3 is a prime number.
   5 is a prime number.
   7 is a prime number.
   11 is a prime number.
   13 is a prime number.
   17 is a prime number.
   19 is a prime number.

Table of Contents

 About This Book

 JDK - Java Development Kit

 Execution Process, Entry Point, Input and Output

 Primitive Data Types and Literals

Control Flow Statements

 What Is Control Flow Statement

 "if-then" Statements

 "if-then-else" Statements

 Nested "if-then-else" Statements

 "switch" Statements

 Fall-Through Behavior of "switch" Statements

 Basic "for" Statements

 Enhanced "for" Statements

 "while" Statements

 "do" Statements

"break" Statements

 Labeled "break" Statements

 "continue" Statements

 Labeled "continue" Statements

 Bits, Bytes, Bitwise and Shift Operations

 Managing Bit Strings in Byte Arrays

 Reference Data Types and Variables

 Enum Types and Enum Constants

 StringBuffer - The String Buffer Class

 System Properties and Runtime Object Methods

 Generic Classes and Parameterized Types

 Generic Methods and Type Inference

 Lambda Expressions and Method References

 Java Modules - Java Package Aggregation

 Execution Threads and Multi-Threading Java Programs

 ThreadGroup Class and "system" ThreadGroup Tree

 Synchronization Technique and Synchronized Code Blocks

 Deadlock Condition Example Programs

 Garbage Collection and the gc() Method

 Assert Statements and -ea" Option

 Annotation Statements and Declarations

 Java Related Terminologies

 Archived Tutorials

 References

 Full Version in PDF/EPUB