How to Use Continue and Break in PHP

The <kbd class="highlighted">continue</kbd> and <kbd class="highlighted">break</kbd> keywords are used to control the flow inside loops and switch statements.

The <kbd class="highlighted">continue</kbd> keyword skips the current iteration, while <kbd class="highlighted">break</kbd> exits the loop entirely.

This snippet will demonstrate some examples of how to use these keywords correctly.

Using the continue Keyword Inside a Loop

Here, you will see an example of using the <kbd class="highlighted">continue</kbd> keyword inside a loop:

php use continue inside a loop

<?php

for ($i = 1; $i < 10; $i++) {
  if ($i % 2 == 0) {
    continue;
  }
  echo $i . " ";
}

?>

1 3 5 7 9

Using break Inside a Loop

Now, let’s see how to use the <kbd class="highlighted">break</kbd> keyword inside a loop:

php use break keyword inside a loop

<?php

for ($i = 1; $i < 10; $i++) {
  if ($i == 5) {
    break;
  }
  echo $i . " ";
}

?>

1 2 3 4

Using a switch in a Loop

In this section, we will use a <kbd class="highlighted">switch</kbd> inside a loop with continue 2 within the case of the switch.

Here is an example:

php use switch in a loop

<?php

for ($i = 10; $i <= 15; $i++) {
  switch ($i) {
    case 10:
      echo "Ten";
      break;

    case 11:
      continue 2;

    case 12:
      echo "Twelve";
      break;

    case 13:
      echo "Thirteen";
      break;

    case 14:
      continue 2;

    case 15:
      echo "Fifteen";
      break;
  }

  echo "<br> Below switch, and i = " . $i . ' <br><br> ';
}

?>

Ten
Below switch, and i = 10 
Twelve
Below switch, and i = 12 
Thirteen
Below switch, and i = 13 
Fifteen
Below switch, and i = 15

The Differences Between continue and break

To have a better understanding of how to use these keywords in PHP, you need to know the differences between them.

Here, we will outline the three main differences between <kbd class="highlighted">continue</kbd> and <kbd class="highlighted">break</kbd>:

1. continue always skips the current iteration, whereas break terminates the entire loop.
2. break exits the loop early, while continue simply proceeds to the next iteration.
3. Inside a loop containing a switch statement, break terminates the current case, while continue 2 skips the current case and moves to the next loop iteration.