Java char comparison does not seem to work [duplicate] - java

This question already has answers here:
Why does non-equality check of one variable against many values always return true?
(3 answers)
Closed last year.
I know you can compare chars in Java with normal operators, for example anysinglechar == y. However, I have a problem with this particular code:
do{
System.out.print("Would you like to do this again? Y/N\n");
looper = inputter.getChar();
System.out.print(looper);
if(looper != 'Y' || looper != 'y' || looper != 'N' || looper != 'n')
System.out.print("No valid input. Please try again.\n");
}while(looper != 'Y' || looper != 'y' || looper != 'N' || looper != 'n');
The problem should not be the other method, inputter.getChar(), but I'll dump it anyway:
private static BufferedReader read = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
public static char getChar() throws IOException{
int buf= read.read();
char chr = (char) buf;
while(!Character.isLetter(chr)){
buf= read.read();
chr = (char) buf;
}
return chr;
}
The output I'm getting is as follows:
Would you like to do this again? Y/N
N
NNo valid input. Please try again.
Would you like to do this again? Y/N
n
nNo valid input. Please try again.
Would you like to do this again? Y/N
As you can see, the char I put in is an n. It is then printed out correctly(hence it is to be seen twice). However, the comparison doesn't seem to become true.
I'm sure I'm overlooking something obvious.

Your logic is incorrect. It is always true that looper isn't 'Y' or it isn't 'y' or it isn't ...
You want the logical operator for "and": &&
if(looper != 'Y' && looper != 'y' && looper != 'N' && looper != 'n')
and a similar change in your while condition.

Rather than fix the logic operator from || to &&, make the code clearer:
private static final Set<Character> YES_OR_NO = Set.of('Y', 'y', 'N', 'n');
do {
System.out.print("Would you like to do this again? Y/N\n");
looper = inputter.getChar();
System.out.print(looper);
if (!YES_OR_NO.contains(looper))
System.out.print("No valid input. Please try again.\n");
} while(!YES_OR_NO.contains(looper));

Related

data validation using char != not working [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
Java char comparison does not seem to work [duplicate]
(2 answers)
Why does non-equality check of one variable against many values always return true?
(3 answers)
Closed last year.
Hello I know this is so basic but I am having trouble in comparing char specifically with the !=. Whenever I input other letter (not y and n) code still loop.
I tried changing the != to == and when i press Y it gets out of loop.
How is this happening? Thank you!
public static void main(String[] args) {
char inputChar;
Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
do {
System.out.println("-----------------------------------------------");
System.out.println("Try Again(Y/N)? ");
do {
inputChar = input.next().toUpperCase().charAt(0);
System.out.println("Loop");
} while (inputChar != 'Y' || inputChar != 'N');
System.out.println(inputChar + " d");
} while (inputChar == 'Y');
System.out.println("Thank you and Good bye!");
}
while (inputChar != 'Y' || inputChar != 'N');
The condition you wrote says 'loop while the input is not Y or is not N'.
No character is equal to Y and equal to N at the same time, so this will loop forever.
If it's Y, then it's not N, so the second part is true.
If it's N, then it's not Y, so the first part is true.
If it's Z, then both parts are true.
You want
while (inputChar != 'Y' && inputChar != 'N');
The issue is with this line: } while (inputChar != 'Y' || inputChar != 'N');
Since you are using a logical or operation, the loop continues while inputChar is not equal to Y or inputChar is not equal to N. The issue is that one of these is always true so your loop runs forever since a character cannot be both equal to 'N' and to 'Y'. Try using a logical and (&&) instead.

Using || OR Operator within If Statements alongside characters

I'm very new to programming in general, and I'm having a bit of trouble with a program I'm writing in Java to help calculate my final grade in a class. This part of the program asks me what letter grade I would like to receive, and then determines if that input is valid. For example, if I typed into the keyboard that I wanted to receive a letter grade of "Z", because that is not a valid grade, I would like my program to output "Invalid Input" and exit. The code I have written below is not producing any syntax errors, but it outputs "Invalid Input" for every letter grade I choose, even A, B, and C (inputs that should be valid). Any help in understanding what's wrong is more than welcome.
Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
char desiredGrade
System.out.print("What letter grade do you want to achieve for the course? ");
desiredGrade = input.next().charAt(0);
if (desiredGrade != 'A' || desiredGrade != 'B' || desiredGrade != 'C'){
System.out.println("Invalid Input");
System.exit(0);
}
In addition to this, it would be helpful to not have to worry about case sensitivity with the inputs. I know I can use .ignoreCase() or .equalsIgnoreCase() with strings, but I'm not quite sure how to implement that with char.
see this Answer
For Upper- and Lowercase you can wrap your char in Character and then call toLowerCase and check the input and the expected value on Lowercase.
In your example
desiredGrade != 'A' || desiredGrade != 'B' || desiredGrade != 'C'
If you want to use the || operator you have to do it like that
if(!(desiredGrade == 'A' || desiredGrade == 'B' || desiredGrade == 'C')){
}
That way you check if the Input is A, B, or C and if not then exit
Lets say desiredGrade = 'A'
if (desiredGrade != 'A' || desiredGrade != 'B' || desiredGrade != 'C'){
The first condition will be false, but the second and third will be true. So
if (false || true || true)
Will result always in true.
The way to do it is using operator AND &&
if (desiredGrade != 'A' && desiredGrade != 'B' && desiredGrade != 'C'){
This way, if the user decides to input 'A' the operation will be
if (false && true && true){
Resulting in false. And if the user inputs 'Z', the operation will be
if (true && true && true){
That will result true and execute the Invalid input output.
EDIT
As it has been mentioned. The user may input 'a' (lowercase) for which condition desiredGrade = 'A' will be false since 'a' != 'A' (is not equal).
So it will be wise to convert desiredGrade to uppercase before the if statement.
Try out
(desiredGrade != 'A' && desiredGrade != 'B' && desiredGrade != 'C')
Basically, you want to check if desiredGrade is different than A and different than B and different than C, print out invalid input.
Try this:
if (! Arrays.asList ('A', 'B', 'C').contains (Character.toUpperCase (desiredGrade))) {
// your error handling
}

Why is this causing a constant 'true' in this while loop?

