Chapter 6

Flow of Control Part 2:

Looping
Topics
Event-Controlled Loops Using while
Looping Techniques
Type-Safe Input Using Scanner
Constructing Loop Conditions
Testing Techniques for while Loops
Event-Controlled Loops Using do/while
Count-Controlled Loops Using for
Nested Loops
The Grocery Cashier
A grocery cashier's job is to calculate the
total costs of the items in the cart.
The cashier starts with a total of $0.00.
The cashier scans an item to get its price and
adds the price to the total.
The cashier scans the next item to get its price
and adds the price to the total.

When there are no more items to scan, the
total is complete.
Notice that the cashier is performing the
same operations on each item!
Looping
In computing, we often need to perform the
same operations on multiple items.
Typically, these tasks follow this pattern:
initialize values (set total to 0)
process items one at a time (add price to total)
report results (report total)

The flow of control that programmers use to
complete jobs with this pattern is called
looping, or repetition.

The while Loop
The while loop is designed for repeating a set of
operations on data items when we don't know
how many data items there will be.
We will get some signal when we have reached
the end of the items to process. (For the grocery
cashier, it's the divider bar)
The end of data items could be indicated by a
special input value called a sentinel value or by
reaching the end of a file
Receiving the signal is an event; we call this
event-controlled looping
while Loop Flow of Control
while Loop Syntax
//initialize variables
while ( boolean expression )
{
// process data (loop body)
}
//process the results

**Note: curly braces are optional if only one
statement is in the loop body

Indent the body of a while loop to clearly
illustrate the logic of the program.

Operation of the while Loop
If the condition evaluates to true, the loop body is
executed, then the condition is re-evaluated.
As long as the condition evaluates to true, we continue
to repeat the loop body.
The loop body must "update the loop condition"; that is, it
must perform some operation that eventually will cause
the loop condition to evaluate to false
Typically, the loop update will be an attempt to read the
next input value, in order to detect the sentinel value or
the end of the file.
Some Definitions
iteration
one execution of the loop body
loop update
One or more statements that could cause the
loop condition to evaluate to false (to end the
looping)
loop termination condition
the event that causes the loop condition to
evaluate to false
The Endless Loop
also called an infinite loop
If the loop condition never evaluates to false,
the loop body is executed continuously,
without end
If the loop body has no output, the endless
loop makes the computer appear to hang.
If the loop body produces output, the endless
loop results in that output being repeatedly
written without end.
Aborting the program will interrupt the
endless loop.

Pseudocode for the Grocery
Cashier
set total to $0.00
reach for first item
while item is not the divider bar
{
get price of item
add price to total
reach for next item // loop update
}
// if we get here, the item is the
// divider bar
output the total price

Avoid putting a semicolon after the condition of a while
loop. Doing so creates an empty loop body and could
result in an endless loop.
This code causes an endless loop:
int i = 0;
while ( i < 10 ); // empty loop body
{
i++; // not in the loop body
}
The semicolon indicates an empty loop body; i++ is
never executed because it is not part of the loop body,
so the condition is always true.
Sentinel-Controlled while Loop
initialize variables
// priming read
read the first data item
while ( item is not the sentinel value )
{
process the item

// update read
read the next data item
}
report the results

Omitting the update read may result in an
endless loop.
Example:
System.out.print( "Enter a value > " );
int input = scan.nextInt( );
while ( input != 10 ) // 10 is sentinel value
{
System.out.println( input );
}
If the value entered for input is not 10, this is
an endless loop because we never read a
new value for input. Thus, the condition
always evaluates to true.
Omitting the priming read can lead to incorrect
results.
Example:
int input, count = 0;;
while ( input != 10 ) // 10 is sentinel value
{
System.out.print( "Enter an integer > " );
input = scan.nextInt( );
count++;
}
System.out.println( "Count is " + count );
If the user enters the values 20 30 10, then the output
will be "Count is 3", which is incorrect. We should not
process the sentinel value.
Example 6.1
EchoUserInput.java
-1 is the sentinel value
We read integers from the user until the user
enters -1
To process the data, we echo the user input
to console

