The break Statement

Description

A break statement terminates the execution of the most tightly enclosing switch or iteration statement. Control is passed to the statement following the switch or iteration statement. You cannot use a break statement unless it is enclosed in a switch or iteration statement. Further, a break will only break out of one level of switch or iteration statement. To exit from more than one level, you must use a goto statement.

When used in the switch statement, break normally terminates each case statement. If you use no break (or other unconditional transfer of control), each statement labeled with case flows into the next. Although not required, a break is usually placed at the end of the last case statement. This reduces the possibility of errors when inserting additional cases at a later time.

Example

For example:

for (i=0; i<=6; i++)
     if(i==3) break;
     else printf ("%d\n",i);

This example prints:

     0
     1
     2