# V3152. Potential division by zero. Variable was compared to zero before it was used as a divisor. Check lines: N1, N2.

The analyzer has detected a potential division-by-zero error.

A numeric variable is first compared with zero and then divided by without such a check. This means one of the two scenarios:

1) If the divisor variable has the value 0, an error will occur.

2) The division always yields a correct result because the divisor variable is never 0. In this case, the null check is unnecessary.

Consider the following example. Executing this code may result in throwing an exception:

    int num = Foo();
    if (num != 0)
      variable1 = 3 / num;
    variable2 = 5 / num;

If the value of 'num' happens to be zero, executing the '5 / num' expression will lead to an error. The analyzer reports this code by pointing at two lines: the first is where the division is executed and the second is where the divisor variable is checked for null.

Fixed code:

    int num = Foo();
    if (num != 0)
    {
      variable1 = 3 / num;
      variable2 = 5 / num;
    }

Consider another example. The division here is safe and the check is not needed:

    List<string> list = CreateNonEmptyList();
    var count = list.Count;
    if (count == 0) {....}
    var variable = 10 / count;

Suppose the 'CreateNonEmptyList' method always returns a non-empty list for 'list'. In that case, the code above will always work correctly and a division by zero will never occur.

Note: in this example, the analyzer does not produce the V3152 warning every time: if it can understand that the method always returns a non-empty list, it will instead issue a V3022 warning ("expression always true") on the check 'list.Count == 0'. If it fails to understand that (for example, because of a complicated sequence of reassignments or when the method is virtual, and so on), it will issue a V3152 warning. The type of the warning to be issued will depend on the implementation of the 'CreateNonEmptyList' method.

To eliminate the warning, remove the check 'if (list == null || list.Count == 0)'. In this case, it has no practical use and can only confuse the maintainer.

Fixed code:

    List<string> list = CreateNonEmptyList();
    var variable = 10 / list.Count;

Another case where this warning is issued is when the null check and the division operation occur in different branches of if-else or switch statements, for example:

    if (lines.Count == 1)
    {
      if (num != 0)
        variable = 10 / num;
    }
    else
    {
      variable = 10 / num;
    }

In this example, even though execution can never follow both branches at one run and will instead follow only one of them, the fact that the variable is compared with zero in one of the branches is a sign that it can have the value 0 in the other branch. If that happens, a division by zero will occur when the other branch gets control.

Fixed version:

    if (lines.Count == 1)
    {
      if (num != 0)
        variable = 10 / num;
    }
    else
    {
      if (num != 0)
        variable = 10 / num;
    }

As an alternative to removing the check to eliminate a false positive, you can also use a warning-suppression comment, for example:

    variable = 10 / num; //-V3152

This diagnostic is classified as:

CWE-369