Here is the code;
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.println("Do you need instructions for this game? Y/N.");
char a = input.next().charAt(0);
// This while loop always comes out as true.
while (a != 'y' || a != 'n') {
System.out.println("Please enter either Y/N. ");
System.exit(0);
}
if (a == 'y') {
System.out.println("This game is called heads and tails.");
System.out.println("You must type h (heads), or t (tails).");
System.out.println("You will need to keep guessing correctly, each correct guess will increase your score.");
}
}
}
Is there an explanation on why it always comes out as true, and is there an alternative way of doing this? I want to have a validation check, where if the user inputs anything other than y, or n, the program shuts down.
The problem is, when I enter the character, y, or n, it shuts down anyway even though I'm using the != (not equals) operator.
If you have a==y, then a != 'n' is true and a != 'y' || a != 'n' is true.
If you have a==n, then a != 'y' is true and a != 'y' || a != 'n' is true.
If you have a == other thing, a != 'y' || a != 'n' is true.
It is everytime true with the OR operation. Need use AND.
(a != 'y' || a != 'n') at least one of the sub-conditions must be true.
Consider the three possible cases:
a is 'y': false || true gives true
a is 'n': true || false gives true
a is something else: true || true gives true
The character a cannot both be y and n, so the while loop is executed for any input.
Besides, the loop is not looping.
You're checking whether a is not equal to 'y' OR a is not equal to 'n'.
This is always true.
Change it into while ((a != 'y') && (a != 'n')).
The condition inside while in
while (a != 'y' || a != 'n')
is always true because
if a is equal to y, then a is obviously not equal to n. So, result is true.
And again, if a is equal to n, then a is obviously not equal to y. So, result is true.
And again, if a is not equal to y or n, then also the result is true.
So, the condition inside the while is always true. And for this reason, the execution is entering the while loop and after printing your message it is exiting.
So using AND instead of OR may solve your problem, like
while(a != 'y' && a !='n') {
//your work
}
And I think you willing to do this like below,
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.println("Do you need instructions for this game? Y/N: ");
char a = input.next().charAt(0);
while (a != 'y') {
if(a =='n') {
System.exit(0);
}
else{
System.out.println("Please enter either Y/N : ");
a = input.next().charAt(0);
}
}
if (a == 'y') {
System.out.println("This game is called heads and tails.");
System.out.println("You must type h (heads), or t (tails).");
System.out.println("You will need to keep guessing correctly, each correct guess will increase your score.");
}
}
}
Your logic should be "a is not y and a is not n"
while (a != 'y' && a != 'n')

Validating a inputted char variable. Do-while loop will not break

I have a method that checks if the user is a student, but I can't get it validate the conditions.
char custStud = '0';
Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
do{
System.out.println("Are you a student? (Type Y or N): ");
custStud = input.next().charAt(0);
custStud = Character.toLowerCase(custStud);
}
while (custStud != 'y' || custStud != 'n');
When I fire up this program, it does not break the loop, even if 'y' or 'n' are entered. I suspect custStud might have accidentally changed types when changed to lowercase, but I'm not sure.
How can I make this loop work properly?
while (custStud != 'y' || custStud != 'n') is always true, since custStud can't be equal to both 'y' and 'n'.
You should change the condition to:
while (custStud != 'y' && custStud != 'n')
You've mistaken here:
while (custStud != 'y' || custStud != 'n');// wrong
while (custStud != 'y' && custStud != 'n');// correct
Try running this code:
char custStud = '0';
Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
do{
System.out.println("Are you a student? (Type Y or N): ");
custStud = input.next().charAt(0);
custStud = Character.toLowerCase(custStud);
}
while (custStud != 'y' && custStud != 'n');
System.out.print("\n answer:"+custStud);

Multiple conditions in WHILE loop

I want to exit the while loop when the user enters 'N' or 'n'. But it does not work. It works well with one condition but not two.
import java.util.Scanner;
class Realtor {
public static void main (String args[]){
Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
char myChar = 'i';
while(myChar != 'n' || myChar != 'N'){
System.out.println("Do you want see houses today?");
String input = sc.next();
myChar = input.charAt(0);
System.out.println("You entered "+myChar);
}
}
}
You need to change || to && so that both conditions must be true to enter the loop.
while(myChar != 'n' && myChar != 'N')
Your condition is wrong. myChar != 'n' || myChar != 'N' will always be true.
Use myChar != 'n' && myChar != 'N' instead
If your code, if the user enters 'X' (for instance), when you reach the while condition evaluation it will determine that 'X' is differente from 'n' (nChar != 'n') which will make your loop condition true and execute the code inside of your loop. The second condition is not even evaluated.

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