// commented lines also checked by compiler?

[Vanitha Sugumaran]

Hi,
This question is from Abihilash's quiz.

public class ADirtyOne 
 { 
      //char a = '\u000A'; //(1)
 }

even though (1) is commented it gives compiler error. why?
if i change it like this there is no error.

public class ADirtyOne 
 { 
      /*char a = '\u000A'; */
 }

can anyone throw some light?
Thanks,
Vanitha

[Stella]

I checked that if the code is changed to :
//char a = 'c' ; //
then no any error. So I think the reason is related to the unicode form of the character.

[Vanitha Sugumaran]

Thanks for your reply.
I understand, this will cause error,
char a = '\u000A';
what is happening when we comment the line that has unicode value?
Vanitha.

[wei ma]

#!/usr/bin/perl 
public class ADirtyOne  
{       
  //char a = '\u000A'; //(1) 
}

I know it must be some thing with the 'u000A' unicode. Since the unicode is processed very early by the compiler, I guess you code is really
//char a =
; //
because the line feed is interrupted by the compiler before the assignment.
What I am not sure is I typed the code as I thought

#!/usr/bin/perl 
public class ADirtyOne  
{       
  //char a = 
  ; //(1) 
}

and it compiles OK. Anyone has a better idea?

[Guoqiao Sun]

Hi, the code:

public class ADirtyOne  
{       
  //char a = 
  ; //(1) 
}

compiles ok because <code>;</code> is simply an empty statement.
You can also compile the following without error:

public class ADirtyOne  
{       
  //char a = 
  ; //(1) 
  ;
  ;
  ; //etc
}

Hope it helps.
Guoqiao

Originally posted by wei ma:
[B]

#!/usr/bin/perl 
public class ADirtyOne  
{       
  //char a = '\u000A'; //(1) 
}

I know it must be some thing with the 'u000A' unicode. Since the unicode is processed very early by the compiler, I guess you code is really
//char a =
; //
because the line feed is interrupted by the compiler before the assignment.
What I am not sure is I typed the code as I thought

#!/usr/bin/perl 
public class ADirtyOne  
{       
  //char a = 
  ; //(1) 
}

and it compiles OK. Anyone has a better idea?
[/B]

[Alokesh Phukan]

'\u000A' is actually the unicode value for linefeed. And it is an error if either a linefeed or a carriage return('\u000d') appears after the first ' and before a second ' in a char literal.
Please refer to JLS 3.4 & 3.5 for understanding the special treatment by the compiler for unicode escape sequences.
- Alokesh

Originally posted by Vanitha Sugumaran:
Thanks for your reply.
I understand, this will cause error,
char a = '\u000A';
what is happening when we comment the line that has unicode value?
Vanitha.

[Eric Pramono]

Hi all,
I think that the code will look like this:
public class ADirtyOne {
//char a = '
'; //(1)
}
and that's what makes the compiler error.
please correct me if I'm wrong.
- eric

[Ashik Uzzaman]

The following also works fine!

public class One
{
  /*     //char a = '\u000A'; // (1) */
}

No problem with the /*...*/ or /** ... */ comments.
Only // creates problem for '\u000A'.....;(


------------------
azaman

[Eric Pramono]

Hi Azaman,
I think that's because /*..*/ doesn't care about LF in it..
but // will only comment out the line following it, so an LF would totally screw it up.
- eric

[Ashik Uzzaman]

Never mind Eric,
What's LF?

------------------
azaman

[Eric Pramono]

Hi Azaman,
LF = line feed
CR = carriage return
it's one of those character inserted after each lines.. so that it'll start on the next line.
- eric

[Ashik Uzzaman]

Thnx Eric,
Line Feed (LF) is "\n" and prints a newline character to take the cursor to the next line and Carrige ruturn (CR) is to take the focus on the first character of the line overriding others if any. Right?


