Java Increment / Decrement Operators - How they behave, what's the functionality? - java

It's been 3 days since I start to learn Java.
I have this program and I don't understand code in main method with ++ and -- operators. I don't even know what to call them(name of these operators)
Can anyone explain me what's all about.
class Example {
public static void main(String[] args) {
x=0;
x++;
System.out.println(x);
y=1;
y--;
System.out.println(y);
z=3;
++z;
System.out.println(z);
}
}

These are called Pre and Post Increment / Decrement Operators.
x++;
is the same as x = x + 1;
x--;
is the same as x = x - 1;
Putting the operator before the variable ++x; means, first increment x by 1, and then use this new value of x
int x = 0;
int z = ++x; // produce x is 1, z is 1
int x = 0;
int z = x++; // produce x is 1, but z is 0 ,
//z gets the value of x and then x is incremented.

++ and -- are called increment and decrement operators.
They are shortcuts for writing x = x+1 (x+=1) / x = x-1 (x-=1). (assumed that x is a numeric variable)
In rare cases you could worry about the precedence of the incrementation/decrementation and the value the expression returns: Writing ++x it means "increment first, then return", whereas x++ means "return first, then increment". Here we can distinguish between pre- and post increment/decrement operators.

Related

Chaining assignment statements in Java [duplicate]

I'm trying to swap two ints - x and y in the example, and do it in one line without a library function.
So I started with this:
int x = 4;
int y = 3;
System.out.println(x);
System.out.println(y);
x ^= y;
System.out.println(x);
System.out.println(y);
y ^= x;
System.out.println(x);
System.out.println(y);
x ^= y;
System.out.println(x);
System.out.println(y);
The output was 4, 3, 7, 3, 7, 4, 3, 4 as expected. All good so far.
Next up was this:
int x = 4;
int y = 3;
System.out.println(x);
System.out.println(y);
y ^= (x ^= y);
System.out.println(x);
System.out.println(y);
x ^= y;
System.out.println(x);
System.out.println(y);
The output was 4, 3, 7, 4, 3, 4 as expected once again. Still good so far.
Then finally this:
int x = 4;
int y = 3;
System.out.println(x);
System.out.println(y);
x ^= (y ^= (x ^= y));
System.out.println(x);
System.out.println(y);
At this stage the output became 4, 3, 0, 4. Now I know that the 0 is a result of 4 ^ 4 because the x assignment wasn't complete at that time - why is this happening? Why doesn't the x ^= y actually assign 7 to the x variable so that it becomes 7 ^ 4 for the last assignment?
Let's try to expand your last expression.
It evaluates to,
x = x^(y = y^ (x = x^y));
Note that expressions are evaluated from left to right,
it becomes,
x = 4 ^ (y = 3 ^ (x = 4 ^ 3));
Now, the problem has become obvious. Right?
Edit:
To clear come confusion, let me try to explain what I mean by evaluating from left to right.
int i = 1;
s = i + (i = 2) + i;
Now, the expression will evaluate to,
s = 1 + 2 + 2;
Notice that i on the left of assignment was 1, but on the right of assignment (and on the assigment) was evaluated to 2, because the evaluation is from left to right, when it came to the 2nd and 3rd part of the expression, is value was 2.
The order of evaluation is defined in chapter 15 of the JLS. Item 15.7.1 says:
If the operator is a compound-assignment operator (§15.26.2), then evaluation of the left-hand operand includes both remembering the variable that the left-hand operand denotes and fetching and saving that variable's value for use in the implied binary operation.
To explain further, they have two examples of computations that involve assignments. Here the assignment is on the left hand of the operator:
int i = 2;
int j = (i=3) * i;
System.out.println(j);
And they specifically say that the result is 9 and is not allowed to be 6. That is, the (i=3) is both calculated as 3 and i is assigned 3 before being multiplied with itself.
But in the second example:
int a = 9;
a += (a = 3); // first example
System.out.println(a);
int b = 9;
b = b + (b = 3); // second example
System.out.println(b);
The JLS specifies that both prints should produce 12, and are not allowed to produce 6. That is, because the assignment to b is on the right side, the value of the left b (or the implicit left a in the += operation), the value before that assignment is fetched and saved first, and only then the operation inside the parentheses is performed.
Internally, expressions are broken down into JVM operations that push and pop values onto an "operand stack". If you think about it like that - that in b = b + (b=3) The value of b is first pushed onto the operand stack, then the (b=3) is performed and its value is then added to the value popped from the stack (old value of b), it will make sense. At this point, the left hand b just stands for "What the value of b was when it was pushed on the stack" and not for the "current value of b".
Lets divide and compute.
The innermost parenthesis executes first and after all the parenthesis resolved, then the expression executes from left to right.
x ^= (y ^= (x ^= y)); // initial statement
x = x^(y = y^ (x = x^y)); //equals to
() have the highest precedence
x = x^(y = y^ (x = 3^4)); // first highest precedence ()
x = x^(y = y ^ (x = 7)); // still the first x is 3
x = 4 ^(y = 3 ^ (x = 7)); // now 3 ^ 7 =4
x = 4 ^ 4; // now 3 ^ 7 =4
x= 0;

