Difference between break and continue in PHP

Last Updated : 10 Apr, 2022

The break and continue both are used to skip the iteration of a loop. These keywords are helpful in controlling the flow of the program. Difference between break and continue:

The break statement terminates the whole iteration of a loop whereas continue skips the current iteration.
The break statement terminates the whole loop early whereas the continue brings the next iteration early.
In a loop for switch, break acts as terminator for case only whereas continue 2 acts as terminator for case and skips the current iteration of loop.

Program 1: This program illustrates the continue statement inside a loop.

php

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

Output: forContinue Program 2: This program illustrates the break statement inside a loop.

php

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

Output: forBreak Program 3: Using switch inside a loop and continue 2 inside case of switch.

php

<?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> ';
}
?>

Output: loopSwitchContinue

Let us see the differences in a tabular form -:

	Break	Continue
1.	The break statement is used to jump out of a loop.	The continue statement is used to skip an iteration from a loop
2.	Its syntax is -: break;	Its syntax is -: continue;
3.	The break is a keyword present in the language	continue is a keyword present in the language
4.	It can be used with loops ex-: for loop, while loop.	It can be used with loops ex-: for loop, while loop.
5.	The break statement is also used in switch statements	We can use continue with a switch statement to skip a case.