Reading from a Text File
initialize variables
while ( there is more data in the file )
{
read the next data item
process the data
}
report the results

Setup for Reading from a File
File class ( java.io package ) constructor



A Scanner constructor for reading from a file



Example:
File inputFile = new File( "input.txt" );
Scanner scan = new Scanner( inputFile );

File ( String pathname )
constructs a File object with the file name pathname
Scanner( File file )
creates a Scanner object associated with a file
Scanner Class hasNext Method
Use this method to detect the end of the input values






Eliminates the need for a priming read because the hasNext method
looks ahead for input.
An IOException may be generated if we encounter problems
reading the file. Java requires us to acknowledge that these
exceptions may be generated. One way to do this is to add this
clause to the main definition
throws IOException
See Example 6.2 reading from a text file
Return type Method name and argument list
boolean
hasNext( )
returns true if there is more data to read;
returns false when the end of the file is
reached
Looping Techniques
There are standard patterns and techniques
for performing these common operations:
Accumulation
Counting Items
Finding an Average
Finding Maximum or Minimum Values
Animation


Accumulation
Approach: the running total
We start by initializing a total variable to 0.
Each time we read a value, we add it to the total.
When we have no more values to read, the total
is complete.
Note that this is the same pattern used by the
grocery cashier.

Accumulation Pseudocode
set total to 0 // very important!
read a number // priming read
while ( number is not the sentinel value )
{
add the number to total

read the next number // update read
}
output the total

See Example 6.3 Calculator.java
Forgetting to initialize the total variable to 0
before beginning the loop will produce
incorrect results.

Counting Items
Approach: the running count
We start by initializing a count variable to 0.
Each time we read a value, we check whether
that value meets the criteria as something we
want to count. If so, we increment the count
variable by 1.
When we are finishing reading values, the count
is complete.
Counting Items Pseudocode
set count to 0 // very important!!
read input // priming read
while ( input is not the sentinel value )
{
if ( input is what we want to count )
add 1 to count

read the next input // update read
}
output count

See Example 6.4 CountTestScores.java
Forgetting to initialize the count variable to 0
before beginning the loop will produce
incorrect results.

Calculating an Average
Approach: combine accumulation and
counting
We start by initializing a total variable and
count variable to 0.
Each time we read an item, we add its value
to the total variable and increment the count
variable
When we have no more items to read, we
calculate the average by dividing the total by
the count of items.

Calculating an Average
Pseudocode
set total to 0
set count to 0
read a number
while ( number is not the sentinel value )
{
add the number to total
add 1 to the count

read the next number
}
set average to total / count
output the average

See Example 6.5 AverageTestScore.java
Forgetting to check whether the denominator
is 0 before performing division is a logic error.
In integer division, if the divisor is 0, an
ArithmeticException is generated.
In floating-point division, if the divisor is 0:
If the dividend is also 0,
the result is NaN
If the dividend is not 0,
the result is Infinity
Correct Calculation
Remember that if we declare total and count
as integers, then average will be calculated
using integer division, which truncates the
remainder.
To get a floating-point average, we need to
type cast one of the variables (either total or
count) to a double or a float to force the
division to be performed as floating point.
Example:
double average = (double) ( total ) / count;


Finding Maximum/Minimum
Values
Approach: the running maximum or
minimum
For the maximum (minimum is similar):
Read the first item and save its value as the
current maximum
Each time we read a new value, we compare it
to the current maximum.
If the new value is greater than the current
maximum, we replace the current maximum with
the new value.
When we have no more items to read, the
current maximum is the maximum for all
values.
Finding Maximum Value Pseudocode
for Reading From a File
read a number
make that number the maximum
while ( there is another number to read )
{
read the next number
if ( number > maximum )
{
set maximum to number
}
}
output the maximum

See Example 6.6

Initializing a maximum or a minimum to an
arbitrary value, such as 0 or 100, is a logic
error and could result in incorrect results.

