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Perl 5 version 16.0 documentation
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Perl functions A-Z | Perl functions by category | The 'perlfunc' manpage

- continue BLOCK

- continue

  When followed by a BLOCK, `continue` is actually a flow control statement rather than a function. If there is a `continue` BLOCK attached to a BLOCK (typically in a `while` or `foreach` ), it is always executed just before the conditional is about to be evaluated again, just like the third part of a `for` loop in C. Thus it can be used to increment a loop variable, even when the loop has been continued via the `next` statement (which is similar to the C `continue` statement).

  `last`, `next`, or `redo` may appear within a `continue` block; `last` and `redo` behave as if they had been executed within the main block. So will `next`, but since it will execute a `continue` block, it may be more entertaining.

          while (EXPR) {        ### redo always comes here        do_something;    } continue {        ### next always comes here        do_something_else;        # then back the top to re-check EXPR    }    ### last always comes here

  Omitting the `continue` section is equivalent to using an empty one, logically enough, so `next` goes directly back to check the condition at the top of the loop.

  When there is no BLOCK, `continue` is a function that falls through the current `when` or `default` block instead of iterating a dynamically enclosing `foreach` or exiting a lexically enclosing `given`. In Perl 5.14 and earlier, this form of `continue` was only available when the `"switch"` feature was enabled. See feature and Switch Statements in perlsyn for more information.