When would you put a semicolon after a method closing brace?

Question

I\'ve been programming in Java for a while, and I\'ve just come across this syntax for the first time:

public Object getSomething(){return something;}; 


        

Answer 1

It's allowed by the grammar as a concession to harmless syntax errors, but it's not generally used and doesn't mean anything different (than leaving the semicolon out).

Just as a }; inside a method (such as after an if block) is a null statement and is allowed, an errant semicolon outside a method is considered a null declaration and is allowed.

Specifically, the following production from the Java Language Specification allows this:

ClassBodyDeclaration:
  ; 
  [static] Block
  ModifiersOpt MemberDecl

Answer 2

It's simply an empty statement - it is most likely a typo.

Consider the fact that in all C-based languages, a statement is terminated with a semicolon. A hanging semicolon like this simply terminates the current statement which in this case is nothing.

Answer 3

A semicolon is interpreted as an empty statement, which is permissible whereever a statement is permissible.

EmptyStatement:
 ;

As Java specification says

http://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jls/se7/html/jls-14.html#jls-14.6

Answer 4

Or is it just something that is allowed but generally not used?

Yeap, that's it. It is valid Java but doesn't do anything:

public class X  {
    ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
    ;;;;;
    ;
}