CS 140

Introduction to
Computer Science

Lecture 4- Loops and Files

Dr. Sampath Jayarathna
Cal Poly Pomona
The Increment and Decrement Operators

• There are numerous times where a variable must

simply be incremented or decremented.
number = number + 1;
number = number – 1;

• Java provide shortened ways to increment and

decrement a variable’s value.
• Using the ++ or -- unary operators, this task can be
completed quickly.
number++; or ++number;
number--; or --number;
The Increment and Decrement Operators
Differences Between Prefix and Postfix

• When an increment or decrement are the only

operations in a statement, there is no difference
between prefix and postfix notation.
• When used in an expression:
• prefix notation indicates that the variable will be
incremented or decremented prior to the rest of the
equation being evaluated.
• postfix notation indicates that the variable will be
incremented or decremented after the rest of the equation
has been evaluated.
Differences Between Prefix and Postfix
 Activity 6 (will be included in quiz grade)
• Write a java program and complete the following steps and
display the value of x and y.
int x = 3;
x++;
--x;
System.out.println(x); // what is the value of x?
int y = x++;
System.out.println(x); // what is the value of x?
System.out.println(y); // what is the value of y?
y = ++x;
System.out.println(x); // what is the value of x?
System.out.println(y); // what is the value of y?

System.out.println(++x); // what is the value of x?

System.out.println(x++); // what is the value of x?
The while Loop

• Java provides three different looping structures.

• The while loop has the form:
while(condition)
{
statements;
}
• While the condition is true, the statements will
execute repeatedly.
• The while loop is a pretest loop, which means that
it will test the value of the condition prior to
executing the loop.
The while Loop

• Care must be taken to

set the condition to
false somewhere in
the loop so the loop
will end.
• Loops that do not end
are called infinite
loops.
• A while loop
executes 0 or more
times. If the condition
is false, the loop will
not execute.
 Activity 7 (will be included in quiz grade)
• Write a while loop to iterate 5 times.
• In each iteration, ask from user a number and display the number
• You can use the following condition to test the while loop

int test = 0;
while( check test is less than 5 here)
{
// Your scanner code goes here
}
The while loop Flowchart

true
boolean
statement(s)
expression?

false
Infinite Loops

• In order for a while loop to end, the condition

must become false. The following loop will not end:
int x = 20;
while(x > 0)
{
System.out.println("x is greater than 0");
}
• The variable x never gets decremented so it will
always be greater than 0.
• Adding the x-- above fixes the problem.
Infinite Loops

•This version of the loop decrements x

during each iteration:
int x = 20;
while(x > 0)
{
System.out.println("x is greater than 0");
x--;
}
Block Statements in Loops

• Curly braces are required to enclose block statement while

loops. (like block if statements)

while (condition)
{
statement;
statement;
statement;
}
 Activity 8 (will be included in quiz grade)
• Write a while loop to find the sum of first 500 numbers. Display
the result at the end of the loop run.
1+2+3……..+499 + 500
• Modify the above code to break from loop when the number is
199.
• Modify the code to enter a positive number n and find the sum up
to that number.
The while Loop for Input Validation

• Input validation is the process of ensuring that user

input is valid.
System.out.print("Enter a number in the " +
"range of 1 through 100: ");
number = keyboard.nextInt();
// Validate the input.
while (number < 1 || number > 100)
{
System.out.println("That number is invalid.");
System.out.print("Enter a number in the " +
"range of 1 through 100: ");
number = keyboard.nextInt();
}
 Activity 9 (will be included in quiz grade)
• Write a while loop to loop through each of the characters of your
name.
• Use the charAt(index) method to retrieve each character from a
String. Index is an int type parameter to retrieve the character in a
particular location.
String name = “California”;
Char nameChar = name.charAt(0) // will give ‘C’
nameChar = name.charAt(1); // will give ‘a’
nameChar = name.charAt(name.legnth()-1); will give last character ‘a’;
The do-while Loop

• The do-while loop is a post-test loop, which

means it will execute the loop prior to testing the
condition.
• The do-while loop takes the form:
do
{
statement(s);
}while (condition);

• Remember the semicolon at the end of while

The do-while Loop Flowchart

statement(s)

true
boolean
expression?

