Thread: Assigning random int to strings

Oh my heck, sorry! Let me try this again. Editing my first post is just not going to happen.

I think my loop is broken.

      while (gamesPlayed<gameQty)
      {
         userChoice = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Rock, Paper, or Scissors?");
 
         //Determine winner for each game
         if (compChoice.equalsIgnoreCase(userChoice));
         {
            userChoice = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Tie, game not counted. Rock, Paper, or Scissors?");
            ties++;
         }
 
         if ((compChoice == "Rock") && (userChoice == "Paper"));
         {
            JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Computer chose rock, you lose. Try again.");
            compWins++;
            gamesPlayed++;

It seems to circle through the loop gameQty times, without comparing.

If you want to have a loop run for a certain number of times prefer a for-loop over a while-loop.

Example of a for-loop running 17 times:

int a = 17;
for (int i = 0; i < a; i++) {
}

Furthermore, dont use "==" to compare Strings, use the "equals" method.

Thank you Cornix! Changed it to a for-loop, and .equals to compare. Program runs, but with a few issues:
- Looping through more times than user enters.
- I don't think the computer is choosing, or my comparisons are still broken.

      //loop for gameQty
      for (int qty=gameQty; gamesPlayed<qty; gamesPlayed++)
      {
         userChoice = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Rock, Paper, or Scissors?");
 
         //Determine winner for each game
         if (compChoice.equalsIgnoreCase(userChoice));
         {
            userChoice = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Tie, game not counted. Rock, Paper, or Scissors?");
            ties++;
         }
 
         if ((compChoice == "Rock") && (userChoice == "Paper"));
         {
            JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Computer chose rock, you win. Try again.");
            userWins++;
            gamesPlayed++;
         }
 
         if ((compChoice == "Rock") && (userChoice == "Scissors"));
         {
            JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Computer chose rock, you lose. Try again.");
            compWins++;
            gamesPlayed++;
         }
 
      }

Oops. Like this? From here, it cannot find the symbol, how do I let the user lose/win/tie, then enter a new variable for userChoice?

      //loop for gameQty
      for (int qty=gameQty; gamesPlayed<qty; gamesPlayed++)
      {
         userChoice = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Rock, Paper, or Scissors?");
 
         //Determine winner for each game
         if (compChoice.equalsIgnoreCase(userChoice));
         {
            userChoice = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Tie, game not counted. Rock, Paper, or Scissors?");
            ties++;
         }
 
         if (compChoice.equalsIgnoreCase("Rock"));
         {
 
            if (userChoice.equalsIgnoreCase("Paper"));
            {
            JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Computer chose rock, you win.");
            userchoice = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Try again.");
            userWins++;
            gamesPlayed++;
            }
 
            if (userChoice.equalsIgnoreCase("Scissors"));
            {
            JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Computer chose rock, you lose.");
            userchoice = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Try again.");
            compWins++;
            gamesPlayed++;
            }
         }

1) The for loop looks quite complicated and non-standard.
You should try to stick with the established standards to make the code easier readable by others (like us).
Usually a for-loop looks like this:

for (INIT_LOOP_VAR; LOOP_CONDITION; MANIPULATE_LOOP_VAR)

for example:

for (int round = 0; round < maxRounds; round++)

Your example looks like this:

for (INIT_UPPER_BOUNDS; LOOP_CONDITION; MANIPULATE_LOOP_VAR)

and it is hard for us because we
a) dont know how the loop variable (in your case gamesPlayed) is initialized.
b) dont know how the upper bounds (in your case gameQty) is initialized.

So we practically dont know anything about what is going on there.


2)
You still use "==" to compare your strings, namely at:

if ((compChoice == "Rock") && (userChoice == "Paper"));

this should not work. Use the "equals" or "equalsIgnoreCase" method here as well.


3)
You can also add "System.out.println(...)" statements in your code to print out the contents of your variables and/or the control flow of the program.
These might help you to find out where the problem is. For example, you could find out why the comparisons fail; maybe one of the variables is initialized with a bad value?

Does System.out.println(...) work where I'm using the more visual JOptionPane ...?

--- Update ---

System.out.println isn't displaying anything.

Here is all of the code.

/*
Rock Paper Scissors
 
Emily Caraballo
*/
 
import javax.swing.JOptionPane;
import java.util.Random;
 
public class RockPaperScissors
{
  public static void main(String[] args)
  {
      JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Welcome to Rock, Paper, Scissors");
 
      Random rand = new Random(); 
      int compRand = rand.nextInt(3);  // Random Number Generated for computer choice
      String compChoice = " ";    // Computer Choice assigned, based on int compRand
      String userChoice;          // User Choice
      int gamesPlayed = 0;        // Number of games played
      int compWins = 0;           // Number of computer wins
      int userWins = 0;           // Number of user wins
      int ties = 0;               // Number tied games
      int gameQty;                //number of games to play
      gameQty = Integer.parseInt(JOptionPane.showInputDialog("How many games do you want to play?"));
 
      //make sure number of games is odd
      if (gameQty % 2 == 0)
      {
         gameQty = Integer.parseInt(JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Please enter an odd number. How many games do you want to play?"));
      }
 
      //assigns computer choice to r,p,s
   	if	(compRand == 0)
   	{
   		compChoice.equals("Rock");
   	}
 
   	if	(compRand == 1)
   	{
   		compChoice.equals("Paper");
   	}
 
   	if	(compRand == 2)
   	{
   		compChoice.equals("Scissors");
   	}
 
      System.out.println(compChoice);
 
