Final answer:
Compile time errors such as a missing semicolon, missing curly braces, and forgetting to declare the type of a variable are detected by the compiler, whereas runtime errors like division by a variable that might be zero are not.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question pertains to which of the following errors will be detected at compile time in a programming context:
- Missing semicolon at the end of a statement
- Missing left curly brace
- Missing curly braces around a sequence of statements in a while loop
- Division by a variable that might be zero
- Forgetting to declare the type of a variable
Compile time errors are detected by the compiler as it translates the source code into machine code. Errors A, B, C, and E typically manifest as syntax errors because they represent violations of the programming language's grammar. A missing semicolon, a missing curly brace, or the absence of required curly braces are syntactical mistakes that a compiler can detect because they disrupt the structure of the code. Similarly, declaring a variable without a type goes against the rules of most statically typed languages and the compiler will flag this as an error.
Consider the following examples:
- If you forget a semicolon at the end of a statement, the compiler will not know where one statement ends and the next begins.
- A missing left curly brace can result in the compiler being unable to correctly determine the beginning of a block of code.
- Without curly braces in a while loop, the compiler may confuse which statements are part of the loop body.
- Omitting the type of a variable is against the strict typing rules of languages like Java and C++, leading to a compile time error.
However, error D regarding division by zero is not a compile time error but a runtime error, as the compiler typically does not evaluate the values of variables during compilation.