Using the Continue Statement in JavaScript: Syntax and Examples

The continue statement breaks one iteration (in the loop) if a specified condition occurs, and continues with the next iteration in the loop.

The difference between continue and the break statement, is instead of "jumping out" of a loop, the continue statement "jumps over" one iteration in the loop.

However, when the continue statement is executed, it behaves differently for different types of loops:

• In a while loop, the condition is tested, and if it is true, the loop is executed again
• In a for loop, the increment expression (e.g. i++) is first evaluated, and then the condition is tested to find out if another iteration should be done

The continue statement can also be used with an optional label reference.

Note: The continue statement (with or without a label reference) can only be used inside a loop.

Example

In this example we use a for loop together with the continue statement.

Loop through a block of code, but skip the value of "3":

<span class="pln">
</span><span class="kwd">var</span><span class="pln"> text </span><span class="pun">=</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="str">""</span><span class="pln">
</span><span class="kwd">var</span><span class="pln"> i</span><span class="pun">;</span><span class="pln">
</span><span class="kwd">for</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="pun">(</span><span class="pln">i </span><span class="pun">=</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="lit">0</span><span class="pun">;</span><span class="pln"> i </span><span class="pun">&lt;</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="lit">5</span><span class="pun">;</span><span class="pln"> i</span><span class="pun">++)</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="pun">{</span><span class="pln">
  </span><span class="kwd">if</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="pun">(</span><span class="pln">i </span><span class="pun">===</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="lit">3</span><span class="pun">)</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="pun">{</span><span class="pln">
    </span><span class="kwd">continue</span><span class="pun">;</span><span class="pln">
  </span><span class="pun">}</span><span class="pln">
  text </span><span class="pun">+=</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="str">"The number is "</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="pun">+</span><span class="pln"> i </span><span class="pun">+</span><span class="pln"> </span><span class="str">"&lt;br&gt;"</span><span class="pun">;</span><span class="pln">
</span><span class="pun">}</span><span class="pln">
</span>