C# Empty Statement

Question

The C# language specification defines the empty-statement grammar production, which allows me to do something like this:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    ; ; ;
}

Why would Microsoft include this grammar production in the C# language? Does it have a useful purpose?

Answer 1

C# inherits a lot from the C family, where you can do things like

for (i = 0; i < n; v[i++] = 1);

or

while (testSomeCondition());

That is, run a loop with an empty body where the "meat" is inside the brackets.

While one can debate about their merits and dangers, these are pretty common programming idioms in the C programming world, so this backward compatibility makes it easier for C/C++/Java programmers to learn C#.