I have the following code:

for (var i in players) {
    for (var x in players[i].bullets) {
        for (var y in xpBoosts) {
            if (something === true) {
                // do something
                continue;
            }
        }
    }
}

What will the continue statement do? Will it cycle the innermost for loop or the outermost?

Is there any way I can get the continue statement to cycle through to the next bullet?

I have the following code:

for (var i in players) {
    for (var x in players[i].bullets) {
        for (var y in xpBoosts) {
            if (something === true) {
                // do something
                continue;
            }
        }
    }
}

What will the continue statement do? Will it cycle the innermost for loop or the outermost?

Is there any way I can get the continue statement to cycle through to the next bullet?

• javascript
• for-loop

• 3 Have you tried using console.log to figure it out? – Callam Commented Nov 6, 2018 at 21:24
• I'll try that, thanks for the tip – user9085934 Commented Nov 6, 2018 at 21:25
• 1 maybe a dupe? – Nina Scholz Commented Nov 6, 2018 at 21:25
• developer.mozilla/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/… – ksav Commented Nov 6, 2018 at 21:25

4 Answers 4

continue terminates the current iteration of the loop it's in. To terminate the iteration of another loop, use it with labels:

for (var i in players) {
    bullets: for (var x in players[i].bullets) {
        for (var y in xpBoosts) {
            if (something === true) {
                // do something
                continue bullets;
            }
        }
    }
}

In your particular code continue doesn't do anything.

continue is a keyword that will quit the current iteration of the loop and carry on with the next.

as an example:

for (i = 1; i <= 10; i++) {
  if (i == 5) continue;
  console.log(i);
}

You'll notice that 5 is not printed to the console. When the conditional check is proven true, it continues onto the next iteration without performing the rest of the code in the block.

By default, continue and break apply to the innermost loop. In your particular code, it will continue this loop:

for (var y in xpBoosts) {

However, this behavior can be customized through labels. For example:

outerLoop:
for (var i = 0; i < someVal; i++){
  middleLoop:
  for (var j = 0; j < someOtherVal; j++){
    innerLoop:
    for (var k = 0; k < yetAThirdVal; k++){
      continue;//skip to next iteration of innerLoop
      continue innerLoop;//skip to next iteration of innerLoop
      continue middleLoop;//skip to next iteration of middleLoop
      continue outerLoop;//skip to next iteration of outerLoop
    }
  }
}

Hope this helps!

EDIT: I'll leave my answer here, but I much prefer ohlec's answer.

continue only moves on to the next iteration of the innermost for loop.

You could have a variable that is initialized as false for each bullet. You can then mark this to true if you continue the inside loop.

for (var x in players[i].bullets) {
  var skipThisBullet = false;

  for (var y in xpBoosts) {
    if (something === true) {
      // do something
      skipThisBullet = true;
      continue;
    }
  }

  if (skipThisBullet) continue;

}