Question

Why does the following fail:

while (true)
   int a;

if(true)
   int a;

if(true)
   int a = 5;

if(true)
  int a = somestaticfunction();

apperently if fails with: “invalid embedded statement error 88”
on visual studio.

Answer 1

Here is an good explanation of what is going on, it is part of the language specification. It seems Objective C, Java and C also have the same restrictions. You can work around it by enclosing your statements like so.

while(true)
    {int a;}

if(true)
    {int a;}

if(true)      
    {int a = 5;}      

if(true)      
    {int a = somestaticfunction();}