100 Java Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

3 Program structure

This chapter covers

• Mistakes that happen when using if–else chains
• Problems using while and for loops
• How to avoid pitfalls around the initialization of fields and classes
• Missing a call to a superclass method
• What happens if you accidentally declare a static field instead of an instance one

Java provides a number of constructions to alter the program control flow. These include branching statements (switch and if–else), loop statements (for and while), and so on. It is common for beginners to make mistakes in control flow statements, and it is a useful skill to be able to identify them. Such mistakes may result in visiting the wrong branch, having more loop iterations than expected, and other undesirable outcomes. ...