Multiple assignment on one line not working as expected

I'm trying to swap two ints - x and y in the example, and do it in one line without a library function.
So I started with this:
int x = 4;
int y = 3;
System.out.println(x);
System.out.println(y);
x ^= y;
System.out.println(x);
System.out.println(y);
y ^= x;
System.out.println(x);
System.out.println(y);
x ^= y;
System.out.println(x);
System.out.println(y);
The output was 4, 3, 7, 3, 7, 4, 3, 4 as expected. All good so far.
Next up was this:
int x = 4;
int y = 3;
System.out.println(x);
System.out.println(y);
y ^= (x ^= y);
System.out.println(x);
System.out.println(y);
x ^= y;
System.out.println(x);
System.out.println(y);
The output was 4, 3, 7, 4, 3, 4 as expected once again. Still good so far.
Then finally this:
int x = 4;
int y = 3;
System.out.println(x);
System.out.println(y);
x ^= (y ^= (x ^= y));
System.out.println(x);
System.out.println(y);
At this stage the output became 4, 3, 0, 4. Now I know that the 0 is a result of 4 ^ 4 because the x assignment wasn't complete at that time - why is this happening? Why doesn't the x ^= y actually assign 7 to the x variable so that it becomes 7 ^ 4 for the last assignment?
Let's try to expand your last expression.
It evaluates to,
x = x^(y = y^ (x = x^y));
Note that expressions are evaluated from left to right,
it becomes,
x = 4 ^ (y = 3 ^ (x = 4 ^ 3));
Now, the problem has become obvious. Right?
Edit:
To clear come confusion, let me try to explain what I mean by evaluating from left to right.
int i = 1;
s = i + (i = 2) + i;
Now, the expression will evaluate to,
s = 1 + 2 + 2;
Notice that i on the left of assignment was 1, but on the right of assignment (and on the assigment) was evaluated to 2, because the evaluation is from left to right, when it came to the 2nd and 3rd part of the expression, is value was 2.
The order of evaluation is defined in chapter 15 of the JLS. Item 15.7.1 says:
If the operator is a compound-assignment operator (§15.26.2), then evaluation of the left-hand operand includes both remembering the variable that the left-hand operand denotes and fetching and saving that variable's value for use in the implied binary operation.
To explain further, they have two examples of computations that involve assignments. Here the assignment is on the left hand of the operator:
int i = 2;
int j = (i=3) * i;
System.out.println(j);
And they specifically say that the result is 9 and is not allowed to be 6. That is, the (i=3) is both calculated as 3 and i is assigned 3 before being multiplied with itself.
But in the second example:
int a = 9;
a += (a = 3); // first example
System.out.println(a);
int b = 9;
b = b + (b = 3); // second example
System.out.println(b);
The JLS specifies that both prints should produce 12, and are not allowed to produce 6. That is, because the assignment to b is on the right side, the value of the left b (or the implicit left a in the += operation), the value before that assignment is fetched and saved first, and only then the operation inside the parentheses is performed.
Internally, expressions are broken down into JVM operations that push and pop values onto an "operand stack". If you think about it like that - that in b = b + (b=3) The value of b is first pushed onto the operand stack, then the (b=3) is performed and its value is then added to the value popped from the stack (old value of b), it will make sense. At this point, the left hand b just stands for "What the value of b was when it was pushed on the stack" and not for the "current value of b".
Lets divide and compute.
The innermost parenthesis executes first and after all the parenthesis resolved, then the expression executes from left to right.
x ^= (y ^= (x ^= y)); // initial statement
x = x^(y = y^ (x = x^y)); //equals to
() have the highest precedence
x = x^(y = y^ (x = 3^4)); // first highest precedence ()
x = x^(y = y ^ (x = 7)); // still the first x is 3
x = 4 ^(y = 3 ^ (x = 7)); // now 3 ^ 7 =4
x = 4 ^ 4; // now 3 ^ 7 =4
x= 0;

Java executes arithmetic Expression wrong?

