PHP - Difference between break and continue in switch case

Question

What is the different between

switch (variable) {
        case 'value':
        # code...
        break;

        case 'value':
        # code...
        break;
}

and this one

switch (variable) {
        case 'value':
        # code...
        continue;

        case 'value':
        # code...
        continue;
}

It's really different result or just same?

Answer 1

This is a special case for PHP because, as stated by the official documentation:

Note: In PHP the switch statement is considered a looping structure for the purposes of continue. continue behaves like break (when no arguments are passed). If a switch is inside a loop, continue 2 will continue with the next iteration of the outer loop.

So in essence it means there is no actual difference between your two examples. However for clarity I think it would be best to use break as that is the standard in other languages. Note also that you could use continue 2 (or 3, 4...) to advance to the next iteration of a loop if the switch is inside a loop (or more).

Answer 2

In PHP the above two codes work in same way. Here the break and continue statement prevent control going to next case. That is the continue acts just like break here. Also switch is intended to be executed only once. It's not a loop. Hence continue is not relevant here.

Note:If there is loop enclosing this switch statement then the result will be different.