Continue

Part of the Fundamentals section of Coddy's Swift journey — lesson 46 of 86.

While break exits a loop entirely, sometimes you just want to skip the current iteration and move on to the next one. The continue statement does exactly that.

for number in 1...5 {
    if number == 3 {
        continue
    }
    print(number)
}
// Output: 1, 2, 4, 5

When number equals 3, the continue statement skips the rest of that iteration. The loop doesn't stop—it just jumps to the next value. Notice that 3 is missing from the output, but 4 and 5 still print.

This is useful when you want to filter out certain values without stopping the entire loop. For example, printing only even numbers:

for number in 1...6 {
    if number % 2 != 0 {
        continue
    }
    print(number)
}
// Output: 2, 4, 6

The key difference: break stops the loop completely, while continue only skips to the next iteration.

Challenge

Easy

Write a function sumExcludingMultiples that takes limit and skip and returns the sum of all numbers from 1 to limit, excluding any numbers that are multiples of skip.

Use a loop with continue to skip over multiples of the given number while accumulating the sum of all other values.

Logic:

Loop through numbers from 1 to limit
If the current number is a multiple of skip, use continue to skip it
Otherwise, add the number to the running total
Return the final sum

Parameters:

limit (Int): The upper bound of the range (inclusive)
skip (Int): Numbers divisible by this value should be skipped

Returns: The sum of all numbers from 1 to limit that are not multiples of skip (Int)

For example, if limit is 10 and skip is 3, the function skips 3, 6, and 9, so it returns 1 + 2 + 4 + 5 + 7 + 8 + 10 = 37.

Cheat sheet

The continue statement skips the current iteration of a loop and moves to the next one, without exiting the loop entirely.

for number in 1...5 {
    if number == 3 {
        continue
    }
    print(number)
}
// Output: 1, 2, 4, 5

When the condition is met, continue skips the remaining code in that iteration and jumps to the next value.

Example filtering even numbers:

for number in 1...6 {
    if number % 2 != 0 {
        continue
    }
    print(number)
}
// Output: 2, 4, 6

Key difference: break exits the loop completely, while continue only skips to the next iteration.

Try it yourself

func sumExcludingMultiples(limit: Int, skip: Int) -> Int {
    // Write code here
}

Test yourself

This lesson includes a short quiz. Start the lesson to answer it and track your progress.

All lessons in Fundamentals

1Introduction

The Language Hello World!Comments

4Operators Part 1

Arithmetic Operators Modulo Operator Compound Assignment Recap - Simple Math Comparison Operators

7Basic IO

Print Function String Interpolation ReadLine Input Type Conversion Recap - Till 120 Recap - True or False

10Functions

Declare A Function Parameters And Arguments Return Values Argument Labels Recap - Sigma Function Recap - Validation Function Default Values

13Iterating Over Sequences

Iterating Over Elements The Enumerated Method Iterating Over Strings P1 Iterating Over Strings P2

16Final Challenges

Flat Asterisk Pyramid Pattern Finder What To Buy

2Variables

Let vs Var Type Annotations Numbers String Boolean Naming Conventions Recap - Initialize Variables

5Operators Part 2

Logical Operators Part 1 Logical Operators Part 2 Recap - Simple Logic Logical Operators Part 3 Ternary Operator

8Bill Split Calculator

Welcome Message Getting Input

Calculating Tip And Total

Splitting The Bill

Formatted Output

11FizzBuzz with a Twist

Game Overview The FizzBuzz Function

Looping The Numbers

Adding The Twist

14Arrays Advanced

Array Slicing Part 1 Array Slicing Part 2 Sequence Operators The Contains Method