CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javarecursioncompiler-errorsreturn
Lsooties
Lsooties

Reputation: 59

Missing return statement Error

I just started writing recursive methods. One of my methods for powers of ten is giving me a missing return type error.

public static double powerOfTen(int n)
{

 if (n == 0)
  return 1;

 if(n > 0)
  return (10 * powerOfTen(n - 1));

 if(n < 0)
  return (1 / powerOfTen(n - 1));

}

I'm pretty new so any explanation will be appreciated.

////// Edit This worked out for me, for negative and positive powers of ten. Thanks for your help :D

public static double powerOfTen(int n)
{

 if(n > 0)
  return (10 * powerOfTen(n - 1));

 if(n < 0)
  return (1 / powerOfTen( (-1)*(n) ));


 return 1;

}

Upvotes: 2

Views: 297

Answers (3)

Suresh Atta
Suresh Atta

Reputation: 121998

Please change your code:

The point is clear: If that statement is false, I don't want the function to continue,so i'l return which you missed.

 public static double powerOfTen(int n)
    {
     if(n>1){             //check for positive n value
     if(n > 0){
      return (10 * powerOfTen(n - 1));
    }else if(n < 0){
      return (1 / powerOfTen(n - 1));
    }
    }
      return something;  //here error
    }

As a side note for best practices please use { } between if else statements.

Upvotes: 0

ChrisF
ChrisF

Reputation: 180

The compiler is not doing a range-coverage test so it doesn't notice that your code covers all possible values of int n, and thus the error.

Upvotes: 1

Jean-Bernard Pellerin
Jean-Bernard Pellerin

Reputation: 12670

Try:

public static double powerOfTen(int n)
{
 if(n > 0)
  return (10 * powerOfTen(n - 1));

 if(n < 0)
  return (1 / powerOfTen(n - 1));

  return 1;
}

The compiler thinks it can't guarantee that there's always a value being returned since all the returns are in if statements. Doing it this way takes away the confusion

Upvotes: 3

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