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Dan's exam: Question 4, Langauage Fundamentals, Main Method

 
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Here's the question:
Question 4
class X {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int i = 0;
while (i++ < args.length) {
System.out.print(args[i]);
}
}
}
Assume the above main method is invoked using the following
command line.
java X A B C D E F

What is the result of attempting to compile and run the program using the specified command line?
a. Prints: ABCDE
b. Prints: BCDEF
c. Prints: ABCDEF
d. Compile-time error
e. Run-time exception
f. None of the Above
-------------------------------------------------
I am confused why the answer is e. Why is the index incremented before the array access expression is evaluated?
Please help. Thanks.
mansi
 
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The run time exception is generated when trying to access the last element of the array. People overlook the result of incrementing the array index as the check is already made on array length. This is a good question.
 
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Thank you Sarma.
 
Mansi Dave
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I guess what I really meant to ask is why is the i incremented before the array access expression is evaluated?
Thanks.
Mansi
 
Dan Chisholm
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I made a few modifications to the program so that the value of i will be printed from inside the loop expression and the array index expression. The letter A is printed with the loop expression and the letter B is printed with the array index expression. You can see that the value of i is incremented before the array index expression is evaluated. As a result, the value of i exceeds the length of the array on the last iteration of the loop.

If the above is invoked with the following command line:
java X w x y z
Then the output is:


[A,0],[B,1],x
[A,1],[B,2],y
[A,2],[B,3],z
[A,3],[B,4],


The above is followed by an ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException.
[ January 21, 2003: Message edited by: Dan Chisholm ]
 
Mansi Dave
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Dan,
Thanks you for providing this example. It helped clear things up.
Also, thank you for taking the time to create these mock exams. They're a great study aid.
Mansi
 
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class X {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int i = 0;
while (i++ < args.length) {
System.out.print(args[i]);
}
}
}


Here is the explanation:
Inside the while loop, the conditional part is i++ < args.length. i.e
i=i+1(but this is a postfix operator).So for the first execution of while loop, the value of i=0 but the value becomes 1 after that conditional part. Like this, whenever i value reaches to 5, after post fix operation, the value becomes 6 inside the while loop. if u try to get the value of args[6],compiler will throws ArrayIndexOutOfBoundException (Subclass of RuntimeException).
If you use while(++i<args.length), then the output will be BCDEF.
----------------
Nayan
 
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