Bash: Continue In a For / While Loop

In Bash, you can use the continue command to skip the remaining commands in a loop and move on to the next iteration.

Here is an example of how you can use the continue command in a for loop:

# Define an array of numbers
numbers=(1 2 3 4 5)

# Iterate over the array
for number in "${numbers[@]}"; do
  # Skip the iteration if the number is 3
  if [ "$number" -eq 3 ]; then
    continue
  fi

  # Print the number
  echo "$number"
done

This will print the numbers 1, 2, 4, and 5, skipping the number 3 because of the continue command. The output will be:

1
2
4
5

Here is an example of how you can use the continue command in a while loop:

# Initialize the counter variable
counter=1

# Run the loop while the counter is less than or equal to 5
while [ "$counter" -le 5 ]; do
  # Skip the iteration if the counter is 3
  if [ "$counter" -eq 3 ]; then
    counter=$((counter+1))
    continue
  fi

  # Print the counter
  echo "$counter"

  # Increment the counter
  counter=$((counter+1))
done

This will print the numbers 1, 2, 4, and 5, skipping the number 3 because of the continue command. The output will be:

1
2
4
5

Overall, the continue command is a useful tool for skipping the remaining commands in a loop and moving on to the next iteration. It allows you to easily control the flow of a loop and skip over certain iterations as needed.