Develop Reference

Stuck While Loop (Java)

all!
I'm a university freshman computer science major taking a programming course. While doing a homework question, I got stuck on a certain part of my code. Please be kind, as this is my first semester and we've only been doing Java for 3 weeks.
For context, my assignment is:
"Create a program that will ask the user to enter their name and to enter the number of steps they walked in a day. Then ask them if they want to continue. If the answer is "yes" ask them to enter another number of steps walked. Ask them again if they want to continue. If they type anything besides "yes" you should end the program by telling them "goodbye, [NAME]" and the sum of the number of steps that they have entered."
For the life of me, I can not get the while loop to end. It's ignoring the condition that I (probably in an incorrect way) set.
Can you please help me and tell me what I'm doing wrong?
import java.util.Scanner;
public class StepCounter
{
/**
* #param args the command line arguments
*/
public static void main(String[] args)
{
final String SENTINEL = "No";
String userName = "";
String moreNum = "";
int numStep = 0;
int totalStep = 0;
boolean done = false;
Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in);
Scanner in2 = new Scanner(System.in);
// Prompt for the user's name
System.out.print("Please enter your name: ");
userName = in.nextLine();
while(!done)
{
// Prompt for the number of steps taken
System.out.print("Please enter the number of steps you have taken: ");
// Read the value for the number of steps
numStep = in.nextInt();
// Prompt the user if they want to continue
System.out.print("Would you like to continue? Type Yes/No: ");
// Read if they want to continue
moreNum = in2.nextLine();
// Check for the Sentinel
if(moreNum != SENTINEL)
{
// add the running total of steps to the new value of steps
totalStep += numStep;
}
else
{
done = true;
// display results
System.out.println("Goodbye, " + userName + ". The total number of steps you entered is + " + totalStep + ".");
}
}
}
}

To compare the contents of String objects you should use compareTo function.
moreNum.compareTo(SENTINEL) return 0 if they are equal.
== operator is used to check whether they are referring to same object or not.
one more issue with addition of steps, addition should be done in case of "No" entered also

Use
if(!moreNum.equals(SENTINEL))
Instead of
if(moreNum != SENTINEL)
Also, make sure to add: totalStep += numStep; into your else statement so your program will actually add the steps together.

Matching user input against a string array in java?

I am incredibly new to java and have been given the following task:
Write a Java Program to prompt a user for a 3 letter body part name which has to be in the 'official' list of 3 letter body parts. (Arm, Ear, Eye, Gum, Hip, Jaw, Leg, Lip, Rib, Toe)
If a user makes a guess correctly then display the correct guess as part of a list.
Allow the user to keep guessing until they have all 10.
If a body part is incorrect then display an appropriate message.
Display the number of guesses they have made including
the correct ones.
The advice given was to use Arrays and Collections as well as Exception Handling where appropriate but I don't know where to go from what I've coded so far. Any help would be appreciated so much, thank you.
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
String[] bodyparts = new String [10];
bodyparts[0] = "Arm";
bodyparts[1] = "Ear";
bodyparts[2] = "Eye";
bodyparts[3] = "Gum";
bodyparts[4] = "Hip";
bodyparts[5] = "Jaw";
bodyparts[6] = "Leg";
bodyparts[7] = "Lip";
bodyparts[8] = "Rib";
bodyparts[9] = "Toe";
Set<String> bodypartSet = new TreeSet<>();
Collections.addAll(bodypartSet, bodyparts);
System.out.println("Please enter a 3 letter body part: ");
String bodypart = input.nextLine();
if (bodypartSet.contains(bodypart)) {
System.out.println("Correct, " + bodypart + " is on the list!");
} else {
System.out.println("Nope, try again!");
}
}