I don`t understand how Java is progressing this arithmetic expression
int x = 1;
int y = 1;
x += y += x += y;
System.out.println("x=" + x + " y=" + y);
With Java I get x = 4 and y = 3. But in C, Perl, Php I get x=5 and y = 3
On the paper I also get x = 5 and y = 3
This is the nasty part, obviously:
x += y += x += y;
This is executed as:
int originalX = x; // Used later
x = x + y; // Right-most x += y
y = y + x; // Result of "x += y" is the value stored in x
x = originalX + y; // Result of "y += x" is the value stored in y
So:
x y
(Start) 1 1
x = x + y 2 1
y = y + x 2 3
x = originalX + y 4 3
The important part is the use of originalX here. The compound assignment is treated as:
x = x + y
and the first operand of + is evaluated before the second operand... which is why it takes the original value of x, not the "latest" one.
From JLS section 15.16.2:
If the left-hand operand expression is not an array access expression, then:
First, the left-hand operand is evaluated to produce a variable. If this evaluation completes abruptly, then the assignment expression completes abruptly for the same reason; the right-hand operand is not evaluated and no assignment occurs.
Otherwise, the value of the left-hand operand is saved and then the right-hand operand is evaluated. If this evaluation completes abruptly, then the assignment expression completes abruptly for the same reason and no assignment occurs.
When in doubt, consult the language specification - and never assume that just because two languages behave differently, one of them is "wrong". So long as the actual behaviour matches the specified behaviour for each language, all is well - but it does mean you need to understand the behaviour of each language you work with, of course.
That said, you should clearly avoid horrible code like this in the first place.
it starts from right to left
1. x += y gives x = 2, y = 1
2. y += ( x +=y ) gives x = 2, y = 3
3. x += ( y += x += y ) gives x = 4, y = 3
so, it's all consistent

How does the following statement work?

int x = 10;
x += x++;
System.out.println(x);
why the answer of above statement is 20 ?
The operator += is an addition assignment operator. Like Alya said above, x += x++ is equivalent to x = x + x++, which in your case is x = 10 + 10. However, it's a very messy statement and I'll explain why towards the end of this post.
Now, you're probably thinking "Why is it 20 and not 21 (10 + 11) since you have the ++?" and that's valid. There's actually a difference between a post-increment and a pre-increment. x++ is the post-increment and will actually evaluate the value of x first and THEN increment x, while ++x is the pre-increment which will increment x and THEN evaluate the value of x.
For example, x = 10; System.out.println(x++); System.out.println(x); will print 10 and then print 11 because the first print line prints x and THEN performs the ++ calculation, making x 11 which the next line prints. Conversely, x = 10; System.out.println(++x); System.out.println(x); will print 11 on both print statements.
Going back to why I said x += x++; is very messy is because technically the ++ operator isn't performed in this case. x++ is technically the same as x=x+1 and remembering that x+=y is the same as x = x+y) , the line x += x++; is kind of like saying x = x + (x = x + 1); which is kind of weird looking because you do 2 assignment statements in one and won't actually "work how you want it". Back to your example int x = 10; x += x++; if you print x, you will get 20 even though you could look at it as: x is now the value of x + the value of x, then finally + 1 to it. But unfortunately, that's not how it works.
To solve your problem, if you change your code from a post-increment to a pre-increment, then it should work, ie: x+=++x; will print your 11 but I would argue the that's quite unreadable and a bit confusing. x+=x; x++; System.out.println(x); is easier to follow.
x++ will execute first. It returns x and then increments x by 1.
Finally, the += operator will add to x the return value of x++, which was 10.
Thus, x will be 20 and it will overwrite the changes to x by the statement x++.
So first x is initialized to be 10. Then the x++ has higher precedence so that gets carried out first. the "++" is a post-increment in this case (because it is after the variable as opposed to pre-increment which would be ++x). Post-increment means "first use the variable then increment it by one" so in this case it first uses x to be 10 then increments it to 11 after it is used. Then we look at the "+=" which is short hand for "x = x+x++". so we have x = 10+10 which = 20. If you were to carry this out again it would equal x = 20+20 = 40.
In this particular case, the x++ isn't necessary as x is reassigned the value after it is incremented each time.
int x = 10; x += x++;
will equal to x=x+x
where x++ mean use the x value then increament it , so it's value will be 10
so the result will equal 20
if you want to see the change of the x , see this example:
int x = 10;
int y = 10;
y +=x++;
System.out.println(y);
System.out.println(x);
will print :
y=20
x=11////////////according to x++ and without to overwrite it
//
// Shows how increments work.
//
int i = 0;
System.out.println(i);
i++; // Add one
System.out.println(i);
i += 2; // Add two
System.out.println(i);
i += 3; // Add three
System.out.println(i);
++i; // Add one
System.out.println(i);
i += i; // Added itself
System.out.println(i);
//
// Uses increments and assigns.
//
int v = 0;
v = i++; // Increment after value copy
System.out.println(v);
System.out.println(i);
v = ++i; // Increment before value copy
System.out.println(v);
System.out.println(i);
//Output
0 -
1
3
6
7
14
14
15
16
16
x+=x++ first assigns the value to x and then increments (post-increment)
x+=++x first increments then assign the value to x (pre increment)
there are two types of increments/decrements in programming
1. pre-increment/decrement
2. post-increment/decrement
In programming both of these have same operations but differ in there nature as they both used for increment or decrement; they can be written as,
x+=1; (increment by 1)
x-=1; (decrement by 1)
you can use a variable instead in the above cases as well

