Thread: Random Boolean in an if statement (tricky, can't seem to figure out)

Okay, so I have a class and in this class I have a method that runs a random boolean generator and I want to make it so that, depending on the value, it does one thing or the other. It's part of the battle class of my console game, Dungeoneer.(Which I will make a thread for soon, I may need help there lol).

Anyhow, here is the current code, and it has a massive error that I can't seem to work around. Basically, I want
to make the method blockCheck be a part of the battle system and essentially it works like this: "if player block true then take no damage, else take random damage(which I'll make shortly).

import java.util.Random;
 
//This class is the battle system
 
public class Battle {
 
    private static Random rnd = new Random();
 
    public static boolean blockCheck() {
        return rnd.nextBoolean();
        if (blockCheck() == false) {
            //TODO block code
        }
        else {
           //TODO damage code
 
       }
   }
 
}

So, what can I do to make this if statement work without error(aside from actually putting code in it)?

Originally Posted by Xhalite

So, what can I do to make this if statement work without error(aside from actually putting code in it)?

What did that massive error say?
Always post the full text of your error message with the code and question.
What does this line do?
return rnd.nextBoolean();

The error on the if statement is "unreachable statement". The error on "public static boolean..." is "missing return statement, missing javadoc". I thought I did put in a return statement and I know the javadoc is known to my IDE(netbeans). What is wrong with this code?

also that line returns a random boolean value, so it'll randomly say true or false. But I need it to be put into an if statement somehow.

Unreachable statement.
Now think about the line of code we discussed, the one that returns a value. How can that if else ever be reached if you return a boolean one line earlier?


Think about the flow of the if statement:

if( myRandomBooleanGenerator.returnsTrue )
--then thisMethodReturnsTrue
--else thisMethodReturnsFalse

Can you see how the if/else is not even necessary?

Originally Posted by jps

Unreachable statement.
Now think about the line of code we discussed, the one that returns a value. How can that if else ever be reached if you return a boolean one line earlier?


Think about the flow of the if statement:

if( myRandomBooleanGenerator.returnsTrue )
--then thisMethodReturnsTrue
--else thisMethodReturnsFalse

Can you see how the if/else is not even necessary?

But the if statement is necessary, because I then use the blockCheck method to do exactly what it says, check if the player blocks or not based on the true/false(block/!block) in the Game class (which I might have to post). Maybe there's a better way? Perhaps I could use Math.random... Basically I'm calling blockCheck(); in a different class at certain points in the game.

Ok I see what you are doing with the if now.
The same thing applies to the return statement. When the method returns, that is the exit door. All code must be before the return statement

Thanks, I figured it out! I put the if statement before the return value and it worked like a charm!