Building Java Programs

Lab 2: Ch. 2: Expressions and Variables, For Loops

Except where otherwise noted, the contents of this document are Copyright 2012 Stuart Reges and Marty Stepp.

lab document created by Marty Stepp and Stuart Reges

Today's lab

Goals for today:

Expressions

Recall that Java has expressions to represent math and other computations. Expressions may use operators, which are evaluated according to rules of precedence. Every expression produces a value of a given type.

Type Description Example Result
int integers (up to 231 - 1) 3 + 4 * 5 23
double real numbers (up to 10308) 3.0 / 2.0 + 4.1 5.6
String text characters "hi" + (1 + 1) + "u" "hi2u"

Exercise : Expressions (2.1)

Write the results of each of the following expressions. If you're stuck, ask a TA or neighbor.

12 / 5 + 8 / 4
4
3 * 4 + 15 / 2
19
-(1 + 2 * 3 + (1 + 2) * 3)
-16
42 % 5 + 16 % 3
3
2.5 * 2 + 17 / 4
9.0
4.5 / 3 / 2 + 1
1.75

Exercise : More expressions (2.1)

Write the results of each of the following expressions.

5 * 6 / 4 % 3 - 23 / (14 % 6)
-10
30 % 9 + 5 % 8 - 11 % 4 % 2
7
1 + 9 / 2 * 2.0
9.0
46 / 3 / 2.0 / 3 * 4/5
2.0
50 / 9 / 2.0 + 200 / 10 / (5.0 / 2)
10.5

Exercise : Expressions practice-it

For each expression in the left-hand column, indicate its value in the right-hand column. Be sure to list a constant of appropriate type (e.g., 7.0 rather than 7 for a double, Strings in quotes).

4 * (2 + 4) - 3 * 5
9
54 % 10 + 8 * 3 % 9
10
3 * 2 + 4 + "+" + 2 + 3 * 4
"10+212"
2.3 * 3 + 19 / 5 / 2 + 6.0 / 5
9.1
108 / 20 * 3 / 4 / 2.0 + 1.0 / 2
2.0

jGRASP Interactions Pane

continued on the next slide...

Exercise : Using jGRASP Interactions Pane

In this exercise, you'll use the Interactions Pane to quickly discover the result of some expressions that would be difficult to evaluate by hand. Copy/paste each expression below into the Interactions Pane to evaluate it, then input the answer into this slide.

123 * 456 - 789
55299
3.14 + 1.59 * 2.65
7.3535
2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 2
1024
2 + 2 + "xyz" + 3 + 3
"4xyz33"

(For the last expression, the Interactions Pane doesn't put "" quotes around Strings when displaying results, so you must add those yourself if needed. For example, if the Interactions Pane gives you a result of abc123, it should be written here as "abc123".)

Variables

Recall that you can use a variable to store the results of an expression in memory and use them later in the program.

type name;                       // declare
name = value or expression;        // assign a value
...
type name = value or expression;   // declare-and-initialize together

Examples:

double iphonePrice;
iPhonePrice = 499.95;

int siblings = 3;
System.out.println("I have " + siblings + " brothers/sisters.");

Exercise : Variable declaration syntax

Which of the following choices is the correct syntax for declaring a real number variable named grade and initializing its value to 4.0?

Exercise : Variable assignment syntax

Suppose you have a variable named grade, set to 1.6:

double grade = 1.6;   // uh-oh

Suppose later in the program's code, we want to change the value of grade to 4.0. Which is the correct syntax to do this?

Exercise : a, b, and c practice-it

What are the values of a, b, and c after the following statements? Write your answers in the boxes on the right.

int a = 5;
int b = 10;
int c = b;

a = a + 1;            // a? 6
b = b - 1;            // b? 9
c = c + a;            // c? 16

Exercise : i, j, and k

What are the values of i, j, and k after the following statements?

int i = 2;
int j = 3;
int k = 4;
int x = i + j + k;

i = x - i - j;            // i? 4
j = x - j - k;            // j? 2
k = x - i - k;            // k? 1

Exercise : ComputePay

The following program redundantly repeats the same expressions many times. Download it and open it in jGRASP, then modify the program to remove the redundancy using variables. Use an appropriate type for each variable.

The program's output should be the same after your modifications. No expression should be computed more than once in the code.

Exercise : Syntax errors

answer on next slide...

Exercise - answer

  1. line 4: missing + between "x is" and x
  2. line 4: cannot print the value of x before assigning it a value
  3. line 6: cannot assign 15.2 into a variable of type int
  4. line 6: should not redeclare the variable's type
  5. line 7: " mark should be between now and +
  6. line 10: should not write the word int here
  7. line 10: variable y should be same type as x
  8. line 10: does not properly set y to be 1 more than x (should not write the word int here)
  9. line 11: and should be in quotes with surrounding spaces

Exercise - corrected version

for loops

A for loop repeats a group of statements a given number of times.

for (initialization; test; update) {
    statement(s) to repeat;
}

Example:

for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++) {
    System.out.println("We're number one!");
}

Exercise : simple for loop practice-it

Exercise : Verify solution in Practice-It!

screenshot Our Practice-It! system lets you solve Java problems online.

