Java do nothing

Question:

What is the equivalent to Python’s pass in Java? I realize that I could use continue or not complete the body of a statement to achieve that effect, but I like having a pass statement.

Asked By: goodcow

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Answers:

;

; is the empty statement. Usually, you don’t need it – you can just put nothing in the brackets for an empty loop – but it can be useful.

Answered By: user2357112

Just use a semi-colon ;, it has the same effect.

Answered By: James

If you want something noticeable, you can use

assert true;

This will allow you to have something that a reader can recognize or that can be searched for.

Answered By: sabbahillel

There is no (strict) equivalent since in java you have to specify the return type for the method in its declaration which is then checked against a computed type of the following the return statement. So for methods that have a return type – neither semicollon nor leaving empty braces will work;

I personally use: throw new java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException("Not supported yet."); – this is searchable, alerts you that the method is not implemented and is compatible with the strict return types.

I feel, there is no construct in Java identical to pass in Python. This is mostly because Java is a statically typed language where as Python is a dynamically typed language. More so when you are defining a method / function. In that context, the provided answers are valid / correct only for a method that returns void.

For example for a Python function

def function_returns_void:
    pass

you can have a Java method

public void function_returns_void(){}

or

public void function_returns_void(){;}

but when a method is supposed to return a value, while pass may still work in Python, one will stuck with compilation problem when not returning a value.

Answered By: Gro

I normally use something like:

"".isEmpty(); // do nothing

It’s useful to be able to have a line of code which does nothing when debugging. You can put a breakpoint on that line, which is especially useful if it would usually be an empty block of code (e.g. empty catch block etc), as putting a breakpoint on an empty line can create confusion about where the breakpoint is actually set.

Answered By: Adam Burley
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