Is there a difference between x++ and ++x in java?

Is there a difference between ++x and x++ in java?
++x is called preincrement while x++ is called postincrement.
int x = 5, y = 5;
System.out.println(++x); // outputs 6
System.out.println(x); // outputs 6
System.out.println(y++); // outputs 5
System.out.println(y); // outputs 6
yes
++x increments the value of x and then returns x
x++ returns the value of x and then increments
example:
x=0;
a=++x;
b=x++;
after the code is run both a and b will be 1 but x will be 2.
These are known as postfix and prefix operators. Both will add 1 to the variable but there is a difference in the result of the statement.
int x = 0;
int y = 0;
y = ++x; // result: x=1, y=1
int x = 0;
int y = 0;
y = x++; // result: x=1, y=0
Yes,
int x=5;
System.out.println(++x);
will print 6 and
int x=5;
System.out.println(x++);
will print 5.
In Java there is a difference between x++ and ++x
++x is a prefix form:
It increments the variables expression then uses the new value in the expression.
For example if used in code:
int x = 3;
int y = ++x;
//Using ++x in the above is a two step operation.
//The first operation is to increment x, so x = 1 + 3 = 4
//The second operation is y = x so y = 4
System.out.println(y); //It will print out '4'
System.out.println(x); //It will print out '4'
x++ is a postfix form:
The variables value is first used in the expression and then it is incremented after the operation.
For example if used in code:
int x = 3;
int y = x++;
//Using x++ in the above is a two step operation.
//The first operation is y = x so y = 3
//The second operation is to increment x, so x = 1 + 3 = 4
System.out.println(y); //It will print out '3'
System.out.println(x); //It will print out '4'
Hope this is clear. Running and playing with the above code should help your understanding.
I landed here from one of its recent dup's, and though this question is more than answered, I couldn't help decompiling the code and adding "yet another answer" :-)
To be accurate (and probably, a bit pedantic),
int y = 2;
y = y++;
is compiled into:
int y = 2;
int tmp = y;
y = y+1;
y = tmp;
If you javac this Y.java class:
public class Y {
public static void main(String []args) {
int y = 2;
y = y++;
}
}
and javap -c Y, you get the following jvm code (I have allowed me to comment the main method with the help of the Java Virtual Machine Specification):
public class Y extends java.lang.Object{
public Y();
Code:
0: aload_0
1: invokespecial #1; //Method java/lang/Object."<init>":()V
4: return
public static void main(java.lang.String[]);
Code:
0: iconst_2 // Push int constant `2` onto the operand stack.
1: istore_1 // Pop the value on top of the operand stack (`2`) and set the
// value of the local variable at index `1` (`y`) to this value.
2: iload_1 // Push the value (`2`) of the local variable at index `1` (`y`)
// onto the operand stack
3: iinc 1, 1 // Sign-extend the constant value `1` to an int, and increment
// by this amount the local variable at index `1` (`y`)
6: istore_1 // Pop the value on top of the operand stack (`2`) and set the
// value of the local variable at index `1` (`y`) to this value.
7: return
}
Thus, we finally have:
0,1: y=2
2: tmp=y
3: y=y+1
6: y=tmp
When considering what the computer actually does...
++x: load x from memory, increment, use, store back to memory.
x++: load x from memory, use, increment, store back to memory.
Consider:
a = 0
x = f(a++)
y = f(++a)
where function f(p) returns p + 1
x will be 1 (or 2)
y will be 2 (or 1)
And therein lies the problem. Did the author of the compiler pass the parameter after retrieval, after use, or after storage.
Generally, just use x = x + 1. It's way simpler.
Yes.
public class IncrementTest extends TestCase {
public void testPreIncrement() throws Exception {
int i = 0;
int j = i++;
assertEquals(0, j);
assertEquals(1, i);
}
public void testPostIncrement() throws Exception {
int i = 0;
