1.2.1238. Unconditional Break In Loop

An unconditional break in a loop creates dead code. Since the break is directly in the body of the loop, it is always executed, creating a strange loop that can only run once.

Here, break may also be a return, a goto or a continue. They all branch out of the loop. Such statement are valid, but should be moderated with a condition.

<?php

// return in loop should be in
function summAll($array) {
    $sum = 0;

    foreach($array as $a) {
        // Stop at the first error
        if (is_string($a)) {
            return $sum;
        }
        $sum += $a;
    }

    return $sum;
}

// foreach loop used to collect first element in array
function getFirst($array) {
    foreach($array as $a) {
        return $a;
    }
}

?>

1.2.1238.1. Suggestions

• Remove the loop and call the content of the loop once.

1.2.1238.2. Specs

Short name	Structures/UnconditionLoopBreak
Rulesets	All, Analyze, CE, CI-checks
Exakat since	0.12.16
PHP Version	All
Severity	Major
Time To Fix	Quick (30 mins)
Precision	Very high
Features	loop, break
Examples	LiveZilla, MediaWiki
Available in	Entreprise Edition, Community Edition, Exakat Cloud