Primitive java - Data Structures and Problem Solving Using Java - page 17

Occasionally, we want to give up on the current iteration of a loop and go
on to the next iteration. This can be handled by using a continue statement.
Like the break statement, the continue statement includes a semicolon and
applies to the innermost loop only. The following fragment prints the first 100
integers, with the exception of those divisible by 10:

The continue state-
ment goes to the
next iteration of the
innermost loop.

for( int i = 1; i <= 100; i++ )
{
if( i % 10 == 0 )
continue;
System.out.println( i );
}

Of course, in this example, there are alternatives to the continue statement. However,
continue is commonly used to avoid complicated if-else patterns inside loops.

1.5.8 the switch statement

The switch statement is used to select among several small integer (or character)
values. It consists of an expression and a block. The block contains a sequence of
statements and a collection of labels, which represent possible values of the
expression. All the labels must be distinct compile-time constants. An optional
default label, if present, matches any unrepresented label. If there is no applica-
ble case for the switch expression, the switch statement is over; otherwise, control
passes to the appropriate label and all statements from that point on are executed.
A break statement may be used to force early termination of the switch and is
almost always used to separate logically distinct cases. An example of the typical
structure is shown in Figure 1.5.

The switch state-
ment is used to
select among sev-
eral small integer
(or character)
values.

1.5.9 the conditional operator

The conditional operator ?: is used as a shorthand for simple if-else statements.
The general form is

The conditional
operator ?: is used
as a shorthand for
simple if-else
statements.

testExpr ? yesExpr : noExpr

testExpr is evaluated first, followed by either yesExpr or noExpr , producing
the result of the entire expression. yesExpr is evaluated if testExpr is true ;
otherwise, noExpr is evaluated. The precedence of the conditional operator is
just above that of the assignment operators. This allows us to avoid using
parentheses when assigning the result of the conditional operator to a vari-
able. As an example, the minimum of x and y is assigned to minVal as follows:

minVal = x <= y ? x : y;