      //loop for gameQty
      for (int gamesPlayed; gamesPlayed<gameQty; gamesPlayed++)
      {
         userChoice = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Rock, Paper, or Scissors?");
 
         //Determine winner for each game
         if (compChoice.equalsIgnoreCase(userChoice));
         {
            userChoice = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Tie, game not counted. Rock, Paper, or Scissors?");
            ties++;
         }
 
         if (compChoice.equalsIgnoreCase("Rock"));
         {
 
            if (userChoice.equalsIgnoreCase("Paper"));
            {
            JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Computer chose rock, you win.");
            userchoice = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Try again.");
            userWins++;
            gamesPlayed++;
            }
 
            if (userChoice.equalsIgnoreCase("Scissors"));
            {
            JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Computer chose rock, you lose.");
            userchoice = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Try again.");
            compWins++;
            gamesPlayed++;
            }
         }
 
 
      }
 
 
  }  //end main
} //end class

Here are my errors:

RockPaperScissors.java:52: error: variable gamesPlayed is already defined in method main(String[])
      for (int gamesPlayed; gamesPlayed<gameQty; gamesPlayed++)
               ^
RockPaperScissors.java:69: error: cannot find symbol
            userchoice = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Try again.");

System.out.println(...) will write to the default Output unless you specify a different output stream for it.
So by default it will write to the console window. If you are starting from an IDE there is probably some way of showing the console during the program execution.

Besides that you could also abuse a JOptionPane to output the values if you want to be lazy or just cant find a way to access the console.



Your error about the "gamesPlayed" variable comes because you define it twice.
At the very beginning of your program you have this line:

int gamesPlayed = 0;

then, in your for-loop you have this:

for (int gamesPlayed; gamesPlayed<gameQty; gamesPlayed++)

your compiler is telling you that you have the same variable twice. This is not allowed.

You can either remove the first line at the top (which I would recommend) or if you want to keep it you can remove the "int" from the for-loop:

for (gamesPlayed; gamesPlayed<gameQty; gamesPlayed++)

/*
Rock Paper Scissors
 
Emily Caraballo
*/
 
import javax.swing.JOptionPane;
import java.util.Random;
 
public class RockPaperScissors
{
  public static void main(String[] args)
  {
      JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "Welcome to Rock, Paper, Scissors");
 
      Random rand = new Random(); 
      int compRand = rand.nextInt(3);  // Random Number Generated for computer choice
      String compChoice = " ";    // Computer Choice assigned, based on int compRand
      String userChoice;          // User Choice
      int compWins = 0;           // Number of computer wins
      int userWins = 0;           // Number of user wins
      int ties = 0;               // Number tied games
      int gameQty;                //number of games to play
      gameQty = Integer.parseInt(JOptionPane.showInputDialog("How many games do you want to play?"));
 
      //make sure number of games is odd
      if (gameQty % 2 == 0)
      {
         gameQty = Integer.parseInt(JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Please enter an odd number. How many games do you want to play?"));
      }
 
      //assigns computer choice to r,p,s
   	if	(compRand == 0)
   	{
   		compChoice.equals("Rock");
   	}
 
   	if	(compRand == 1)
   	{
   		compChoice.equals("Paper");
   	}
 
   	if	(compRand == 2)
   	{
   		compChoice.equals("Scissors");
   	}
 
      JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, compChoice);      // Is the computer choosing??? NO. :(
 
      //loop for gameQty
      for (int gamesPlayed; gamesPlayed<gameQty; gamesPlayed++)
      {
         userChoice = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Rock, Paper, or Scissors?");
 
         //Determine winner for each game
         if (compChoice.equalsIgnoreCase(userChoice));
         {
            userChoice = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Tie, game not counted. Rock, Paper, or Scissors?");
            ties++;
         }
 
         if (compChoice.equalsIgnoreCase("Rock"));
         {
 
            if (userChoice.equalsIgnoreCase("Paper"));
            {
            JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Computer chose rock, you win.");
            userchoice = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Try again.");
            userWins++;
            gamesPlayed++;
            }
 
            if (userChoice.equalsIgnoreCase("Scissors"));
            {
            JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Computer chose rock, you lose.");
            userchoice = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Try again.");
            compWins++;
            gamesPlayed++;
            }
         }
 
 
      }
 
      // Determine Grand Winner
      // If compWins > userWins, display "Computer Wins."
      // If userWins > compWins, display "You win!" 
      // Java is really hard, my brain is being stretched. It's also rewarding when I finally get it to work!!
 
    }  //end main
} //end class

What Norm means is that you have to do:

compChoice = "something";

to assign a value to it.

The equals method is only supposed to be used for conditional branches in your code. (if, while, etc)

The "==" operator is comparing references or primitive data types.
The "equals" method compares equality of objects based on the logic defined in the class.

For example:

String a = "Test";
String b = a;
System.out.println(a == b); // => returns true!

Because here we have 2 String variables "a" and "b", but both are referencing the same String object.

But in this scenario:

String a = "Test";
String b = "Test";
System.out.println(a == b); // => returns false!

We have 2 String variables "a" and "b", but both are referencing 2 different String objects which just happen to hold the same contents.

In general you should always use "equals" whenever you are working with objects. Only in very few cases the == operator should be used.
But when working with non-object variables, that is primitive data types, you need to use == because the equals method does not exist for these.
For example int, float, long, double, char, boolean, etc. These are all primitive.

Not sure what this error means?
The top part seems to be working now. Issues with the loop now. Here is the error. I can post the full code again if needed? Thought it's a couple threads above this...

RockPaperScissors.java:68: error: cannot find symbol
            userchoice = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Try again.");
            ^