In this tutorial, we will learn about the break statement & its working in loops with the help of examples.

What is break statement?

A break statement is a loop control statement that is used to end a loop. When the break statement is encountered within a loop, the loop iterations stop and control returns from the loop to the first statement after the loop.

• The break statement in C++ immediately terminates the loop, and control of the program moves to the statement following the loop.
• It is almost always used with decision-making statements (C++ if- else Statement).

The break statement in C++ has the following syntax:

Syntax:

break;

–> Break statements are generally used when we are unsure of the number of iterations for a loop or when we want to terminate the loop based on some condition.

Example: Break statement

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
for(int i=1;i<=10;i++){  
        if(i==4){  
            //break statement 
            break;  
        }  
        cout<<i<<endl;  
    }  
return 0;
}  

Output

1 2 3

Example: Break With Inner Loop:

#include <iostream>  
using namespace std;  
int main()  
{  
    for(int i=1;i<=3;i++){        
            for(int j=1;j<=3;j++){        
                if(i==2&&j==2){        
                    break;        
                        }        
                    cout<<i<<" "<<j<<"\n";             
                    }        
          }    
}  

Output

1 1
1 2
1 3
2 1
3 1
3 2
3 3

Example: Break with for loop:

// program to print the value of i

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
    for (int i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {
        // break condition     
        if (i == 3) {
            break;
        }
        cout << i << endl;
    }

return 0;
}

Output

1
2

This indicates that the break statement ends the loop when I equal to 3. As a result, no values larger than or equal to 3 are included in the output.

Example: Break In while loop

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
    int number;
    int sum = 0;

    while (true) {
        // take input from the user
        cout << "Enter a number: ";
        cin >> number;

        // break condition
        if (number < 0) {
            break;
        }

        // add all positive numbers
        sum += number;
    }

    // display the sum
    cout << "The sum is " << sum << endl;

    return 0;
}

Output

Enter a number: 1
Enter a number: 2
Enter a number: 3
Enter a number: -5
The sum is 6.

• The user enters a number in the above software. The while loop is used to print the total sum of the user’s numbers. Take note of the code here:
• This means that if the user enters a negative value, the break statements stops the loop and executes the code outside of it.
• The while loop will keep running until the user submits a negative number.

Example: Break with Nested loop

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
    int number;
    int sum = 0;

    // nested for loops

    // first loop
    for (int i = 1; i <= 3; i++) {
        // second loop
        for (int j = 1; j <= 3; j++) {
            if (i == 2) {
                break;
            }
            cout << "i = " << i << ", j = " << j << endl;
        }
    }

    return 0;
}

Output

i = 1, j = 1
i = 1, j = 2
i = 1, j = 3
i = 3, j = 1
i = 3, j = 2
i = 3, j = 3

Example: Break statements in switch case

#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
	int x = 3;
	switch (x) {
	case 1:
		printf("Choice is 1");
		break;
	case 2:
		printf("Choice is 2");
		break;
	case 3:
		printf("Choice is 3");
		break;
	default:
		printf("Choice other than 1, 2 and 3");
		break;
	}
	return 0;
}

Output

Choice is 3

You may like:

C++ switch case statement with Example | C++ Programming

While and do…while loop with Example | C++ Programming