What is wrong with this function??

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bunallo - 26 Feb 2005 18:58 GMT

This function will not compile:

public int getInt(int p){

switch(p){
case 1:
return 2;
case 2:
return 3;
case 3:
return 3;
default:
System.out.println("No such input allowed");
}
}

But it returns an int!

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Tilman Bohn - 26 Feb 2005 19:20 GMT

[...]

> default:
> System.out.println("No such input allowed");

[...]

> But it returns an int!

Can you see the disparity between reality and your claim? ;-)

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Cheers, Tilman

`Boy, life takes a long time to live...' -- Steven Wright

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bunallo - 27 Feb 2005 00:41 GMT

> [...]
> > default:
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> Can you see the disparity between reality and your claim? ;-)

I can see the problem but it seems odd just to return an arbitrary integer
in the default case....

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Patricia Shanahan - 27 Feb 2005 01:36 GMT

>>[...]
>>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> I can see the problem but it seems odd just to return an arbitrary integer
> in the default case....

So what should it do for that case? After you output the
message, what is your program supposed to do next? Maybe you
should consider throwing an exception, so that the caller
also knows what went wrong? Or calling System.exit, if it
is definitely fatal?

Patricia

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Tilman Bohn - 27 Feb 2005 01:51 GMT

[...]

>> > default:
>> > System.out.println("No such input allowed");

[...]

> I can see the problem but it seems odd just to return an arbitrary integer
> in the default case....

There are two possibilites: Either the default case is to be regarded
as something more or less `normal'. Then you should return an appropri-
ate value. Or the default case is something exceptional that you cannot
handle. Then you should throw an appropriate Exception. There is no
third way for a method to exit, and certainly System.out.println() is
not such a third way.

Signature

Cheers, Tilman

`Boy, life takes a long time to live...' -- Steven Wright

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klynn47@comcast.net - 26 Feb 2005 20:30 GMT

You have to make sure that you have a return for all cases. There is no
return for the default case.

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Tor Iver Wilhelmsen - 27 Feb 2005 09:37 GMT

> You have to make sure that you have a return

... or an exception throw...

> for all cases. There is no return for the default case.

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Hal Rosser - 26 Feb 2005 21:33 GMT