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The break statement is an unconditional branching control flow construct in Java used to prematurely terminate the execution of the innermost enclosing switch statement or loop (for, while, or do-while). Upon execution, the JVM immediately transfers program control to the statement lexically following the terminated construct. Java supports two forms of the break statement: unlabeled and labeled.

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Unlabeled Break

The unlabeled break terminates the closest enclosing loop or switch block. In the context of nested constructs, it only halts the execution of the specific inner construct where it resides; outer loops or blocks continue their execution normally. 
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    if (i == 5) {
        break; // Terminates the innermost loop immediately
    }
    // Loop body execution
}
// Control flow resumes here after the break

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Labeled Break

The labeled break terminates an outer enclosing block identified by a specific label. A label is a valid Java identifier followed by a colon (:), placed immediately before the target block. This form overrides the default innermost-only termination rule, allowing control flow to exit multiple nested levels simultaneously. 
outerLoop: 
for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
    for (int j = 0; j < 5; j++) {
        if (i == 2 && j == 2) {
            break outerLoop; // Terminates the loop marked by 'outerLoop'
        }
    }
}
// Control flow resumes here after the labeled break

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Lexical Scope and Constraints

  • Context Restriction: An unlabeled break must be lexically enclosed within a switch, while, do-while, or for statement. A compilation error (break outside switch or loop) occurs if it is used outside these constructs.
  • Label Resolution: A labeled break must be enclosed within the block corresponding to the specified label. The label must exist in the current lexical scope; it cannot reference a label in a different method or an unrelated block.
  • Generic Block Termination: While predominantly associated with loops, a labeled break can technically terminate any labeled block (such as a generic {} code block), transferring control to the first statement following that specific block.
targetBlock: {
    int x = 10;
    if (x > 5) {
        break targetBlock; // Exits the generic block
    }
    x++; // Unreachable if the break executes
}
// Control flow resumes here
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