FreeBasic Continue Keyword

last modified June 23, 2025

The FreeBasic Continue keyword is a loop control statement that skips the current iteration and moves to the next cycle. It helps in selectively processing elements within loops based on conditions.

Basic Definition

In FreeBasic, Continue is used within loops (For, While, Do) to skip remaining code in current iteration. When encountered, it jumps to the loop's condition check.

The Continue statement makes loops more flexible by allowing selective processing. It's often used with conditional statements to skip specific cases without exiting the entire loop.

Continue in For Loop

This example demonstrates using Continue to skip even numbers in a For loop.

continue_for.bas

For i As Integer = 1 To 10
    If (i Mod 2) = 0 Then
        Continue For
    End If
    Print i; " is odd"
Next

The loop prints only odd numbers. When an even number is detected, Continue skips the Print statement. The loop then proceeds to next value.

Continue in While Loop

Here we use Continue to skip processing negative numbers in a While loop.

continue_while.bas

Dim n As Integer = -5

While n <= 5
    If n < 0 Then
        n += 1
        Continue While
    End If
    Print "Processing"; n
    n += 1
Wend

The loop processes only non-negative numbers. When negative, it increments n and skips to next iteration. Note we must increment n before Continue.

Continue in Do Loop

This example shows Continue in a Do loop to skip vowels in string processing.

continue_do.bas

Dim s As String = "FreeBasic"
Dim i As Integer = 0

Do While i < Len(s)
    Dim c As String = Mid(s, i + 1, 1)
    If InStr("aeiouAEIOU", c) Then
        i += 1
        Continue Do
    End If
    Print c; " is a consonant"
    i += 1
Loop

The loop processes each character, skipping vowels. When a vowel is found, it increments index and continues. Only consonants are printed.

Continue with Nested Loops

Continue affects only the innermost loop when used in nested structures.

continue_nested.bas

For i As Integer = 1 To 3
    For j As Integer = 1 To 3
        If j = 2 Then
            Continue For
        End If
        Print "i:"; i; " j:"; j
    Next
Next

The inner loop skips iteration when j equals 2. The outer loop continues normally. Continue only affects the loop where it's directly contained.

Continue with Conditional Logic

We can combine Continue with complex conditions for sophisticated loop control.

continue_conditional.bas

For i As Integer = 1 To 20
    If (i Mod 3 <> 0) And (i Mod 5 <> 0) Then
        Continue For
    End If
    Print i; " is divisible by 3 or 5"
Next

This prints numbers divisible by 3 or 5. The Continue skips numbers not matching either condition. The logic could be inverted with If-Else.

Continue in Infinite Loop

In this example, we use Continue to control an infinite loop until a certain condition is met. The infinite loop is created by using a Do loop without a terminating condition.

continue_infinite.bas

Dim count As Integer = 0

Do
    count += 1
    If count < 5 Then
        Continue Do
    End If
    Print "Count reached"; count
    If count >= 10 Then
        Exit Do
    End If
Loop

The loop skips printing until count reaches 5. After printing, it checks for exit condition. Continue helps delay processing until criteria met.

Continue vs Exit

This example contrasts Continue with Exit in loop control.

continue_vs_exit.bas

For i As Integer = 1 To 5
    If i = 3 Then
        'Exit For   ' Would stop the entire loop
        Continue For ' Skips only this iteration
    End If
    Print i
Next
Print "Loop finished"

With Continue, all numbers except 3 are printed. With Exit (if uncommented), only 1 and 2 would print before loop termination.

Best Practices

Clarity: Use Continue when it makes logic clearer than nested Ifs.
Moderation: Avoid overusing Continue as it can make flow harder to follow.
Comments: Document why iterations are being skipped.
Alternatives: Consider If-Else when logic is simple.
Initialization: Ensure loop variables are updated before Continue.

This tutorial covered the FreeBasic Continue keyword with practical examples showing its usage in different loop scenarios.

Author

My name is Jan Bodnar, and I am a passionate programmer with extensive programming experience. I have been writing programming articles since 2007. To date, I have authored over 1,400 articles and 8 e-books. I possess more than ten years of experience in teaching programming.

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