Thread: For loop to create string.

Hi, i'm trying to do a hangman game for my home task, and i got a few problems
the first problem is: How can i return a string from for loop?

Here is what i got so far:

for (int i = 0; i < userWord.length(); i++) {
  if (userGuess.equals(Character.toString(userWord.charAt(i)))) {
     System.out.print(userGuess.toUpperCase() + " ");
  } else {
    System.out.print("_ ");
  }
}

When the userWord is "apple" and userGuess is "a" then it prints " A _ _ _ _ ",
the next time user guess something for example "w" it prints " _ _ _ _ _ "

I'm assuming you aren't using arrays yet, and that's fine. If you are and would like to explore that approach, say so. For an approach that doesn't use an array, then the current result will change from:

"_ _ _ _ _"

to

"A _ _ _ _"

then when 'w' is guessed the current result will remain unchanged,

"A _ _ _ _"

So compare each character in the word to be guessed with the user's guess and fill in any correct guesses in the current result. The currentResult is a String object (which is immutable, by the way) that changes each time a correct guess is made. You can use the String methods to make this happen, so review the String API page.

I'm familiar with arrays and all the tried letters are saved to ArrayList. With a little help from my dear friend google, i came up with this:

		for (int i = 0; i < userWord.length(); i++) {
			for (String a : allLetters) {
			if (a.equals(Character.toString(userWord.charAt(i)))) {
				System.out.print(a.toUpperCase() + " ");
			} 
			if (!a.equals(Character.toString(userWord.charAt(i)))) {
				System.out.print("_ ");
			}
		}	
		}
		System.out.println();
	}

Then this is the result:
All the letters: [A, P, L, E] ( i print this out just for test )
A _ _ _ _ P _ _ _ P _ _ _ _ L _ _ _ _ E
now i get messed up word i'm thinking i must take the "sysout("_ ") out from the second for loop ? if so, then how ?

Thank you Norm for clearing that for me, but the end result stays the same as before.

When i try to guess word "apple" then everytime i guess a letter the "_" adds in that word..
my current output is : A _ _ P _ P _ _ _ _ "
but what i desire is : "A P P _ _ "

Here is the small program [Java] help - Pastebin.com , tho i'm using TextIO to make user input easier.

public class Test {
 
        public static ArrayList<String> allLetters = new ArrayList<String>();
        public static String userWord, userGuess;
 
        public static void main(String[] args) {
                System.out.println("userWord");
                userWord = TextIO.getlnString().toUpperCase();         
                boolean game = true;
                while (game == true) {
                        System.out.println("userGuess");
                        userGuess = TextIO.getlnString().toUpperCase();
                        allLetters.add(userGuess);
                        test();
                }
 
        }
 
        public static void test() {
                for (int i = 0; i < userWord.length(); i++) {
                        for (String t2heke : allLetters) {
                                if (t2heke.equals(Character.toString(userWord.charAt(i)))) {
                                        System.out.print(t2heke.toUpperCase() + " ");
                                } else {
                                        System.out.print("_ ");
                                }
                        }
                }
                TextIO.putln();
        }
}

(I'm using TextIO for easier input) I want to print letter when user guesses the right letter and the "_" when the letter doesnt match the one in word.

public class Test {
 
	public static ArrayList<String> allLetters = new ArrayList<String>();
	public static String letters[] = { "p", "e", "l", "a", "c", "d" };
	public static String userWord, userGuess;
 
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		userWord = "apple";
		System.out.println("userWord is: " + userWord);
		for (int i = 0; i < letters.length; i++) {
			userGuess = letters[i];
			System.out.println("userGuess is: " + userGuess.toUpperCase());
			allLetters.add(userGuess);
			test();
		}
	}
 
	public static void test() {
		for (int i = 0; i < userWord.length(); i++) {
			for (String t2heke : allLetters) {
				if (t2heke.equals(Character.toString(userWord.charAt(i)))) {
					System.out.print(t2heke.toUpperCase() + " ");
				} else {
					System.out.print("_ ");
				}
			}
		}
		System.out.println();
	}
}

right now the userWord is "apple" and the userGuess is taken from string array called letters
I'm sorry if this is not the program you wanted :\

public class Test {
 
	public static ArrayList<String> allLetters = new ArrayList<String>();
	public static String letters[] = { "p", "e", "l", "a", "c", "d" };
	public static String userWord, userGuess;
        public static boolean found;
 
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		userWord = "apple";
		System.out.println("userWord is: " + userWord);
		for (int i = 0; i < letters.length; i++) {
			userGuess = letters[i];
			System.out.println("userGuess is: " + userGuess.toUpperCase());
			allLetters.add(userGuess);
			test();
		}
	}
 
	public static void test() {
		for (int i = 0; i < userWord.length(); i++) {
                          found = true;
			for (String t2heke : allLetters) {
				if (t2heke.equals(Character.toString(userWord.charAt(i)))) {
					System.out.print(t2heke.toUpperCase() + " ");
                                          found = false;
				} 
			}
                              if (found) {
                                System.out.print("_ ");
                           }
		}
		System.out.println();
	}
}

if i add boolean found in it and do the following then it works, but why and how? is there another way to do this ?

It was pretty confusing, that's why i asked if there's other ways to do it Thank you Norm
Now i have another question: How can i compare the end result with the original word, to stop the game ?

How should i do that ? give a string and then replace letters or how ?

Oh my god i got it Thank you so much Norm !!