There are a lot of way to do this. The following, isn't the best or the most efficient, but it should work...
First of all, you have to put your "official" list in a structure, like an array:
private static String[] offList={Arm, Ear, Eye, Gum, Hip, Jaw, Leg, Lip, Rib, Toe};
Now you have to write a method that can find a world in that "offList", like that:
private static boolean find(String word){
for( int i=0; i<offList.length; i++){
if(word.equals(offList[i])) //if "word" is in offList
return true;
}
return false;
}
Now, let's create this guessing game GUI:
public static void main(String[] args){
LinkedList<String> guessed=new LinkedList<>();
String s;
Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
while(guessed.size()<offList.length){
System.out.println("Guessed= "+guessed.toString()); //you have to change it, if you want a better look
System.out.print("Try:");
s=input.nextLine();
/*Here we ask to the user the same thing, unless the guessed list
contains all the words of offList.
Every time we print the guessed worlds list*/
if(find(s)){
System.out.println("This world is in offList!");
if(!guessed.contains(s)) //the world is counted only one time!
guessed.add(s);
}else
System.out.println("Sorry...");
}
System.out.println("The complete list is "+guessed.toString());
}
If you want to show this game in a window, you should have to study some Java Swing classes.
EDIT: I post my answer before the main post editing. First of all you have to understand the Collections advantages and usage... When you know all the LinkedList methods, for example, this assignment looks like a joke! ;)

You need a loop for that, otherwise it will only ask for input once.
Something like this should do:
ArrayList<String> bodyParts = new ArrayList<String>();
bodyParts.add("Arm");
bodyParts.add("Ear");
bodyParts.add("Eye");
bodyParts.add("Gum");
bodyParts.add("Hip");
bodyParts.add("Jaw");
bodyParts.add("Leg");
bodyParts.add("Lip");
bodyParts.add("Rib");
bodyParts.add("Toe");
String input = "";
int totalGuesses = 0;
Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.println("Start guessing...");
while (!bodyParts.isEmpty()) {
totalGuesses++;
input = sc.nextLine();
if (input.length() != 3 || !bodyParts.contains(input)) {
// incorrect, do nothing
System.out.println("Nope.");
} else {
// correct, remove entry
bodyParts.remove(input);
System.out.println("Correct! " + (10 - bodyParts.size()) + " correct guess" + ((10 - bodyParts.size()) != 1 ? "es" : ""));
}
}
System.out.println("Done. You have found them all after " + totalGuesses + " guesses.");
sc.close();
Also, this is case sensitive. It will not find Arm when typing arm. And if you need the number of all guesses you can simply add an int before the loop and increase it inside.
The result of my example:
Start guessing...
arm
Nope.
Arm
Correct! 1 correct guess
Arm
Nope.
Ear
Correct! 2 correct guesses
Eye
Correct! 3 correct guesses
(...)
Rib
Correct! 9 correct guesses
Toe
Correct! 10 correct guesses
Done. You have found them all after 12 guesses.

Store user input in Arraylist<String> until new line

The problem requires to input different values for each attribute.Ex:
Color Black White
Water Cool Hot Medium
Wind Strong Weak
I made ArrayList of ArrayList of String to store such thing as no. of values of each attribute is not fixed.The user inputs Black White and on hitting new line the program has to start taking values of NEXT attribute( Cool Hot Medium).The no. of attributes has been already specified.I followed some (almost related) answers here and wrote the following code:
ArrayList<ArrayList<String>> attributes = new ArrayList<ArrayList<String>>();
String input;
for(i=0; i<num_of_Attributes ;i++)
{ System.out.print(" Enter attribute no." + i+1 + " : ");
ArrayList<String> list = new ArrayList<String>();
while(! input.equals("\n"))
{
list.add(input);
input = sc.nextLine();
}
attributes.add(list);
}
The program prints "Enter Attribute 1 : " but even after new line it doesn't print "Enter attribute 2 : ".It goes into infinite loop. How can I achieve what the program requires to do? sc is my Scanner object.

You should read:
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/util/Scanner.html#nextLine%28%29
specifically the part that states:
This method returns the rest of the current line, excluding any line separator at the end
So, if the user inputs an empty line with only the line separator \n, you will read an empty line without such line separator.
Check while (!input.isEmpty()) or, even better, while (!input.trim().isEmpty())
As a more general rule, you can debug your program (or even just print input) to try to find out yourself what is the actual value you are checking.

