[SOLVED] Is this good programming practice?

[porchrat]

May seem like a strange question, but my experience with java is still pretty limited. I just wanted to know if this is good programming practice:

boolean runLoop = true;
while (runLoop = true)
{
     WHILE BODY
}

The general idea is that I create some sort of arbitrary boolean value, the sole purpose of which is to start a loop.

Is this acceptable or is it discouraged?

[SaSho]

If it must be the infinite loop you can write only

while ( true )
{
   //  WHILE BODY
}

[emceenugget]

maybe the poster meant while(runLoop == true) and not runLoop = true? that would be acceptable code, assuming that either there is a break in the loop or a condition where runLoop = false.

[SaSho]

that would be acceptable code, assuming that either there is a break in the loop or a condition where runLoop = false.

Maybe, but if runLoop is local method variable (I've supposed it because of serial code in the first post) code inside loop have to modify runLoop to false value and later check it for break... I think it's not good.
And poster wrote "the SOLE purpose of which is to start a loop". It means runLoop doesn't use in any another place, I think...

[paul pasciak]

I can think of two ways out of this loop.

You can use conditional tests within this
while loop, which if true, execute a "break".

or

You can place the while loop within a
try/catch statement. I've used code like
this to read a file:

try{
  while(true){
     //pseudo code
     read a line from a file;
  }
catch(Exception e){}

Translated this means,
"Try to do this forever thingy, unless it throws
an Exception."
Since I have no infinitely long file, an
exception will occur, causing try{}catch{}
to abandon the while loop.

The other purpose produces cleaner looking
code for traversing linked-lists (at least I think
it's cleaner looking, and easier to follow), but
this is a style isssue. I'm tempted to say it
improves code performance, but I haven't
tested that aspect of it yet.

I would not freak at seeing this kind of loop.

[porchrat]

maybe the poster meant while(runLoop == true) and not runLoop = true? that would be acceptable code, assuming that either there is a break in the loop or a condition where runLoop = false.

Sorry guys yes that is correct I meant

while (runLoop == true)

Sorry for the confusion, it was a typo. :(

[porchrat]

maybe the poster meant while(runLoop == true) and not runLoop = true? that would be acceptable code, assuming that either there is a break in the loop or a condition where runLoop = false.

That is pretty much what I was asking, thanks again guys, I am learning a lot from this forum. I was planning on using a runLoop = false; statement inside an 'if' statement, but I hadn't thought of using a break;

It seems easier to follow (for me anyway) with a runLoop = false statement instead of a break.

[mtyoung]

boolean runLoop = true;
while (runLoop)
{
    // WHILE BODY
    // runLoop may set to false
}

i think it is good

[shamsa]

the corrected one is good runLoop==true

goof luck ^^

[porchrat]

Thank you all again, you are a huge help. I will mark the thread solved.