what exactly is the purpose of the return keword in a void method ?

[sarim raza]

i think it is optional to use return //(without expression)
in a method that has a void return type.
what does this return; //(without expression)
accomplish, does it behave exactly like break ?
according to my understanding it immediately escapes the current method and tranfers control to the caller of the method, am i right ?
what if break were used instead, wouldnt it accomplish exactly the same result, please clarify !!

[Ajith Kallambella]

Your understanding is right. The return statement at the end of the void method is redundant, though nice to have from a desciplined programming perspective. However the return statement in places other than the last line of the method helps stop the execution of following code and return the control to the calling method. This can be very helpful if you want to stop execution and return from a deeply nested control block. For example,

if ( condition1 )
{
    if ( not condition2 or condition3 )
    {
         while( ) { .. . }
         if ( condition3 and someothercondition )
              // do something
         else
              return ;
    }
    else
    {
         // some other complex code block
    }
}       

The break statement may not serve as an alternative to the return statement since it ( former ) can be used only in loop-structures. In the example above, since the control is in a if-block, we cannot use the break statement.
Hope that helps,
Ajith

[naveen sahu]

Originally posted by Ajith Kallambella:

The break statement may not serve as an alternative to the return statement since it ( former ) can be used only in loop-structures.

Ajith
but i think break can be used any where there is a possibility of creating a local scope. whether it may be a if-else or swith or try-catch etc construct.
here is supporting code.

<pre>
class Test {
public static void main(String arg[]) {
int i=8;
label1:
if (i>3)
{
System.out.println("label allowed");
break label1;
}
label2:
switch(i)
{
case 1: System.out.println("again allowed");
break label2;
}

label3:
try {
System.out.println("again allowed");
break label3;
}
catch(RuntimeException re) {}
}
}
</pre>

[Vladimir Kositsky]

According to Mughal break can be used in" labeled blocks, loops( for, while , do-while), switch statements".
in continuation of original question : some expressions and statements resulting the return of a program flow,as result sometimes an exspression never reached by a program flow. Whether exist a scope of those conditions or norms?