Java puzzle 16: Conditional statements within a loop

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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.

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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.