Java - A method without a return statement

When learning Java, you probably encounter a quiz that asks what will happen when a method has no return statement.

The quiz would go as follows:

If a method does not have a return statement, then:

• a. it will produce a syntax error when compiled
• b. it must be a void method
• c. it cannot be called from outside the class that defined the method
• d. it must be defined to be a public method
• e. it must be an int, double, float, or String method

The answer to the question above is b.

This is because a Java method with a void return type returns nothing.

For example, the following hello() method prints a message to the console without returning anything:

void hello() {
    System.out.println("Hello World!");
}

When you change the return type to one of the valid Java types, an error will be thrown without a return statement:

int hello() {
    System.out.println("Hello World!");
} // ERROR: Missing return statement

It doesn’t matter if the method is a public, protected, private, or default access level.

A method with a void return type will work fine when you omit the return statement.

The right answer to the quiz is b.