Not in this case. First, i is declared and assigned a value of 0. Next, x is declared and assigned a value of -i or -0. On the first loop iteration, i will decrement to -1, perform the conditional check, then execute the loop body which will assign x to -i or -(-1) or positive 1, and so on.

The only time a variable is created without a value is if you declare one without assigning a value like with

[int]i;

[–] BassTurd@lemmy.world 4 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

I know. OP asked what x was before the loop, and I just said it's an int. The int can be any value because as you pointed out it will be set to 0 in the first loop iteration.

[–] OshaqHennessey@midwest.social 1 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Shit, you're right. x is declared inside the loop, so it doesn't exist until the loop begins execution.

Technically, I suppose you could say the compiler will allocate memory for x without assigning a value before the loop is executed and... I'm understanding what you mean now, I think.

[–] anton@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

The code seems to be C-style language with curly braces and types in front for variable declarations, probably java. This means the variable must be declared of screen before the loop or it would not compile. It could have a previous value or be uninitialized, but that does not affect the end result.

[–] BassTurd@lemmy.world 1 points 6 hours ago

I read in on C but it's also true for JavaScript. The code implies that x was declared as an int sometime previously, or if JavaScript, just an object if not assigned a value giving it a type.

[–] OshaqHennessey@midwest.social 1 points 6 hours ago

Yeah, it does look like C now that I think about it. You're right about the end result too. I believe C# will let you do inline declaration and assignment like that, so maybe that's what we're looking at? Been a while, could be wrong