The continue statement in Python is a loop control statement that skips the rest of the code inside the loop for the current iteration and moves to the next iteration immediately.
When executed, the code following continue in the loop is not executed for that iteration. Example:
for i in range(1, 11):
if i == 6:
continue
print(i, end=" ")
Output
1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10
Explanation: When i == 6, the continue statement executes, skipping the print operation for 6.
Syntax
while True:
...
if x == 10:
continue
print(x)
Examples
Example 1: Skipping specific characters in a string
for char in "GeeksforGeeks":
if char == "e":
continue
print(char, end=" ")
Output
G k s f o r G k s
Explanation: Whenever char == 'e', the continue statement executes, skipping the print function for that iteration.
Example 2. Using continue in nested loops
a = [[1, 2, 3], [4, 5, 6], [7, 8, 9]]
for row in a:
for num in row:
if num == 3:
continue
print(num, end=" ")
Output
1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9
Explanation: continue statement skips printing 3 and moves to the next iteration, so all numbers except 3 are printed in a single line.
Example 3. Using continue with a while loop
i = 0
while i < 10:
if i == 5:
i += 1 # ensure the loop variable is incremented to avoid infinite loop
continue
print(i)
i += 1
Output
0 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9
Explanation: When i == 5, the continue statement skips printing and jumps to the next iteration.
When to Use the Continue
The continue statement is useful when you need to skip specific iterations while still executing the rest of the loop:
- Skipping Specific Values: Ignore certain values without breaking the loop.
- Filtering Data Dynamically: Exclude elements that do not meet a condition.
- Optimizing Loop Performance: Avoid unnecessary computations for some iterations.
For more loop control statements, refer to:
