method within method math

[Jerry Bustamente]

Sorry for all the recent questions. I am scheduled to take the test August 9, 2004 and am trying to nail down some things. I greatly appreciate all the help I've received.

My latest challenge is the following:

public class Exam1Q28 {
static int m(int i) {
System.out.print(i + ",");
return i;
}

public static void main(String[] args) {
int i = 1;
m(m(++i)
+ m(i++)
+ m(-i)
+ m(i++));
}
}

The answer in the sample exam, and in Eclipse, is:

2,2,-3,3,4,

I am confused as to how the -3 is transformed into a positive 3.

I've debugged this in Eclipse and am just not understanding something. I step through it and after the -3 is printed then next step changes that value to 3. I set breakpoints at each line that will take one.

Thanks in advance.

Confused in Madison Wisconsin,

JerryB

[Dan Chisholm]

Jerry,

The -3 is never transformed to a positive 3, because the value of variable i is never -3. Instead, the -3 is only the value of the argument passed to method m in the method invocation expression m(-i). The actual value of variable i remains positive 3 after the execution of the method, but the value printed as a result of the method invocation is that of the argument, -3.

Just remember that the preincrement and postincrement instructions have side effects that change the value of the variable. The unary minus operator, -, does not have any side effects that change the value of the variable.

[Jerry Bustamente]

Thanks alot Dan!

:-)

JerryB