Switch

[java4amanda]

hi all,

i was a going through a book on switch statements which said " case constant must be a compile time constant that is it is assigned a literal value as soon as it is declared" And it gave the following code as an example saying that if the user attempts to run the code it will throw compile time error. below mentioned is the code

final int a=1;

final int b;

b=2;

int x=0

switch(x)

case a: ok

case b: compile time error


ok, now when i tried using the above the concept it doesn't throw me any error. FYI my java version is 5.0 and the book is also for java 5

Can anyone explain?

Thank you and regards!!

[noobplus]

hi all,


case b: compile time error


ok, now when i tried using the above the concept it doesn't throw me any error. FYI my java version is 5.0 and the book is also for java 5

Did u use this code? 'x' is integer, but 'b' is a String

regards
dhilip

[java4amanda]

no i didn't

[JosAH]

Did u use this code? 'x' is integer, but 'b' is a String

Don't talk nonsense; nowhere in the code is b declared to be a String.

Jos

[Tolls]

ok, now when i tried using the above the concept it doesn't throw me any error. FYI my java version is 5.0 and the book is also for java 5

Can anyone explain?

Thank you and regards!!

I suspect the explanation is you didn't actually use the above code.
Show us the actual code you compiled.

[java4amanda]

grrr... the code that i mentioned above is just a sample code the book mentioned. am from my side i did some thing like this :


class Sws

{

public static void main(String[] ags)

{

final int x;

x=2;

switch(x)

{

case 1:

System.out.println("1");

break;

case 2:

System.out.println("2");

break;

default:

System.out.println("default");

}

}

}

Now this code using java 5 compiles fine. now the book named scjp by kathy sierra also for java 5 says that the above code will throw error unless am assigning the variable x in one single line.

what is the issue? was that a typing mistake by the book or what?

[Tolls]

As I suspected.
Can you spot the difference between your code here and that in your first post?
None of your case checks use a variable (whether final or not), whereas in your first post the case checks were against 'a' and 'b'.

Whether 'x' (the variable being checked in the switch) is a compile time constant or not is irrelevant.

[JosAH]

Now this code using java 5 compiles fine. now the book named scjp by kathy sierra also for java 5 says that the above code will throw error unless am assigning the variable x in one single line.

what is the issue? was that a typing mistake by the book or what?

The book is wrong and the code is fine; according to the JLS:

4.12.4 final Variables
A variable can be declared final. A final variable may only be assigned to once. It is a compile time error if a final variable is assigned to unless it is definitely unassigned (§16) immediately prior to the assignment.
A blank final is a final variable whose declaration lacks an initializer.

kind regards,

Jos

[java4amanda]

yes yes i knew it but i then the next question that comes is am i going through wrong book for scjp?

[JosAH]

yes yes i knew it but i then the next question that comes is am i going through wrong book for scjp?

I don't think so although it surprises me a bit that Kathy Sierra made such an obvious blooper; otoh, there are many Java books that only deserve to be in the fire place; people think they can make money just by putting 'Java' on the cover of their book while the inside just contains utter crap.

kind regards,

Jos

[Tolls]

Can you post exactly the code in the Kathy Sierra book, because as I said, your code in post #1 is completely different to the code in post #6.
The original code highlights the problem described in the quoted text:
"
case constant must be a compile time constant that is it is assigned a literal value as soon as it is declared
"
Your code in post #6 does not.

[java4amanda]

I don't think so although it surprises me a bit that Kathy Sierra made such an obvious blooper; otoh, there are many Java books that only deserve to be in the fire place; people think they can make money just by putting 'Java' on the cover of their book while the inside just contains utter crap.

kind regards,

Jos

yes there are few more mistakes i encountered in kathy sierras' book. but this time i thought it was related to java version. thanks any ways for the response.

[java4amanda]

Can you post exactly the code in the Kathy Sierra book, because as I said, your code in post #1 is completely different to the code in post #6.
The original code highlights the problem described in the quoted text:
"
case constant must be a compile time constant that is it is assigned a literal value as soon as it is declared
"
Your code in post #6 does not.

hey dude the code at post no 6 is mine. but the code at post no 1 is sierras'... : ) any ways i got the answer from the moderator!!! thank you!!

[Tolls]

hey dude the code at post no 6 is mine. but the code at post no 1 is sierras'... : ) any ways i got the answer from the moderator!!! thank you!!

Which means the book is correct.
As I would expect from a Kathy Sierra book.