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kotlinlang

Unconditional_return_problem.kt

Hey everyone -- kotlin novice here, stumped by a compiler error.

The `rw()` function is a stripped-down version of my original code (which had `synchronized` instead of `run`, and more complex code inside the `while` block).

Why doesn't rw() compile? It seems the compiler can figure out that the return is there with `run` or `while(true)` separately, but not when combined. The same thing happens if you switch the `while (true)` for an `if (true)`.

It's possible to work around the problem with an extra return after the loop, but it doesn't look great, and the IDE warns about unreachable code. Also, in a function with a non-nullable return value, you may not have a valid object to return (maybe `return null!!` would do?).

Anyway, does anyone have any idea? Is it a language limitation, a compiler bug, or am I just doing it wrong?