Good question. I have not done any tests if it is quicker to use IF ELSE or CONTINUE. I used CONTINUE because it made the code easier to read and maintain (for me). There are quite a few checks that are being made and I reordered them as the function grew in size. Using CONTINUE helped me in knowing when the processing was finished for that part and I was ready to get the next character. The code "blocks" are easier for me to see, and edit, or highlight and move.