Why does while() sometimes go one step above?

Question

I keep coming across tasks where while goes above the value it is supposed to. For an example:

int i = 9, x = 2;
while(i-->3)
{
++x;
if(x<=4) continue;
else if(x<=6) x+=3;
else break;
}

In this case while will break after 4 loops, x will first be 3, then 4, then 5 and then 6+3=9. Why does it get to 5 when it's set to stop continuing after 4? Can someone please explain this?

Answer 1

Continue does not mean stop continuing. It means that everything after continue will not be executed and the control returns to the beginning of the loop.

Answer 2

continue statement causes to skip instructions next to that and proceeds with next iteration.
In that code, if condition fails when 5<=4, and else if part get executed, in next iteration breaks the loop..

Continue means only skip correct iteration right now, and continue with next iteration..