whats the difference between

why doesnt the compiler give an error when u have

Code:

---

else

---

Code:

---

else;

---

whats the difference or there is none?

the compiler recognizes else as a keyword and expects either an opening { followed by one or more statement and then a closing } or else it assumes that the next statement is a single line to be controlled by the else. A statement is a line of code ending with a semicolon.


Therefore else by itself is incomplete and else followed immediately by a semicolon basically means do nothing.

Code:

---

if(true)
  doThis();
else
{
  doThat();//statement controlled by else
}
 
if(true)
  doThis();
else
  doThat();//statement controlled by else
 
 
if(true)
  doThis();
else; //do nothing, since the statement controlled by else is empty

---

this should be perfectly legal

Code:

---

if(condition) {
    do something
}
else
    ;

---

It sees the semicolon as a blank line, so it does nothing for the else.

Kind of like

Code:

---

while(1)
    ;
// or
while(1);

---

That does nothing forever.

it is, but it's a completely different concept... that has to do with the way statements are structured, not the "empty else" as my programming teacher used to call it