Flow Control - SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java Platform SE6 - page 212

FIGURE 3.7 The syntax of a break statement.

When using a label, a colon is required.

optional_label : while ( boolean_expression ) {
//anywhere within the loop:
break optional_label ;

}

When the break statement
executes, control immediately
jumps to the next statement
following the control structure.

We saw an example of using an unlabeled break in the earlier section on switch
statements. A break statement within one of the repetition control structures causes the
loop to immediately complete. For example, see if you can determine the effect of the break
in this loop:

3. for(int k = 1; k < 10; k++) {
4. System.out.print(k + “ “);
5. if(k % 3 == 0)
6. break;
7. }

If the loop control variable k is divisible by 3 on line 5, then the break executes on line 6
and fl ow of control jumps down to the next statement after line 7. The output of this loop is

1 2 3

Let's look at a more complex example. The following Vacation class uses an enhanced
for loop to iterate over an enum named Days . Examine the code and see if you can
determine the output of running main :

1. public class Vacation {
2. public enum Days {
3. SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY,
4. THURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY
5. }
6.
7. public void workUntil(Days dayOff) {
8. for(Days day : Days.values()) {
9. if(day != dayOff) {