Are the conditional statements if (true) and if (false) evaluated at compile time in java?

The following code compiles successfully:

int x;
if(true)
  x=3;
System.out.println(x);

      

        
        
        
      

    

Does this mean that the if condition is evaluated at compile time? If so, why doesn't the following code throw an Unreachable Statement error?

if(true)
  return;
return;  //No error

      

        
        
        
      

    

Who cares?

Edit: Please note that my query is different from the fact that I am not comparing "if" with "while". Rather, I am comparing the same if (true) statement in two different situations, in the first it is evaluated at compile time, and in the second case it is evaluated at runtime.