Jump Statements in C

Jump statements transfer control to another part of the program, breaking the normal sequential flow.

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1. break

Exits the nearest enclosing loop or switch statement immediately.

for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++) {
    if (i == 5) {
        break;       /* stops the loop when i = 5 */
    }
    printf("%d ", i);
}
/* Output: 1 2 3 4 */

In switch:

switch (x) {
    case 1:
        printf("One");
        break;   /* prevents fall-through */
    case 2:
        printf("Two");
        break;
}

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2. continue

Skips the current iteration of a loop and moves to the next iteration.

for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++) {
    if (i % 2 == 0) {
        continue;   /* skip even numbers */
    }
    printf("%d ", i);
}
/* Output: 1 3 5 7 9 */

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3. goto

Transfers control unconditionally to a labelled statement in the same function.

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    int i = 1;
    
start:
    if (i <= 5) {
        printf("%d ", i);
        i++;
        goto start;
    }
    
    printf("\nDone");
    return 0;
}
/* Output: 1 2 3 4 5 */

Warning: goto makes code difficult to read and maintain. Avoid it in modern programming.

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4. return

Exits the current function and optionally returns a value to the caller.

int add(int a, int b) {
    return a + b;   /* returns value and exits function */
}

int main() {
    int result = add(3, 4);
    printf("Result: %d\n", result);
    return 0;   /* exits main, 0 = success */
}

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Summary Table