3.3 Jump Statements

These are used to transfer control to another part of the program, usually within loops or methods.

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📌 1. break

• Exits the current loop or switch statement immediately.

for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
{
    if (i == 5)
        break;  // exits the loop
    Console.WriteLine(i);
}
// Output: 0 1 2 3 4

• Commonly used in for, while, do-while, and switch.

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📌 2. continue

• Skips the rest of the current iteration and moves to the next iteration of the loop.

for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
{
    if (i == 2)
        continue;  // skips printing 2
    Console.WriteLine(i);
}
// Output: 0 1 3 4

• Does not exit the loop, just skips to the next iteration.

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📌 3. goto

• Jumps to a labeled statement.

• Rarely used in modern code because it can make code hard to read.

int i = 0;
 
start:
Console.WriteLine(i);
i++;
if (i < 5) goto start;

• Output: 0 1 2 3 4

✅ Tip: Use only for special cases; loops are usually better.

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📌 4. return

• Exits a method immediately, optionally returning a value.

int Add(int a, int b)
{
    if (a < 0 || b < 0)
        return -1;  // early exit
    return a + b;
}
 
Console.WriteLine(Add(5, 3));  // 8
Console.WriteLine(Add(-1, 3)); // -1

• Also used in void methods to exit early.

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📌 5. throw

• Exits the current method by throwing an exception.

• Transfers control to the nearest catch block or terminates the program if unhandled.

void CheckAge(int age)
{
    if (age < 0)
        throw new ArgumentException("Age cannot be negative");
    Console.WriteLine("Valid age");
}
 
CheckAge(25); // Valid age
CheckAge(-5); // Throws exception

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📌 6. yield return / yield break (special jump for iterators)

• yield return → returns the next element in an iterator. See What is Yield Return

• yield break → exits the iterator method early.

IEnumerable<int> GetNumbers()
{
    for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
    {
        if (i == 3)
            yield break; // stop iteration
        yield return i;
    }
}
 
foreach (var n in GetNumbers())
    Console.WriteLine(n); // 0 1 2

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📌 7. Summary Table

Jump Statement	Purpose	Use Case
break	Exit loop or switch	Stop early
continue	Skip current iteration of loop	Skip unwanted steps
goto	Jump to a labeled statement	Rare, specific jumps
return	Exit a method, optionally with value	Early method exit
throw	Exit method by raising an exception	Error handling
yield return	Return next element in iterator	Custom iteration
yield break	Stop iteration	End iterator early

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✅ Tip:

• break and continue are loop control statements.

• return and throw are method control statements.

• goto is rarely needed, usually loops or functions handle jumps better.

• yield return/yield break are advanced, iterator-specific.