Thread: Beginner Java program help

Hi guys,
I started learning java recently from programmingbydoing.com. I'm on lesson 33, where I have to make a short adventure game that asks you where you want to go from two presented options, and prints out a response. First of all, the nested if statements confused me, but besides that, I can't get the program to print out the correct response. It just skips to the else and exits. Here is my code so far:

import java.util.Scanner;
public class shortGame
{
public static void main (String [] args)
	{
Scanner keyboard = new Scanner (System.in);
 
String answer;
 
 
 
System.out.println ("Welcome to this Crappy Game");
 
System.out.print ("You are in a creepy house. Would you like to go upstairs, or into the kitchen? ");
answer = keyboard.next();
if (answer == "upstairs")
		{
 
			{
	System.out.println ("Upstairs you see a hallway. At the end of the hallway is a bedroom. there is also a bathroom. where would you like to go? ");
	answer = keyboard.next();
			}
 
	if (answer == "bedroom")
			{
				{
		System.out.print ("You are in a plush bedroom with expensive looking hardwood furniture. The bed is unmade. In the back of the room, the closet door is open. Would you like to go in?");
		answer = keyboard.next();
				}
	 if (answer == "no")
				{
		System.out.print ("You never found out what was in there. thanks for playing this crappy piece of shit Game");
				}
	 if (answer == "yes")
				{
		System.out.print ("There were clothes. that's about it, thanks for playing this crappy piece of shit Game");
 
				}
			};
 
 
	 if (answer == "bathroom")
			{
	System.out.print ("well, this is stupid, so I'm ending it here. thanks for playing this Game");
			}			
 
		}	
else
		{
System.out.print ("OK");
		}
	}
}

I finally got rid of all my errors and the code now compiles, but I think the string may not be updating when the user types the input. Its funny, I got it to work easily with Int in an earlier lesson.

Welcome to the forum! Thanks for taking the time to learn how to post code correctly. If you haven't already, please read this topic to learn other useful info for new members.

Do not use '==' to compare String objects. Use the equals() method instead:

if ( this.equals( that ) )

where this and that are both String objects.

Well thank you for the graciuos welcoming and quick reply!
I don't think I'm implimenting this properly. You're saying that if(answer =="blank") is incorrect, am I right? I changed that line now to if(String.answer("blank")) but now it won't compile. Can you show me where I'm going wrong?

It would be:

if ( answer.equals( "blank" ) ) {}

ah, thank you so much, that worked, now I can finish the program. I have a feeling I'll be posting here a lot more haha. Cheers, friend

You're welcome. Come back anytime.

Even though the good people above have helped you solve your problem, I'd like you some advice:
1. Always start class names with an Uppercase letter.
2. Use switch statements for primitive types including strings.

import java.util.Scanner;
 
/**
 * By convention, class names start with an Uppercase letter.
 * Also, using the eclipse IDE, you can do Ctrl+Shift+f to format (clean) your code automatically.
 */
public class ShortGame {
 
	public static void main (String [] args) {
	    Scanner keyboard = new Scanner (System.in);
		String answer;
		System.out.println ("Welcome to this Crappy Game\nYou are in a creepy house. Would you like to go upstairs, or into the kitchen?");
		answer = keyboard.next();
		switch(keyboard.next()) {
		case "upstairs":
		    System.out.println ("Upstairs you see a hallway. At the end of the hallway is a bedroom. there is also a bathroom. where would you like to go? ");
			switch(keyboard.next()) {
			    /**
				 * Any cases can be placed here.
				 */
			}
			break;
		case "upstairs":
		    /**
			 * Place function here.
			 */
	        break;
		default:
		    // What to do if the command did not equal any of the cases above, or if a case did not "break" out of the switch statement.
		    System.out.println("Invalid command.");
		}
	}
 
}

Use switch statements for primitive types including strings.

String objects are not primitives, though Java allows the programmer to sometimes treat them as if they were.

Some disagree with your affection for the switch() statement. A programmer I respect once said, "The switch() statement is for the lazy and unimaginative." While it's a tool for use, there are often better tools available - a personal choice.

Originally Posted by GregBrannon

String objects are not primitives, though Java allows the programmer to sometimes treat them as if they were.

Some disagree with your affection for the switch() statement. A programmer I respect once said, "The switch() statement is for the lazy and unimaginative." While it's a tool for use, there are often better tools available - a personal choice.

Explain on the "tools" you are referring to? Switch statements make your code far cleaner than and can become a good practice.

Example:

if (obj.getString().equals("blah blah blah)) {}
else if (obj.getString().equals("blah blah blah)) {}
else if (obj.getString().equals("blah blah blah)) {}
else if (obj.getString().equals("blah blah blah)) {}
else if (obj.getString().equals("blah blah blah)) {}

^ Your retrieving the string every time from the var obj, therefore more of a memory heap and more work for the GC. Even though you could create another var that refers to the obj.getString() (String s = obj.getString()), this is what I tend to see in most applications programmed by other intermediate programmers.