Java puzzle 16: Conditional statements within a loop

<<	Java Puzzles Green = Easy, Blue = Normal, Red = Hard 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 By title	>>

Here is the puzzle of today, which demonstrates a conditional statement within a loop.

Java puzzle 16: Conditional statements within a loop

Level: Normal

What is the output of this program and why?

public class MyClass
{
  public static void main(String[] args)
  {
    for(int i = 0; i < 4; i++)
    {
      if(i > 2)
      {
        System.out.print("x");
      }
      else
      {
        System.out.print("y ");
      }
    }
  }
}

Author: Sar Maroof

Answer explanation

The loop is repeated 4 times, because the initial value of the variable i is 0 and the body of the loop is executed as long as i is smaller than 4.
When i is equal to 0, the body of the loop is executed. The statement if(i > 2) returns false. Therefore the else block is executed and y is written to the standard ouput.
When i is equal to 1 and 2, y is written to the standard output see the explanation of the step 2.
When i is equal to 3 the statement if(i > 2) returns true. Therefore x is written to the standard output.
The correct answer is that this program writes yyyx to the standard output.

If you found this difficult, you might consider reading my book Java quizmaster for beginners. It is easy to understand, organized to learn Java in 17 days and it guides you to master Java code by solving 105 quizzes and 117 assignments. This book explains each chapter properly before starting with exercises and assignments. It is available on Amazon. See inside the book here!

Please, leave your questions, feedback and suggestions in the comments below!
SarMaroof.com offers a practical method to learn and improve your Java skills. It avoids unnecessary long boring theoretical explanations, but it uses many exercises and quizzes.

Suggested Articles

Sar Maroof is graduated from HBO Amsterdam "higher professional education". He is a professional computer programming teacher, gives master classes and publishes technical articles. His experience with developing software started from 2001 and he has worked as a software developer for several big as well as small companies and later as a freelancer. He is the author of Java quizmaster and Build a Java application in 7 days.