no-unreachable

Disallow unreachable code after return, throw, continue, and break statements

✅

Using the recommended config from @eslint/js in a configuration file enables this rule

Because the return, throw, break, and continue statements unconditionally exit a block of code, any statements after them cannot be executed. Unreachable statements are usually a mistake.

function fn() {
    x = 1;
    return x;
    x = 3; // this will never execute
}
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Another kind of mistake is defining instance fields in a subclass whose constructor doesn’t call super(). Instance fields of a subclass are only added to the instance after super(). If there are no super() calls, their definitions are never applied and therefore are unreachable code.

class C extends B {
    #x; // this will never be added to instances

    constructor() {
        return {};
    }
}
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Rule Details

This rule disallows unreachable code after return, throw, continue, and break statements. This rule also flags definitions of instance fields in subclasses whose constructors don’t have super() calls.

Examples of incorrect code for this rule:

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/*eslint no-unreachable: "error"*/

function foo() {
    return true;
    console.log("done");
}

function bar() {
    throw new Error("Oops!");
    console.log("done");
}

while(value) {
    break;
    console.log("done");
}

throw new Error("Oops!");
console.log("done");

function baz() {
    if (Math.random() < 0.5) {
        return;
    } else {
        throw new Error();
    }
    console.log("done");
}

for (;;) {}
console.log("done");
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Examples of correct code for this rule, because of JavaScript function and variable hoisting:

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/*eslint no-unreachable: "error"*/

function foo() {
    return bar();
    function bar() {
        return 1;
    }
}

function bar() {
    return x;
    var x;
}

switch (foo) {
    case 1:
        break;
        var x;
}
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Examples of additional incorrect code for this rule:

Open in Playground

/*eslint no-unreachable: "error"*/

class C extends B {
    #x; // unreachable
    #y = 1; // unreachable
    a; // unreachable
    b = 1; // unreachable

    constructor() {
        return {};
    }
}
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Examples of additional correct code for this rule:

Open in Playground

/*eslint no-unreachable: "error"*/

class D extends B {
    #x;
    #y = 1;
    a;
    b = 1;

    constructor() {
        super();
    }
}

class E extends B {
    #x;
    #y = 1;
    a;
    b = 1;

    // implicit constructor always calls `super()`
}

class F extends B {
    static #x;
    static #y = 1;
    static a;
    static b = 1;

    constructor() {
        return {};
    }
}
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Handled by TypeScript

It is safe to disable this rule when using TypeScript because TypeScript's compiler enforces this check.

TypeScript must be configured with allowUnreachableCode: false for it to consider unreachable code an error.

Version

This rule was introduced in ESLint v0.0.6.

Resources

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