Minor Detail - for(String b: sa).. what's the 'b' for?

[Jill Snider]

Hi all!

New to the forum and I hope someone can explain this minor detail to me.

class StringSplit {
	   public static void main(String [] args) {

	     String s = "x1234 y56 z7 a";
	     String [] sa = s.split("\\d"); 
				//	The \d means that every digit is a terminator
	     int count = 0;
	     for(String b : sa)
	       count++;
	     System.out.println("total: " + count);
	   }
	}

It's that darn 'b' in the for loop.
I can change it to any value but am not sure what it's purpose is?

Thanks for your help!
Jill

[Paul Clapham]

It's the name of the String variable which can be used inside the loop to refer to each of the String objects in the iteration. Example (note the use of the Code tags and please use them next time):

for(String b: sa) {
  System.out.println("This string in upper-case is " + b.toUpperCase());
  count++;
  System.out.println("total: " + count);
} 

And welcome to JavaRanch.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Welcome to the Ranch

Always use the code button when you quote code (but you can't use coloured code). I have edited your post and you can see how much better it looks.

[Jill Snider]

Hi Paul and Campbell,

Thanks for your help.

Of course the 'b' was for each String object! I did something stupid whilst trying to print it out.
Thank you for the clarity.

Also, I will use the code format next time I post.

Thanks again, Jill