Why does this code work
void hello()
{
hello();
return;
}
while this does not
void hello(){return hello();}
Error:
java.java:13: error: incompatible types: unexpected return value
return hello();
(Please ignore the logical error)
The main question: Why cannot we return void to a void function?
Does Java by any means provide support another type of void, maybe a wrapper class called Void?
There is a way
class A {
Void a() {
// ...
return a();
}
}
but java.lang.Void is an uninstantiable representation of the void type meaning you can't make instances out of it (and, sensibly, you aren't supposed to). Eventually, you would need to return a value, it could be a null - the only "legit" one I can think of.
It has applications with generics and the Reflection API, but I doubt it being used here for the purpose of making a recursive method fancier (?).
class A {
Consumer<String> a() {
return System.out::println;
}
}
You might want to return an instance of a function that returns void. Then, a functional interface java.util.function.Consumer might be a good fit.
Actually, it could be any interface of the kind that would suit you best. For instance,
class A {
Runnable a() {
// ...
return () -> a();
}
}