As a quick-Hack you can do sth. like
for (i = 0; i < num_of_Attributes; i++) {
input = " ";
System.out.print(" Enter attribute no." + (i + 1) + " : ");
ArrayList<String> list = new ArrayList<String>();
while (!input.isEmpty()) {
list.add(input);
input = sc.readLine();
}
attributes.add(list);
}
not nice but it works. Please also watch out for calculating in String concaternation. In you code it will print 01, 11, 21 and so on. With brackets it will work.

Scanner not detecting empty line and Counter not accurate

This should be a very basic program but I'm new to Java. I want to be able to input multiple strings into the console using Scanner to detect them. So far I've been able to get the input part right, I wanted the program to run in such a way that the results are displayed when an empty space is entered as opposed to a string. Strangely enough I've only been able to get results when i hit return twice, however, when there are more than 4 inputs hitting return once works. My counter should count the number of "Courses" entered and display them in the results but it gives inaccurate readings.
import java.util.Scanner;
public class Saturn
{
static Scanner userInput = new Scanner(System.in);
public static void main(String[] args)
{
System.out.println("For each course in your schedule, enter its building");
System.out.println("code [One code per line ending with an empty line]");
String input;
int counter = 0;
while (!(userInput.nextLine()).isEmpty())
{
input = userInput.nextLine();
counter++;
}
System.out.println("Your schedule consits of " + counter + " courses");
}
}

You're calling Scanner#nextLine twice - once in the while loop expression and again in the body of the loop. You can just assign input from the while loop expression. In addition you can use Scanner#hasNextLine to defend against NoSuchElementException occurring:
while (userInput.hasNextLine() &&
!(input = userInput.nextLine()).isEmpty()) {
System.out.println("Course accepted: " + input);
counter++;
}

Print formatting while taking user input

I have a college assignment where I need to print out items sold by a hardware store, take input from a user, perform some calculations on that input, and then print out an invoice.
I have been able to successfully print out the items sold by the hardware store, but am encountering problems with the while loop that takes the input.
The program asks the user to enter a CODE and then asks for the corresponding QUANTITY. This works fine on the first iteration of the loop, but on the second iteration the user prompts for "CODE:" and "QUANTITY:" appear on the same line, despite my use of println when prompting the user.
I would greatly appreciate a detailed response appropriate for someone new in programming.
Here's the code:
import java.util.Scanner;
class HardwareStore {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.println("WELCOME TO THE HARDWARE STORE!");
System.out.println("----------------------------------------------------------------------");
String sticky = "G22";
String keyring = "K13";
String screwy = "S21";
String padlock = "I30";
int stickyprice = 10989;
int keyringprice = 5655;
int screwyprice = 1099;
int padlockprice = 4005;
System.out.println("CODE\t\tDESCRIPTION\t\t\t\t\tPRICE");
System.out.println("----\t\t-----------\t\t\t\t\t-----");
System.out.println(sticky + "\t\tSTICKY Construction Glue, Heavy Duty, \n\t\t7oz, 12 Pack \t\t\t\t\t$" + stickyprice);
System.out.println(keyring + "\t\tCAR-LO Key Ring, Quick Release, \n\t\t1 Pack\t\t\t\t\t\t$ " + keyringprice);
System.out.println(screwy + "\t\t!GREAT DEAL! SCREW-DUP Screwy Screws, \n\t\tDry Wall Screws, 3 in. Long, 50 Pack\t\t$ " + screwyprice);
System.out.println(padlock + "\t\tLET-IT-RAIN, Weather Proof Padlock, \n\t\tPortable, One Push Functionality\t\t$ " + padlockprice);
System.out.println("----------------------------------------------------------------------");
int i = 10000;
String [] usercode = new String[i];
int [] userquantity = new int[i];
System.out.println("PLEASE ENTER YOUR ORDER:");
while (true) {
System.out.println("CODE: (X to terminate)");
usercode[i] = in.nextLine();
if (usercode[i].equalsIgnoreCase("x")) {
break;
}
System.out.println("QUANTITY: ");
userquantity[i] = in.nextInt();
}
}
}

when you enter the QUANTITY you're pressing enter. That newline character isn't used by in.nextInt();, it remains in the scanner buffer, until you roll around to in.nextLine() again.
At that point in.nextLine() reads until it finds a newline character, which just happens to be the next one in the buffer. So it skips straight to QUANTITY again.