Java: break statement in "if else"

Question

I keep getting an error, if without else.

I tried else if as well

for (;;) {
    System.out.println("---> Your choice: ");
    choice = input.nextInt();
    if (choice==1)
        playGame();
    if (choice==2)
        loadGame();
    if (choice==3)
        options();
    if (choice==4)
        credits();
    if (choice==5)
        System.out.println("End of Game\n Thank you for playing with us!");
        break;
    else
        System.out.println("Not a valid choice!\n Please try again...\n");
}

Also if you have a better idea on how to present this code please do not hesitate :)

Answer 1

tl;dr

Use Arrow labels in Java 14+.

    switch ( choice )
    {
        case 1 -> game.playGame ( );
        case 2 -> game.loadGame ( );
        case 3 -> game.options ( );
        case 4 -> game.credits ( );
        case 5 ->
        {
            System.out.println ( "End of Game\n Thank you for playing with us!" );
            go = false; // Halt the game.
        }
        default -> System.out.println ( "Not a valid choice!\n Please try again...\n" );

Curly braces

As others noted, an if test without curly braces ({…}) executes only the code immediately following, when meeting its predicate.

if ( true ) 
System.out.println( "Prints only when predicate is met." ) ;
System.out.println( "Prints *always*. Has nothing to do with the `if` test." ) ;

if ( false ) 
System.out.println( "Prints only when predicate is met." ) ;
System.out.println( "Prints *always*. Has nothing to do with the `if` test." ) ;

See this code run at Ideone.com.

Prints only when predicate is met.
Prints *always*. Has nothing to do with the `if` test.
Prints *always*. Has nothing to do with the `if` test.

Tip: As a beginner in Java, always include the curly braces with your if.

Arrow labels

Modern Java (14+) offers alternate syntax for a switch statement.

This new Arrow labels feature arrived with Switch Expressions described in JEP 361. This feature allows "case L ->" labels instead of "case L :" labels. If a label is matched, then only the expression or statement to the right of the arrow is executed — no fall-through. Instead of an else, use default as a catch-all case.

This alternate syntax more clearly expresses what you are thinking. For multiple lines, use curly braces, as seen in case 5.

    switch ( choice )
    {
        case 1 -> game.playGame ( );
        case 2 -> game.loadGame ( );
        case 3 -> game.options ( );
        case 4 -> game.credits ( );
        case 5 ->
        {
            System.out.println ( "End of Game\n Thank you for playing with us!" );
            go = false; // Halt the game.
        }
        default -> System.out.println ( "Not a valid choice!\n Please try again...\n" );

Full example:

Scanner scanner = new Scanner ( System.in );
boolean go = true;
while ( go )
{
    Game game = new Game ( );

    System.out.println ( "---> Your choice: " );
    int choice = scanner.nextInt ( );
    switch ( choice )
    {
        case 1 -> game.playGame ( );
        case 2 -> game.loadGame ( );
        case 3 -> game.options ( );
        case 4 -> game.credits ( );
        case 5 ->
        {
            System.out.println ( "End of Game\n Thank you for playing with us!" );
            go = false; // Halt the game.
        }
        default -> System.out.println ( "Not a valid choice!\n Please try again...\n" );
    }
}

Here is a dummy Game implementation so you can try that code.

class Game
{
    public void playGame ( ) { System.out.println ( "Playing game." ); }

    public void loadGame ( ) { System.out.println ( "Loading." ); }

    public void options ( ) { System.out.println ( "Options." ); }

    public void credits ( ) { System.out.println ( "Credits." ); }
}

Answer 2

Where some went there to provide alternative implementation of code the reason that the op code does not work is a missing {} pair;

    if (choice==5) {
        System.out.println("End of Game\n Thank you for playing with us!");
        break;
    } else

Answer 3

The "break" command does not work within an "if" statement.

If you remove the "break" command from your code and then test the code, you should find that the code works exactly the same without a "break" command as with one.

"Break" is designed for use inside loops (for, while, do-while, enhanced for and switch).

Answer 4

Because your else isn't attached to anything. The if without braces only encompasses the single statement that immediately follows it.

if (choice==5)
{
    System.out.println("End of Game\n Thank you for playing with us!");
    break;
}
else
{
   System.out.println("Not a valid choice!\n Please try again...\n");
}

Not using braces is generally viewed as a bad practice because it can lead to the exact problems you encountered.

In addition, using a switch here would make more sense.

int choice;
boolean keepGoing = true;
while(keepGoing)
{
    System.out.println("---> Your choice: ");
    choice = input.nextInt();
    switch(choice)
    {
        case 1: 
            playGame();
            break;
        case 2: 
            loadGame();
            break;
        // your other cases
        // ...
        case 5: 
            System.out.println("End of Game\n Thank you for playing with us!");
            keepGoing = false;
            break;
        default:
            System.out.println("Not a valid choice!\n Please try again...\n");
     }
 }         

Note that instead of an infinite for loop I used a while(boolean), making it easy to exit the loop. Another approach would be using break with labels.

Answer 5

The issue is that you are trying to have multiple statements in an if without using {}. What you currently have is interpreted like:

if( choice==5 )
{
    System.out.println( ... );
}
break;
else
{
    //...
}

You really want:

if( choice==5 )
{
    System.out.println( ... );
    break;
}
else
{
    //...
}

Also, as Farce has stated, it would be better to use else if for all the conditions instead of if because if choice==1, it will still go through and check if choice==5, which would fail, and it will still go into your else block.

if( choice==1 )
    //...
else if( choice==2 )
    //...
else if( choice==3 )
    //...
else if( choice==4 )
    //...
else if( choice==5 )
{
    //...
}
else
    //...

---

A more elegant solution would be using a switch statement. However, break only breaks from the most inner "block" unless you use labels. So you want to label your loop and break from that if the case is 5:

LOOP:
for(;;)
{
    System.out.println("---> Your choice: ");
    choice = input.nextInt();
    switch( choice )
    {
        case 1:
            playGame();
            break;
        case 2:
            loadGame();
            break;
        case 2:
            options();
            break;
        case 4:
            credits();
            break;
        case 5:
            System.out.println("End of Game\n Thank you for playing with us!");
            break LOOP;
        default:
            System.out.println( ... );
    }
}

Instead of labeling the loop, you could also use a flag to tell the loop to stop.

bool finished = false;
while( !finished )
{
    switch( choice )
    {
        // ...
        case 5:
            System.out.println( ... )
            finished = true;
            break;
        // ...
    }
}