Java Code Compilation error if not used braces with if [duplicate]

Question

Why does the following code give a compilation error?

if (true)
    int p=10;

The following similar code works if I use block:

if (true) {
    int p=10;
}

I am using Eclipse IDE. Please let me know the exact reason why we can't do the first one.

Answer 1

You can't declare a variable without a scope. Therefore, you need the braces in order to declare p.

If p was declared outside the if statement, you could have assigned a value to it in the if statement without using braces.

int p;
if (true)
     p = 10;