Is there a way to end a method that has no return type?

Question

Without using an exception, as they are costly I am told, and without using may if then statements, is it possible to end a method if some criteria isn't met.
example.
public void doThis(){
  // the method relies on the state of some
  // other things.
  if(!someBoolean) endHere
  // then following is the rest of the method.
  // I'd like to be able to do this so that the "meat"
  // of the method is located under the conditions
  // that must be met.
}... Any thoughts?
Thank You

Answer 1

No need to hide or commit ritual suicide, the "void" keyword could lead you to think that your method can't use the return statement. At least you wrote code to investigate and didn't spend 10 or 20 posts asking for verification. Be aware, some folk will tell you that there should be only one exit point from the method, often this is true. In large methods you can get lost in the execution path if there are multiple exit points. I think it's a judgement call.
As for returning a bogus boolean, but, from a design point of view, if your method really doesn't have anything to return to its caller then the signature should reflect that with a return type of void (I know you are suggesting returning the bogus boolean for a different reason, and you've abandoned the idea anyway, I'm just being pedantic here)(indulge me). Returning a bogus boolean makes the class method more difficult to understand from a design and JavaDoc point of view because I, as the user of your method, will see it returing a boolean and expect to be able to use that value, and it might color my view of what the method does.
Lee