Control Flow

The control flow is the path of execution through a program.

Related concepts:  SequenceConditionalLoop

Closest Wikipedia entry:  Control flow

Misconceptions about Control Flow

34 documented Misconceptions

CatchAlwaysExecutes — Java

Catch blocks always get executed

CatchProvidesOptions — Java

Only the necessary part of a catch block executes

ConditionOneOutEdge — Java

A condition node in a control-flow graph can have a single outgoing edge

ConditionalIsSequence — Java

If-else is equivalent to sequence of two ifs

ConditionalIsSequence — Python

If-else is equivalent to sequence of two ifs

ConditionalIsSequence — Scratch

If-then-else block is equivalent to sequence of two if-then blocks

ConditionalOperatorNotExpression — JavaScript

The conditional operator is not an expression

DeferredReturn — Java

A return statement in the middle of a method doesn't return immediately

DeferredReturn — Python

A return statement in the middle of a function doesn't return immediately

ElsIf — Java

There is an elsif keyword for multi-way conditional statements

ElseAlwaysExecutes — Java

The else branch of an if-else statement always executes

ElseAlwaysExecutes — Scratch

The else branch of an if-then-else block always executes

ForIsConditional — Java

The body of a for statement executes at most once

IfIsLoop — Java

The body of an if statement executes repeatedly, as long as the condition holds

IfIsLoop — Python

The body of an if-statement executes repeatedly, as long as the condition holds

IfRequiresElse — Java

Every if statement requires an else

InterproceduralEdge — Java

In an intra-procedural control-flow graph, method call nodes point to the called method

LoopTerminatingCondition — Java

For and while loops end when the condition becomes true

MissingElseTerminates — Scratch

Blocks following an if without else will not execute if the condition is false

NoShortCircuit — Java

&& and || always evaluate both operands

NoShortCircuit — Python

and/or always evaluate both operands

OutsideInFunctionNesting — Python

Nested function calls are invoked outside in

PreIncrementBeforeLoop — Java

Pre-increment in update part of for loop means increment before loop body

RecursiveFunctionNeedsIfElse — Python

A recursive function needs to contain an if-else statement

RecursiveMethodNeedsIfElse — Java

A recursive method needs to contain an if-else statement

RepeatDistributes — Scratch

Each block in a loop is repeated individually

ResetStateEachLoopIteration — Scratch

The computation of all loop iterations starts from the state before the loop

ReturnNoOutEdge — Java

In a control-flow graph, a return statement has no outgoing edge

RightToLeftChaining — Python

Chained accesses are invoked from right to left

StatementMultipleOutEdges — Java

A non-condition node in a control-flow graph can have multiple outgoing edges

TryCatchMandatory — Java

If code could throw an exception, you must surround that code with a try/catch block

TryFinishes — Java

Exceptions get thrown at the end of the try block

ZeroInEdges — Java

A control-flow graph node (other than the entry node) can have zero incoming edges

ZeroOutEdges — Java

A control-flow graph node (other than the exit node) can have zero outgoing edges