Differentiate between break and continue statements using examples.
The break statement alters the normal flow of execution by immediately terminating the current loop. It exits the loop completely and resumes execution at the statement following the loop. In contrast, the continue statement skips the execution of remaining statements inside the loop body for the current iteration and jumps to the beginning of the loop for the next iteration.
For example, if a break statement is used inside a loop running from 1 to 10 when num == 8, the loop terminates immediately, and the program exits the loop forever. However, if a continue statement is encountered when num == 3, the loop skips printing the value 3 but continues to execute for the remaining numbers (4, 5, 6) instead of terminating.
Explanation
The textbook explains in sections 6.5.1 and 6.5.2 that the break statement is used to exit a loop when a specific condition is met, while the continue statement is used to skip specific iterations without exiting the loop. The examples provided (Program 6-12 and Program 6-15) illustrate that break stops the loop entirely, whereas continue only skips the current iteration's remaining code.
Solution Steps
Step 1: Define the break statement as one that terminates the loop and transfers control to the statement following the loop.
Step 2: Define the continue statement as one that skips the remaining statements in the current iteration and jumps to the beginning of the loop.
Step 3: Differentiate using examples: break exits the loop (e.g., stopping at num == 8), while continue skips specific values (e.g., skipping num == 3) but continues the loop.