Why can't I throw an exception while using the ternary operator

Question

This doesn't compile and gives the following error: Illegal start of expression. Why?

public static AppConfig getInstance() {
    return mConfig != null ? mConfig : (throw new RuntimeException("error"));
}

Answer 1

You may write an utility method

public class Util
{
  /** Always throws {@link RuntimeException} with the given message */
  public static <T> T throwException(String msg)
  {
      throw new RuntimeException(msg);
  }
}

And use it like this:

public static AppConfig getInstance() 
{
    return mConfig != null ? mConfig : Util.<AppConfig> throwException("error");
}