Exercise : What's the output? practice-it

What output is produced by the following Java program? Write the output in the box on the right side.

public class OddStuff {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int number = 32;
        for (int count = 1; count <= number; count++) {
            System.out.println(number);
            number = number / 2;
        }
    }
}

Output:

32
16
8
4

Exercise : Bottles of beer practice-it

Exercise : jGRASP Debugger

continued on the next slide...

Exercise - jGRASP Debugger

continued on the next slide...

Exercise - jGRASP Debugger

Exercise : Sequence of numbers

Exercise : Sequence of characters

Exercise : for loop table practice practice-it

Create a table of the number of stars on each line:

*******
*****
***
*
line stars
1
7
2
5
3
3
4
1

multiplier: How much does the # of stars change between lines? -2

shift: Given your multiplier, what must be added to get that many stars on line 1? 9

Test your loop expression in Practice-It! using the checkmark icon above. Use the form:

for (int stars = 1; stars <= multiplier * line + shift; stars++) {

Exercise : What's the output?

Exercise - answer

Exercise : What's the output?

Exercise - answer

Answer:

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
2	4	6	8	10	12	14	16	18	20
3	6	9	12	15	18	21	24	27	30
4	8	12	16	20	24	28	32	36	40
5	10	15	20	25	30	35	40	45	50
6	12	18	24	30	36	42	48	54	60
7	14	21	28	35	42	49	56	63	70
8	16	24	32	40	48	56	64	72	80
9	18	27	36	45	54	63	72	81	90
10	20	30	40	50	60	70	80	90	100

Exercise : printing a design practice-it

Write a program to produce the following output using nested for loops. Use a table to help you figure out the patterns of characters on each line.

-----1-----
----333----
---55555---
--7777777--
-999999999-
Line Dashes Numbers
1
5
1
2
4
3
3
3
5
4
2
7
5
1
9
dashes expression
-1
* line +
6
numbers expression
2
* line +
-1

Test your loop expressions in Practice-It! using the checkmark icon above. Use your expressions in the loop tests of the inner loops of your code.

Exercise : SlashFigure practice-it

Write a Java program in a class named SlashFigure to produce the following output with nested for loops. Use a loop table if necessary to figure out the expressions.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
\\!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!//
\\\\!!!!!!!!!!!!!!////
\\\\\\!!!!!!!!!!//////
\\\\\\\\!!!!!!////////
\\\\\\\\\\!!//////////
Line \ ! /
1
0
22
0
2
2
18
2
3
4
14
4
4
6
10
6
5
8
6
8
6
10
2
10
multiplier
2
-4
2
shift
-2
26
-2

Test your code in Practice-It! or the Output Comparison Tool.

Exercise : Equation

Suppose you have a real number variable x. Write a Java expression that computes a variable named y storing the following value:

y = 12.3x4 - 9.1x3 + 19.3x2 - 4.6x + 34.2

(We haven't learned a way to do exponents yet, but you can simulate them using several multiplications.)

Use the example program on the next slide to test your code.

Exercise - Example code

Copy/paste this program into jGRASP to test your solution.

// expected output:
// y is 7043.7

public class EquationY {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        double x = 5;

        double y = put your expression for y here ;

        System.out.println("y is " + y);
    }
}

(answer on next slide)

Exercise - answer

double y = 12.3*x*x*x*x - 9.1*x*x*x + 19.3*x*x - 4.6*x + 34.2;

If you want an added challenge, try to come up with a way to compute the above value while using the * operator no more than 4 times.

(click Next → for answer)

double y = (((12.3 * x - 9.1) * x + 19.3) * x - 4.6) * x + 34.2;

Exercise : Birthday variables

Class constants

A class constant is a global value that cannot be changed.

public static final type name = expression;

Example:

public static final int DAYS_PER_WEEK = 7;
public static final double TAX_RATE = 0.10;

for loop expressions w/ constant

When adding a class constant to a loop expression, it affects the constant that must be added in the expression. Suppose we have the two loop expressions below for figure sizes of 5 and 9. The third line of the table shows the general formula that would be used if we turned our figure's size into a constant named SIZE.

size expression relationship
5 8 * line + 16 16 = 3 * 5 + 1
9 8 * line + 28 28 = 3 * 9 + 1
SIZE 8 * line + (3 * SIZE + 1)

continued on the next slide ...

Exercise : for loop table w/ constant

You already found loop expressions for the slash figure at size 6. Now make a table at size 4 and use the two to generalize the loop expression in terms of a constant for the figure size.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
\\!!!!!!!!!!//
\\\\!!!!!!////
\\\\\\!!//////
Line \ ! /
1
0
14
0
2
2
10
2
3
4
6
4
4
6
2
6
\ and /
size 6  2 * line +
-2
size 4  2 * line +
-2
size SIZE  2 * line +
-2
!
size 6 -4 * line +
26
size 4 -4 * line +
18
size SIZE -4 * line + (
4
 * SIZE +
2
)

Exercise : SlashFigure2

Test your code in the Output Comparison Tool.

Exercise : Number lines, part 1 practice-it

Exercise : Number lines, part 2 practice-it

Exercise : Number lines, part 3 practice-it

If you finish them all...

If you finish all the exercises, try out our Practice-It web tool. It lets you solve Java problems from our Building Java Programs textbook.

You can view an exercise, type a solution, and submit it to see if you have solved it correctly.

Choose some problems from the book and try to solve them!