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34. Loop Control (break, continue, pass)

1. Introduction​

Python provides special statements to control the flow of loops:

  • break → exits the loop early
  • continue → skips the current iteration
  • pass → does nothing (placeholder)

These give you more fine-grained control over loop execution.

2. The break Statement​

break stops the loop entirely, even if the condition is still true.

for i in range(10):
    if i == 5:
        break
    print(i)

Output:

0
1
2
3
4

3. The continue Statement​

continue skips the rest of the current iteration and goes to the next one.

for i in range(5):
    if i == 2:
        continue
    print(i)

Output:

0
1
3
4

4. The pass Statement​

pass is a placeholder that does nothing.
It is useful when you need a syntactically valid block but don’t want to add code yet.

for i in range(3):
    if i == 1:
        pass  # do nothing
    print("i =", i)

5. break in while Loops​

x = 0
while True:
    print(x)
    x += 1
    if x > 3:
        break

6. continue in while Loops​

x = 0
while x < 5:
    x += 1
    if x == 3:
        continue
    print(x)

Output:

1
2
4
5

7. Nested Loops with break​

break only exits the innermost loop.

for i in range(2):
    for j in range(3):
        if j == 1:
            break
        print(i, j)

Output:

0 0
1 0

8. Practical Examples​

  • Finding a number in a list:
numbers = [1, 3, 5, 7, 9]

for num in numbers:
    if num == 5:
        print("Found 5!")
        break
  • Skipping odd numbers:
for i in range(1, 6):
    if i % 2 != 0:
        continue
    print(i)

9. Common Mistakes​

  • Using break when you only meant to skip an iteration (use continue).
  • Overusing pass instead of writing meaningful code.
  • Forgetting that break only exits the current loop, not all loops.

10. Next Steps​

✅ You now understand how to use break, continue, and pass to control loop behavior.
In the next chapter, we’ll explore nested loops and how to work with loops inside loops effectively.