Facts about while loop in java
Let's take a look at some of the facts about while loop in java
Fact 1
Condition in while loop should always be boolean. You will get compile time
error if it's anything other than boolean
while(true){
}
This is a valid while loop
while(1){
}
while(1.0){
}
while(-1){
}
The above statements are invalid
Fact 2
Curly braces for while loops are optional. But if they are not used then the
while loop can have at most 1 statement and it should not be a declaration.
while(true){
}
This is valid
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while(true);
This is valid
while(true)
int x = 100;
This is not valid
while(true){
int x = 100;
}
This is valid
When should you use the while loop?
While loop is majorly used in scenarios where we don’t know the no. of
iterations upfront. Here are some of the scenarios where the while loop is
used
Working with resultset object while working with databases
while([Link]()){
}
Used with enums to get more elements
while([Link]()){
}
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Used to get next elements from iterators
while([Link]()){
}
Let’s take a look at some of the while loop examples and draw some
conclusions from it
Example 1
while(true){
[Link]("Hello");
}
[Link]("Hi");
The above program is invalid
Reason: this while loop is infinite loop and statement outside loop is
unreachable. Hence compile time error.
Example 2
while(false){
[Link]("Hello");
}
[Link]("Hi");
The above program is invalid
Reason: while loop is never executed and statement inside loop is
unreachable. Hence compile time error.
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Example 3
int a =10, b =20;
while(a<b){
[Link]("Hello");
}
[Link]("Hi");
The above code is invalid
Output will be →
Hello
Hello
….
Infinite times
Even though this is an infinite loop, we did not get a statement reachable
compile time error like we got in the first case above. Because, the
compiler does not check if the statement is a valid statement by substituting
the values. It just checks that it's an expression which returns boolean
value and then leaves for jvm to execute.
In the first case, it was not an expression but a hardcoded value and hence
the compiler caught, but it won’t catch in this case since value of a and b
can change during runtime.
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Example 4
int a =10, b =20;
while(a>b){
[Link]("Hello");
}
[Link]("Hi");
This is valid program
Output → Hi
We did not get a compile time error since it's an expression which returns
boolean. Compiler doesn't substitute values to check if a statement
evaluates to false. It gives the code a go ahead and hence it compiles fine.
Example 5
final int a =10, b =20;
while(a<b){
[Link]("Hello");
}
[Link]("Hi");
The above code is invalid
Compile time error : unreachable statement
Since the values are declared as final, compiler will substitute and check
during compile time, since compiler is aware that those values won’t
change and hence it figures out that statement which prints “Hi” won’t be
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executed ever and the while loop is an infinite loop. Hence it throws a
compile time error.
Example 6
final int a =10, b =20;
while(a>b){
[Link]("Hello");
}
[Link]("Hi");
The above code is invalid
Compile time error : unreachable statement
Reason : compiler is aware loop body won't be executed ever since values
are declared as final
Things to remember about final variables
Final variables : every final variable will be replaced by the actual value at
the time of compilation only. For example
Case 1 :
final int x = 10;
int y = 20;
[Link]("Value of x : " + x);
[Link]("Value of y : " + y);
On compilation :
[Link]("Value of x : " + 10);
[Link]("Value of y : " + y);
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Case 2 :
In case of expressions with final variable : expression is evaluated and
code is compiled
final int x = 10;
int y = 20;
final int z = 30;
[Link]("Value of x : " + x);
[Link]("Value of y : " + y);
[Link]("Value of x+z : " + (x+z));
[Link]("Value of x+y : " + (x+y));
On compilation :
[Link]("Value of x : " + 10);
[Link]("Value of y : " + y);
[Link]("Value of x+z : " + 40);
[Link]("Value of x+y : " + (10+y));
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