Thread: My program skips an if statement I want to include in my loop--don't know why

Hey guys. Bare with me because I am new to Java and am in a class, yet I would love to be great at it at some point. Any advice regarding style, etc. would be great. In this program, I had to make a game where the user bets dollars and guesses if 2 coins land on heads or tails. Everything works, except that in my loop, I want the player to choose whether or not to play again. The program immediately skips to the next part where the player enters his/her guess. Here is the source code and a screen shot of what happens. If you can help me find the issue (which I covered in bold), that would be very helpful as I have been stuck for a while now.

import java.util.Scanner;
import java.util.Random;

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

Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);
Random generator = new Random();

int coin1, coin2, //two coins
dollars, //initial number of dollars(input)
count, //number of tosses to reach depletion
maxDollars, //maximum amount held by the gambler
countAtMax, //count when the maximum is achieved
coin1Guess, coin2Guess; //Player's guess of heads (1) or tails(2)



//Initialize variables
countAtMax = 0;
count = 0;
maxDollars = 0;

//Request the input
System.out.print("How many dollars do you have? ");
dollars = reader.nextInt();

//Loop until the money is gone.
while (dollars > 0){
count++;


String playAgain; //Player inputs yes or no for another round

//Have player input "YES" or "NO" and prediction of heads (1) or tails (2) for each coin.

System.out.print("Thank you for playing \"Flip A Coin.\" Are you sure you still want to gamble?");
playAgain = reader.nextLine();

if (playAgain == "NO"){
break;
}

System.out.print("\nEnter your guess for coin 1 (enter 1 for heads or 2 for tails)");
coin1Guess = reader.nextInt();
System.out.print("\nEnter your guess for coin 2 (enter 1 for heads or 2 for tails)");
coin2Guess = reader.nextInt();

//Flip coins
coin1 = generator.nextInt (2) + 1; //1(heads) or 2(tails)
coin2 = generator.nextInt (2) + 1; //1 (heads) or 2(tails)

//Calculate winnings and/or losses
if (coin1 == coin1Guess||coin2 ==coin2Guess){

dollars += 1;
System.out.println("ONE MATCH! You win 1 dollar! Your new total is " + dollars + ".");
}

else if (coin1 == coin1Guess && coin2 == coin2Guess){
dollars += 4;
System.out.println("TWO MATCHES! You win 4 dollars! Your new total is " + dollars + ".");
}

else {
dollars -= 1;
System.out.println("Sorry, no match. You lose 1 dollar. Your new total is " + dollars + ".");
}


//If this is the new maximum, remember it
if (dollars > maxDollars){
maxDollars = dollars;
countAtMax = count;
}
}

//Display results
System.out.println
("You are broke after " + count + " rounds.\n" +
"You should have quit after " + countAtMax +
" rolls when you had $" + maxDollars + ".");
}
}

FlipACoinGame.jpg

Welcome!

Please read the Announcement topic at the top of the sub-forum to learn how to post code correctly along with other useful info for newcomers.

Do not use '==' to compare String objects. Use the equals() method, e.g., if ( "This".equals( "that" ) ).

Thank you very much for taking the time to help me. I am not that far in my course with that method, but I now know that I cannot do the same == boolean with String objects. I just told the user to type -1 to quit to keep it to an int and so my program works now. I will definitely check out that topic.

You're welcome.

Some instructors apparently warn their students, "Don't you dare use something we haven't covered in class." If that's your situation, then toe the line. If not, then get into the language and the API that represents the language as deeply as you can, try the things you read about there, and dare to be adventurous and learn stuff on your own. The "I can't use it yet" approach to learning is a bit hard for me to understand and accept.

But that's me talking. Ignore at will.

Originally Posted by GregBrannon

You're welcome.

Some instructors apparently warn their students, "Don't you dare use something we haven't covered in class." If that's your situation, then toe the line. If not, then get into the language and the API that represents the language as deeply as you can, try the things you read about there, and dare to be adventurous and learn stuff on your own. The "I can't use it yet" approach to learning is a bit hard for me to understand and accept.

But that's me talking. Ignore at will.

I don't think my professor is like that. That is very true. Especially with programming, you learn better by experimenting on your own with trial and error. I could not find the announcement page. Can you possibly reply to me with a link to it? Thanks again!

Go here, (the main page of the sub-forum, "What's Wrong With My Code,") and look for the Announcement topic just above the "Post New Thread" button.