Search code examples
for-loopbreakgoto

Is there any language that allows a break through multiple loops?


break interrupts a for-loop in most languages, but in the case of nested loops I have never encountered an n-th order break.
1. Is there such a thing in any language?
2. If so what is the correct name for it?
3. If not, why?
NB. I am not looking for workarounds.

Regarding point 3. The closest thing I know is goto, which should not be used as it leads to spaghetti code (Python has it only in a joke module), but this seems like a different problem as a boolean variable to mark an inner break, catching a raised a custom error or moving the block to a function in order to break with return are a lot more convoluted (in terms of line numbers and variables in the code).

(This is a curiosity question from a theoretical point of view, but if it helps, I code primarily in Python, Matlab and JS. I have know Perl, Pascal and Basic, but I know only the basics of C++ and know shamefully little of machine code.)


Solution

  • Java has a labeled break statement that lets you break out of any number of loops:

    search:
        for (i = 0; i < arrayOfInts.length; i++) {
            for (j = 0; j < arrayOfInts[i].length;
                 j++) {
                if (arrayOfInts[i][j] == searchfor) {
                    foundIt = true;
                    break search; // <<=== This statement breaks both nested loops
                }
            }
        }