false
 The for Loop
• The for loop is a pre-test loop.
• The for loop allows the programmer to initialize a
control variable, test a condition, and modify the
control variable all in one line of code.
• The for loop takes the form:
for(initialization; test; update)
{
statement(s);
}
The for Loop Flowchart

boolean true
statement(s) update
expression?

false
The Sections of The for Loop

• The initialization section of the for loop allows the loop to

initialize its own control variable.

for(initialization; test; update)

{
statement(s);
}

• The test section of the for statement acts in the same

manner as the condition section of a while loop.
• The update section of the for loop is the last thing to
execute at the end of each loop.
The for Loop Initialization

• The initialization section of a for loop is optional; however,

it is usually provided.
• Typically, for loops initialize a counter variable that will be
tested by the test section of the loop and updated by the
update section.
• The initialization section can initialize multiple variables.
• Variables declared in this section have scope only for the
for loop.
The Update Expression

• The update expression is usually used to increment

or decrement the counter variable(s) declared in the
initialization section of the for loop.
• The update section of the loop executes last in the
loop.
• The update section may update multiple variables.
• Each variable updated is executed as if it were on a
line by itself.
Modifying The Control Variable

• You should avoid updating the control variable of a for loop

within the body of the loop.
• The update section should be used to update the control
variable.
• Updating the control variable in the for loop body leads to
hard to maintain code and difficult debugging.
Multiple Initializations and Updates

• The for loop may initialize and update multiple

variables.
for(int i = 5, int j = 0; i < 10 || j < 20; i++, j+=2)
{
statement(s);
}

• Note that the only parts of a for loop that are

mandatory are the semicolons.
for(;;)
{
statement(s);
} // infinite loop
• If left out, the test section defaults to true.
Running Totals

• Loops allow the program to keep running totals while

evaluating data.
• Imagine needing to keep a running total.
The break Statement

• The break statement can be used to abnormally terminate a

loop.
• The use of the break statement in loops bypasses the
normal mechanisms and makes the code hard to read and
maintain.
• It is considered bad form to use the break statement in this
manner.
The continue Statement

• The continue statement will cause the currently

executing iteration of a loop to terminate and the
next iteration will begin.
• The continue statement will cause the evaluation
of the condition in while and for loops.
• Like the break statement, the continue
statement should be avoided because it makes the
code hard to read and debug.
Sentinel Values

• Sometimes the end point of input data is not known.

• A sentinel value can be used to notify the program to stop
acquiring input.
• If it is a user input, the user could be prompted to input data
that is not normally in the input data range (i.e. –1 where
normal input would be positive.)
• Programs that get file input typically use the end-of-file
marker to stop acquiring input data.
Sentinel Values (-1 is the sentinel here)
Nested Loops

• Like if statements, loops can be nested.

• If a loop is nested, the inner loop will execute all of
its iterations for each time the outer loop executes
once.
for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
for(int j = 0; j < 10; j++)
loop statements;

• The loop statements in this example will execute

100 times.
Nested Loops
 Deciding Which Loops to Use
• The while loop:
• Pretest loop
• Use it where you do not want the statements to execute if
the condition is false in the beginning.
• The do-while loop:
• Post-test loop
• Use it where you want the statements to execute at least
one time.
• The for loop:
• Pretest loop
• Use it where there is some type of counting variable that
can be evaluated.
File Input and Output

• Reentering data all the time could get tedious for the
user.
• The data can be saved to a file.
• Files can be input files or output files.
• Files:
• Files have to be opened.
• Data is then written to the file.
• The file must be closed prior to program termination.
• In general, there are two types of files:
• binary
• text
 Writing Text To a File

• To open a file for text output you create an instance of the

PrintWriter class.

PrintWriter outputFile = new PrintWriter("StudentData.txt");

Pass the name of the file that you Warning: if the file
wish to open as an argument to the already exists, it will be
PrintWriter constructor. erased and replaced with
a new file.
 The PrintWriter Class
• The PrintWriter class allows you to write data to a file
using the print and println methods, as you have been
using to display data on the screen.
• Just as with the System.out object, the println method
of the PrintWriter class will place a newline character
after the written data.
• The print method writes data without writing the
newline character.
The PrintWriter Class
Open the file.

