Expression evaluation

[Philip Pomario]

Could someone please explain me the order of evaluation the following expression uses to execute? I guess it would be easier just to put the extra parenthesis in place.

int i=1;
int j = 2;
if (i==1 || j==2){
System.out.println("true");
}

Thanks!

[Paul Santa Maria]

Hi -

A quick Google search for "Java operator precedence" took me straight to Sun's official documentation:
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/expressions.html

You'll note in the table that "equality" (==, !=) has higher precedence than "logical OR". So the expression will be evaluated:

(i == 1) || (j == 2 )
<= THIS WILL, OF COURSE, EVALUATE TO "TRUE"

One thing the Java page *doesn't* mention is that "&&" and "||" are "short circuit" operators - that is, the second expression will *not* be evaluated if the first one is true. This can often be a very important distinction.
Hope that helps .. PSM
[ February 11, 2005: Message edited by: Paul Santa Maria ]

[Ilja Preuss]

Originally posted by Filipe Pomar:
I guess it would be easier just to put the extra parenthesis in place.

Yes, I'd probably do exactly that.

[Philip Pomario]

Thanks guys!

[Layne Lund]

Originally posted by Paul Santa Maria:

...
One thing the Java page *doesn't* mention is that "&&" and "||" are "short circuit" operators - that is, the second expression will *not* be evaluated if the first one is true. This can often be a very important distinction.
Hope that helps .. PSM

[ February 11, 2005: Message edited by: Paul Santa Maria ]

This statement is only true of the || operator. For the && operator, if the first operand evaluates to false, then the second expression is not evaluated.

[Philip Pomario]

I just passed the SCJP1.4 exam and wanted to post this appreciation note to thank everyone who helped me understand Java a little better. Without your help this personal achievement wouldn't be possible.