Error: not a statement when declaring a boolean in Java

Question

The following code:

boolean continue = false;

Returns the following error:

error: not a statement
  boolean continue = false;
          


        

Answer 1

You can't use continue as a name of a variable. It's one of java reserved words.

Answer 2

You cannot use continue as a variable name because it is a reserved word.

From the docs:

The continue statement skips the current iteration of a for, while, or do-while loop. The unlabeled form skips to the end of the innermost loop's body and evaluates the boolean expression that controls the loop.

You can tell that it is a keyword because, when you look at your question, continue has syntax highlighting applied, like boolean and false.

boolean continue = false;

That would be like writing

boolean boolean = false;

or

boolean false = false;

Both of those obviously won't work, so try something else like continuing:

boolean continuing = false;

Answer 3

Try this instead:

boolean cont = false;

Or use another name. The point is that in Java, continue is a keyword and it can't be used as a variable name - it's right here in the language specification. For future reference this is what continue is used for:

The continue statement skips the current iteration of a for, while, or do-while loop. The unlabeled form skips to the end of the innermost loop's body and evaluates the boolean expression that controls the loop.