Unreachable code error vs. dead code warning in Java under Eclipse?

The first does not compile (you got an error), the second compiles (you just got a warning). That’s the difference.

As to why Eclipse detects dead code, well, that’s just the convenience of an integrated development tool with a built-in compiler which can be finetuned more as opposed to JDK to detect this kind of code.

Update: the JDK actually eliminates dead code.

public class Test {
    public void foo() {
        System.out.println("foo");
        if(true)return;
        System.out.println("foo");
    }
    public void bar() {
        System.out.println("bar");
        if(false)return;
        System.out.println("bar");
    }
}

javap -c says:

public class Test extends java.lang.Object{
public Test();
  Code:
   0:   aload_0
   1:   invokespecial   #1; //Method java/lang/Object."":()V
   4:   return

public void foo();
  Code:
   0:   getstatic       #2; //Field java/lang/System.out:Ljava/io/PrintStream;
   3:   ldc             #3; //String foo
   5:   invokevirtual   #4; //Method java/io/PrintStream.println:(Ljava/lang/StrV
   8:   return

public void bar();
  Code:
   0:   getstatic       #2; //Field java/lang/System.out:Ljava/io/PrintStream;
   3:   ldc             #5; //String bar
   5:   invokevirtual   #4; //Method java/io/PrintStream.println:(Ljava/lang/String;)V
   8:   getstatic       #2; //Field java/lang/System.out:Ljava/io/PrintStream;
   11:  ldc             #5; //String bar
   13:  invokevirtual   #4; //Method java/io/PrintStream.println:(Ljava/lang/String;)V
   16:  return

}

As to why it (Sun) doesn’t give a warning about that, I have no idea 🙂 At least the JDK compiler has actually DCE (Dead Code Elimination) builtin.