------------------
azaman

[Eric Pramono]

Yup.
that's exactly what I'm trying to say.
- eric

[Vanitha Sugumaran]

Thanks all for your reply. Eric, so the compiler will read the unicode values first, right?
//char a = '\u000B;
This works fine.
Vanitha.

[Samith Nambiar]

hi here are my thoughts on this topic
1. //char a = '\u000A'; //
this line gives a compiler error inspite of being commented because unicode escapes are processed very early during the compilation process .... and so \u000A is treated as a LF which totally distorts the line.
2. /*char a = '\u000A'; */
this type of comment does not give an error because it is a multiline comment and does accept a line feed inside the comment
hope that helps
Samith.P.Nambiar
<pre>
\```/
(o o) harder u try luckier u get
-------oOO--(_)--OOo----------------------------
</pre>

[wei ma]

Thanks eric, I finally understand now, I guess this is the same deal for '\u000d' ?
Wei

Hi all,
I think that the code will look like this:
public class ADirtyOne {
//char a = '
'; //(1)
}
and that's what makes the compiler error.
please correct me if I'm wrong.
- eric

[Eric Pramono]

To Vanitha:
Yes, I believe that's correct. The compiler will process all Unicode values first, even before checking the Java syntax.
To Wei Ma:
Here's an example for carriage return

public class X {
    public static void main (String[] args) {
//        char a='\u000d' int i=1;
//        \u000d i=9;
        System.out.println(i);
    }
}

please not that in the 3rd line, the '\u000d' (CR) will reset the line, and therefore will erase the comment-mark, and become a simple statement:
int i=1;
in the 4th line, again CR will reset the comment-mark, and become a simple statement:
i=9;
hope this helps..
- eric

[Vanitha Sugumaran]

Thanks Eric for your explanation.
Vanitha.

[Rashmi Hosalli]

Hi Eric,
your code:
public class X
{
public static void main (String[] args)
{
// char a='\u000d' int i=1;
// \u000d i=9;
System.out.println(i);
}
}
Does not compile.I get the following
1. unclosed character literal on line 6 i.e \u000d i=9;
2. cannot resolve symbol for variable i.
I know that 2 is obvious as 1 did not go thro'...
Can you tell me what's happening here?
Thanks,
Rashmi

[Eric Pramono]

Hi Rashmi,
Thanks for pointing that out.
It's interesting to note that my previous code compiles well in Jdk1.2.2., but when I try and compile it in Jdk1.3., it gives the compiler error as you mentioned.
So, I try the following code (removing the closing ' from variable a declaration):

public class X {
    public static void main (String[] args) {
        // char a='\u000d int i=1;
        // \u000d i=9; 
        System.out.println(i); 
    }
}

This time, it compiles and gives the same result (9) in both Jdk1.2.2. and Jdk1.3. My assumption is Jdk1.2.2 has a bug in its compiler, either:
1) ignoring the closing ', which in turn will act like this:
' int i=1;
and, allowed it.
Note: I've tried to declare a variable with ' in the beginning of the line and it didn't compile (of course ), so this is not the bug with compiler.
2) or.. it will regard either '\u000d' or '\u000d as the same CR character, and will result in:
int i=1;
Note: I have even tried using \u000d' (without the beginning '), it didn't compile in Jdk1.3., but it gives me (9) in result, while I'm using Jdk1.2.2.
So, my assumption is that Jdk1.2.2. compiler sees: '\u000d', '\u000d, \u000d' as the same.
please correct me if I'm wrong.
- eric

[Vanitha Sugumaran]

Hi Eric, I am using jdk/1.2.2 it is working without any ''.

public class X {  
  public static void main (String[] args) {
  //        char a= \u000d int i=1;
  //        \u000d i=9;       
  System.out.println(i);    }}

Vanitha.

[Rashmi Hosalli]

Thanks Eric...it did work.I think you are right.
Rashmi

[Eric Pramono]

Hi Vanitha,
yes, I believe if you try without ' ' then it'll gives the same result, because it just clears the line and start with the next sequence of character in the line to be parsed.
- eric