int j = ++i;
assertEquals(1, j);
assertEquals(1, i);
}
}
Yes, using ++X, X+1 will be used in the expression. Using X++, X will be used in the expression and X will only be increased after the expression has been evaluated.
So if X = 9, using ++X, the value 10 will be used, else, the value 9.
If it's like many other languages you may want to have a simple try:
i = 0;
if (0 == i++) // if true, increment happened after equality check
if (2 == ++i) // if true, increment happened before equality check
If the above doesn't happen like that, they may be equivalent
Yes, the value returned is the value after and before the incrementation, respectively.
class Foo {
public static void main(String args[]) {
int x = 1;
int a = x++;
System.out.println("a is now " + a);
x = 1;
a = ++x;
System.out.println("a is now " + a);
}
}
$ java Foo
a is now 1
a is now 2
OK, I landed here because I recently came across the same issue when checking the classic stack implementation. Just a reminder that this is used in the array based implementation of Stack, which is a bit faster than the linked-list one.
Code below, check the push and pop func.
public class FixedCapacityStackOfStrings
{
private String[] s;
private int N=0;
public FixedCapacityStackOfStrings(int capacity)
{ s = new String[capacity];}
public boolean isEmpty()
{ return N == 0;}
public void push(String item)
{ s[N++] = item; }
public String pop()
{
String item = s[--N];
s[N] = null;
return item;
}
}
Yes, there is a difference, incase of x++(postincrement), value of x will be used in the expression and x will be incremented by 1 after the expression has been evaluated, on the other hand ++x(preincrement), x+1 will be used in the expression.
Take an example:
public static void main(String args[])
{
int i , j , k = 0;
j = k++; // Value of j is 0
i = ++j; // Value of i becomes 1
k = i++; // Value of k is 1
System.out.println(k);
}
The Question is already answered, but allow me to add from my side too.
First of all ++ means increment by one and -- means decrement by one.
Now x++ means Increment x after this line and ++x means Increment x before this line.
Check this Example
class Example {
public static void main (String args[]) {
int x=17,a,b;
a=x++;
b=++x;
System.out.println(“x=” + x +“a=” +a);
System.out.println(“x=” + x + “b=” +b);
a = x--;
b = --x;
System.out.println(“x=” + x + “a=” +a);
System.out.println(“x=” + x + “b=” +b);
}
}
It will give the following output:
x=19 a=17
x=19 b=19
x=18 a=19
x=17 b=17
public static void main(String[] args) {
int a = 1;
int b = a++; // this means b = whatever value a has but, I want to
increment a by 1
System.out.println("a is --> " + a); //2
System.out.println("b is --> " + b); //1
a = 1;
b = ++a; // this means b = a+1
System.out.println("now a is still --> " + a); //2
System.out.println("but b is --> " + b); //2
}
With i++, it's called postincrement, and the value is used in whatever context then incremented; ++i is preincrement increments the value first and then uses it in context.
If you're not using it in any context, it doesn't matter what you use, but postincrement is used by convention.
There is a huge difference.
As most of the answers have already pointed out the theory, I would like to point out an easy example:
int x = 1;
//would print 1 as first statement will x = x and then x will increase
int x = x++;
System.out.println(x);
Now let's see ++x:
int x = 1;
//would print 2 as first statement will increment x and then x will be stored
int x = ++x;
System.out.println(x);
Try to look at it this way:
from left to right do what you encounter first. If you see the x first, then that value is going to be used in evaluating the currently processing expression, if you see the increment (++) first, then add one to the current value of the variable and continue with the evaluation of the expression. Simple

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