break and continue in Kotlin

Introduction

break and continue is a fundamental concept every Kotlin developer should understand. Loops repeat code blocks; break, continue and labels give fine-grained control over iteration flow.

Break exits the nearest enclosing loop immediately. In this tutorial you will learn the syntax, walk through a complete example program, study the sample output, and review best practices so you can apply the concept confidently in your own projects.

Definition

• break exits the nearest enclosing loop immediately.
• continue skips the rest of the current iteration and moves to the next one.
• Both work with for, while, and do-while loops.

Syntax

for (i in 1..10) {
    if (i == 5) continue
    if (i == 8) break
    println(i)
}

break and continue in Kotlin Example Program in Kotlin

fun main() {
    for (i in 1..10) {
        if (i == 5) continue
        if (i == 8) break
        println(i)
    }
}

Sample Output

1
2
3
4
6
7

When to use

Use break to exit early when a condition is met; use continue to skip invalid items in a collection loop.

How it works

1. The program starts with a main function — the entry point that runs when you execute the file.

2. Break exits the nearest enclosing loop immediately.

3. Run the program in IntelliJ IDEA, Android Studio, or with the Kotlin command-line compiler (kotlinc / kotlin). Compare your console output with the sample output shown below.

Best Practices

• Understand the core idea: break exits the nearest enclosing loop immediately.
• Prefer readable names and small functions so examples map directly to real projects.
• Run and modify the example — change values and observe how the output changes.

Common Mistakes

• Skipping the example and only reading the definition — hands-on practice cements the concept.
• Copying syntax without understanding nullable vs non-nullable types or scope rules.
• Ignoring compiler warnings that often point to safer alternatives.

Key Points

• break exits the nearest enclosing loop immediately.
• continue skips the rest of the current iteration and moves to the next one.
• Both work with for, while, and do-while loops.
• Test the example locally and verify the output matches the sample.
• Experiment by changing input values to see how behaviour changes.

Notes

• Semicolons at the end of statements are optional in Kotlin.