Java Break Statement Example

This is an example of how to use the java break statement.

1. Java Break overview

The break statement can be used to terminate a for, while, or do-while loop. Also it is used in switch statement to exit the current case.

 2. Break in loop example

In the example the break statement is used when checking an array’s elements, as described:

• Create a for statement with an int index from 0 up to an int array length, that checks the elements of the array.
• When an element divided to 2 returns 0, then the break statement is used that terminates the for loop.

Let’s take a look at the code snippet that follows:

Printing first even number
1 

3. Break in switch example

In case of switch statement is is used as below:

package com.javacodegeeks.snippets.basics;


public class BreakStatementInSwitch {
     
    public static void main(String[] args) {
		String day = "Thursday";
		switch(day){
			case "Monday":
                System.out.println("Monday");
                break;
            case "Tuesday":
                System.out.println("Tuesday");
                break;
            case "Wednesday":
                System.out.println("Wednesday");
                break;
            case "Thursday":
                System.out.println("Thursday");
                break;
            case "Friday":
                System.out.println("Friday");
                break;
            case "Saturday":
                System.out.println("Saturday");
                break;
		    case "Sunday":
                System.out.println("Sunday");
                break;
				
    }

Output: Thursday

In the above example, for each case, the condition day.equals(String_after_case_keyword) is checked, if it is true, then the name of the day is printed and the break keyword exits the switch statement.

4. Difference between Break and Continue

The differences between break and continue are the following:

• The break can be used in switch statements, the continue cannot.
• The break exits the loop, but the continue jumps to the next iteration of the loop

Let us see the difference in an example:

package com.javacodegeeks.snippets.basics;


public class BreakStatementInSwitch {
     
    public static void main(String[] args) {
	for(int i = 0; i < 10 ; i++){
            if(i%2 == 0){
                continue;
            }
            System.out.println(i);
            if(i%3 == 0) break;
        }	
    }

}

5. Download the Source Code

This was a Java Break Example.

Last updated on Feb. 21st, 2020