| Java assertions do not necessarily execute at runtime; they may be enabled and | |
| disabled depending on which options are passed to the JVM invocation. An assert | |
| false statement may be intended to ensure that the program never proceeds beyond | |
| that statement. If the correct execution of the program depends on that being | |
| the case, consider throwing an exception instead, so that execution is halted | |
| regardless of runtime configuration. |