In C++, the break statement is used to prematurely exit from a loop (such as a for, while, or do-while loop) or a switch statement. When encountered, break immediately terminates the innermost loop or switch block, allowing program execution to continue with the statement following the loop or switch. Here's how break works:
When break is used inside a loop, it causes the loop to exit prematurely, even if the loop's condition hasn't been met. This is useful when want to exit the loop based on some condition that occurs before the normal loop termination condition is met.
for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++) {
if (i == 5) {
break; // Exit the loop when i equals 5
}
std::cout << i << " ";
}
In this example, the loop will print 1 2 3 4 and then exit when i becomes 5.
break is also used in a switch statement to exit the switch block. Without break, control would "fall through" to subsequent case labels until a break statement is encountered or the end of the switch block is reached.
int choice = 2;
switch (choice) {
case 1:
std::cout << "Choice 1" << std::endl;
break;
case 2:
std::cout << "Choice 2" << std::endl;
break; // Exit the switch block
case 3:
std::cout << "Choice 3" << std::endl;
break;
}
In this example, when choice is 2, it prints "Choice 2" and then exits the switch block.
It's important to note that break only affects the innermost loop or switch block in which it is used. If have nested loops or switch statements, break will only exit the innermost one. If need to exit multiple nested loops or switch blocks, may consider using labels and the goto statement (although the use of goto is generally discouraged for code readability and maintainability).
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