PrintWriter outputFile = new PrintWriter("Names.dat");

outputFile.println("Chris");
outputFile.println("Kathryn");
outputFile.println("Jean");
outputFile.close();

Close the file.

Write data to the file.

The PrintWriter Class
Exceptions

• When something unexpected happens in a Java program, an

exception is thrown.
• The method that is executing when the exception is thrown
must either handle the exception or pass it up the line.
• Handling the exception will be discussed later.
• To pass it up the line, the method needs a throws clause in
the method header or try-catch block to catch the exception.
 Exceptions
• To insert a throws clause in a method header, simply
add the word throws and the name of the expected
exception.
• PrintWriter objects can throw an
IOException, so we write the throws clause like
this:
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException
Appending Text to a File

• To avoid erasing a file that already exists, create a

FileWriter object in this manner:

FileWriter fw =
new FileWriter("names.dat", true);

• Then, create a PrintWriter object in this manner:

PrintWriter fw = new PrintWriter(fw);
Specifying a File Location

• On a Windows computer, paths contain backslash (\)

characters.
• Remember, if the backslash is used in a string literal, it is the
escape character so you must use two of them:

PrintWriter outFile =
new PrintWriter("A:\\PriceList.txt");
Specifying a File Location

• This is only necessary if the backslash is in a string literal.

• If the backslash is in a String object then it will be handled
properly.
• Fortunately, Java allows Unix style filenames using the
forward slash (/) to separate directories:
PrintWriter outFile = new
PrintWriter("/home/rharrison/names.txt");
 Reading Data From a File
• You use the File class and the Scanner class to read data
from a file:

Pass the name of the file as an

argument to the File class
constructor.

File myFile = new File("Customers.txt");

Scanner inputFile = new Scanner(myFile);

Pass the File object as an

argument to the Scanner
class constructor.
 Reading Data From a File
Scanner keyboard = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.print("Enter the filename: ");
String filename = keyboard.nextLine();
File file = new File(filename);
Scanner inputFile = new Scanner(file);

• The lines above:

• Creates an instance of the Scanner class to read from the keyboard
• Prompt the user for a filename
• Get the filename from the user
• Create an instance of the File class to represent the file
• Create an instance of the Scanner class that reads from the file
 Reading Data From a File
• Once an instance of Scanner is created, data can be read
using the same methods that you have used to read keyboard
input (nextLine, nextInt, nextDouble, etc).

// Open the file.

File file = new File("Names.txt");
Scanner inputFile = new Scanner(file);
// Read a line from the file.
String str = inputFile.nextLine();
// Close the file.
inputFile.close();
 Detecting The End of a File
• The Scanner class’s hasNext() method will return true if
another item can be read from the file.
// Open the file.
File file = new File(filename);
Scanner inputFile = new Scanner(file);
// Read until the end of the file.
while (inputFile.hasNext())
{
String str = inputFile.nextLine();
System.out.println(str);
}
inputFile.close();// close the file when done.
 Activity 15 (will be included in quiz grade)
• Create an external file called mydat.dat
• Create a static method called storeData to add following
information through the code (in separate lines)
• Your name
• Your Age
• Your City
• Your favorite movie, TV show, singer/song

• Create a static method called readData to read data from

the file and display the results.
Generating Random Numbers with the
Random Class
• Some applications, such as games and simulations,
require the use of randomly generated numbers.
• The Java API has a class, Random, for this purpose.
To use the Random class, use the following
import statement and create an instance of the
class.
import java.util.Random;
Random randomNumbers = new Random();
Generating Random Numbers with the
Random Class
Some Methods of the
Random Class
Method Description

nextDouble() Returns the next random number as a double. The number

will be within the range of 0.0 and 1.0.

nextFloat() Returns the next random number as a float. The number

will be within the range of 0.0 and 1.0.

nextInt() Returns the next random number as an int. The number

will be within the range of an int, which is –2,147,483,648
to +2,147,483,648.
nextInt(int n) This method accepts an integer argument, n. It returns a
random number as an int. The number will be within the
range of 0 to n.