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continue

The continue statement is used to skip the rest of the current iteration of a loop and move to the next iteration. It only affects the innermost loop and transfers control to the loop’s condition check.

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Continue in While Loops

Use continue to skip the current iteration in while loops: 
counter = 0
while (counter < 10) {
    counter++
    
    if (counter % 2 == 0) {
        continue  // Skip even numbers
    }
    
    println("Odd number: " + counter)
}
// Output: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9

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Continue in For Loops

Use continue to skip iterations in for loops: 
for (i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    if (i == 3 || i == 7) {
        continue  // Skip when i is 3 or 7
    }
    
    println("i: " + i)
}
// Output: 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9

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Continue in For-In Loops

Use continue to skip elements in for-in loops: 
numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

for (num in numbers) {
    if (num <= 5) {
        continue  // Skip numbers 5 and below
    }
    
    println("Processing: " + num)
}
// Output: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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Continue with Conditions

Combine continue with complex conditions: 
students = [
    {"name": "Alice", "grade": 85},
    {"name": "Bob", "grade": 60},
    {"name": "Charlie", "grade": 92},
    {"name": "Dave", "grade": 45}
]

for (student in students) {
    if (student.grade < 70) {
        continue  // Skip students with failing grades
    }
    
    println("Honor student: " + student.name + " (Grade: " + student.grade + ")")
}
// Output: Alice (85), Charlie (92)

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Continue in Nested Loops

continue only affects the innermost loop: 
for (i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
    println("Outer loop: " + i)
    
    for (j = 0; j < 5; j++) {
        if (j == 2) {
            continue  // Only skips inner loop iteration
        }
        
        println("  Inner loop: " + j)
    }
}
// Inner loop skips j=2, but outer loop continues normally

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Continue with Multiple Conditions

Use multiple conditions to determine when to continue: 
data = [1, -2, 3, 0, 5, -7, 8, 9, -10]

for (value in data) {
    // Skip negative numbers and zero
    if (value <= 0) {
        continue
    }
    
    // Skip even numbers
    if (value % 2 == 0) {
        continue
    }
    
    println("Positive odd number: " + value)
}
// Output: 1, 3, 5, 9

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Continue in Data Processing

Use continue to skip invalid data: 
userData = [
    {"name": "Alice", "email": "alice@example.com"},
    {"name": "", "email": "invalid@example.com"},
    {"name": "Bob", "email": ""},
    {"name": "Charlie", "email": "charlie@example.com"}
]

for (user in userData) {
    // Skip users with missing name or email
    if (user.name == "" || user.email == "") {
        continue
    }
    
    println("Valid user: " + user.name + " - " + user.email)
}
// Output: Alice and Charlie

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Continue vs Break

Understanding the difference between continue and break: 
for (i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    if (i == 3) {
        continue  // Skip i=3, continue with i=4
    }
    
    if (i == 7) {
        break     // Exit loop completely
    }
    
    println("i: " + i)
}
// Output: 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6

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Continue in Search Operations

Use continue to skip non-matching items: 
soul findUsers(users, criteria) {
    results = []
    
    for (user in users) {
        // Skip inactive users
        if (!user.isActive) {
            continue
        }
        
        // Skip users without required permission
        if (!user.hasPermission(criteria.permission)) {
            continue
        }
        
        results.push(user)
    }
    
    return results
}

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Continue with Logging

Use continue to skip processing while still logging: 
orders = [
    {"id": 1, "status": "pending"},
    {"id": 2, "status": "cancelled"},
    {"id": 3, "status": "completed"},
    {"id": 4, "status": "pending"}
]

for (order in orders) {
    if (order.status == "cancelled") {
        println("Skipping cancelled order: " + order.id)
        continue
    }
    
    println("Processing order: " + order.id)
    processOrder(order)
}

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Continue in Validation

Use continue to skip invalid entries: 
soul validateAndProcess(items) {
    processedCount = 0
    
    for (item in items) {
        // Skip null items
        if (item == null) {
            continue
        }
        
        // Skip items without required fields
        if (!item.hasRequiredFields()) {
            continue
        }
        
        // Skip items that fail validation
        if (!item.isValid()) {
            continue
        }
        
        processItem(item)
        processedCount++
    }
    
    return processedCount
}

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Best Practices

  1. Use meaningful conditions: Make continue conditions clear and understandable
  2. Combine with logging: Log skipped items when debugging
  3. Keep conditions simple: Complex conditions should be extracted to functions
  4. Document skip reasons: Add comments explaining why items are skipped
// Good - clear continue usage
soul processValidItems(items) {
    for (item in items) {
        // Skip items that don't meet basic requirements
        if (!item.isValid() || !item.isActive()) {
            continue
        }
        
        // Process valid items
        result = processItem(item)
        saveResult(result)
    }
}

// Better - with validation function
soul processValidItems(items) {
    for (item in items) {
        if (!shouldProcessItem(item)) {
            continue
        }
        
        processItem(item)
    }
}

soul shouldProcessItem(item) {
    return item.isValid() && item.isActive() && item.hasRequiredData()
}
The continue statement is useful for skipping specific iterations while maintaining loop execution flow.
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