Branching Statements in Java Control Statements

Java provides the break, continue, and return statements for transferring program control. These statements change the order in which a program is executed.

break Statement

The break statement has three roles.

1. It is used to exit a switch statement.
2. It is used to exit a loop.
3. It is used as an improved form of the goto statement used in older programs.

continue Statement

When a continue statement is encountered inside a loop, execution stops and control moves to the beginning of the loop.

The following example uses the continue statement to calculate the sum of odd numbers from 1 to 100.

package com.devkuma.tutorial.control.statement;

public class Continue {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        int sum = 0;

        for (int i = 1; i <= 100; i++) {
            if (i % 2 == 0) {
                continue;
            }
            sum += i;
        }

        System.out.println("sum=" + sum);
    }
}

return Statement

The return statement stops the currently executing method and returns control to the place that called the current method.

The following example receives a number in a method and checks whether it is a multiple of 3.

package com.devkuma.tutorial.control.statement;

public class Return {

    public void check(int i) {
        if (i % 3 == 0) {
            System.out.println(i + "는 3의 배수이다.");
            return;
        }
        System.out.println(i + "는 3의 배수가 아니다.");
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Return r = new Return();
        r.check(6);
    }
}