1Z0-811 Control Flow and Loops Practice Question
A novice developer wrote a condition: if (x = 10) { ... } What is the result?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates from other programming backgrounds (like C or JavaScript) may expect the assignment to be treated as a truthy value, but Java strictly requires a boolean condition, making this a compilation error.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Compilation error
In Java, the assignment operator `=` is used to assign a value, not to compare values. The condition `if (x = 10)` attempts to assign 10 to `x` within an `if` statement, which is not a boolean expression. Java requires the condition in an `if` statement to evaluate to a `boolean`, so this code will not compile. Option D is correct because the compiler will report an error, typically stating 'incompatible types: int cannot be converted to boolean'.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The condition always evaluates to true
Why it's wrong here
This would be true in some languages like C, but not Java.
- ✗
It executes the block if x equals 10
Why it's wrong here
Assignment is not comparison; syntax error.
- ✗
Runtime exception thrown
Why it's wrong here
No code runs.
- ✓
Compilation error
Why this is correct
x=10 is an assignment expression, returning int, which cannot be used as boolean.
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