For example, if we initialize the maximum to 0
and all the values read are less than 0, then
we will incorrectly report 0 as the maximum.
Similarly, if we initialize the minimum to 0 and
all the values read are greater than 0, then
we will incorrectly report 0 as the minimum.
Input Problems
What happens if the user does not enter the
data type we request?
The Scanner next method generates an
InputMismatchException
Program is terminated; remaining statements are
not executed.
See Example 6.9 ReadInteger.java
Solving the Input Problem
We can check before we read, that the next
token matches our expected input.
The Scanner class provides hasNext
methods for doing this. The hasNext
methods return true if the next token can be
read as the data type specified.
Scanner Class hasNext
Methods
Each method returns true if the next token in the
input stream can be read as the data type requested,
and false otherwise.

Return type Method name and argument list
boolean hasNextInt( )
boolean hasNextDouble( )
boolean hasNextFloat( )
boolean hasNextByte( )
boolean hasNextShort( )
boolean hasNextLong( )
boolean hasNextBoolean( )
boolean hasNext( )
Reprompting for Valid Input
If the hasNext method returns false, we need
to notify the user that the value typed is not
valid and reprompt for new input.
First we need to flush the invalid input using
the nextLine method of the Scanner class.
Then we just ignore that input.

Scanner nextLine Method




Pseudocode for type-safe input:
prompt for input
while ( input does not match type requested )
{
flush input
reprompt
}
perform read
See Example 6.10 TypeSafeReadInteger.java
Return type Method name and argument list
String nextLine( )
returns the remaining input on
the line as a String
Constructing Loop Conditions
The loop body is executed as long as the
loop condition evaluates to true
So if we want to stop executing the loop
when the sentinel value is read, the loop
condition has to check that the value is NOT
the sentinel
Thus, the loop continuation condition is
the inverse of the loop termination
condition.
Example: Menu Program
Two sentinel values ( 's' or 'S' )
We are inclined to form this **incorrect**
condition:

while ( option != 'S' || option != 's' )

This causes an endless loop because one of
the conditions is always true
Constructing a Loop Condition
1. Define the loop termination condition, that is,
define the condition that will make the loop
stop executing.
2. Create the loop continuation condition the
condition that will keep the loop executing
by applying the Logical NOT operator ( ! ) to
the loop termination condition.
3. Simplify the loop continuation condition by
applying DeMorgan's Laws, where possible.

DeMorgan's Laws (see Chapter
5)
Set of rules to help develop logical
expressions that are equivalent
NOT( A AND B ) is equivalent to
( NOT A ) OR ( NOT B )

NOT( A OR B ) is equivalent to
( NOT A ) AND ( NOT B )

According to DeMorgan's
Laws:
!( a && b )
is equivalent to
( !a ) || ( !b )

!( a || b )
is equivalent to
!a && !b

Negating Expressions

expression ! (expression )
a = = b a != b
a != b a = = b
a < b a >= b
a >= b a < b
a > b a <= b
a <= b a > b
The Menu Condition Revisited
1. Define the loop termination condition:
( option == 'S' || option == 's' )

2. Create the loop continuation condition by
applying the ! operator:
! ( option == 'S' || option == 's' )

3. Simplify by applying DeMorgan's Laws:
( option != 'S' && option != 's' )
This condition is correct!

See Example 6.11 CellService.java
Do not check for the sentinel value inside a
while loop. Let the while loop condition detect
the sentinel value.

Note in Example 6.11 that no code in the loop
checks for 's' or 'S'. Because the while loop
condition does the checking, the option variable can
never have the value 's' or 'S' inside the loop body.
This is true because we use a priming read and an
update read.
A Compound Loop Condition
Suppose we want to animate the ball so that
it rolls diagonally.
In this case, we will have two possible
events:
the ball has passed the horizontal border
the ball has passed the vertical border
Develop the Loop Condition
1. Loop termination (ball is out of bounds)
( ball.getX( )+ diameter > windowWidth
|| ball.getY( )+ diameter > windowHeight )
2. Loop continuation (ball is not out of bounds)
! ( ball.getX( )+ diameter > windowWidth
|| ball.getY( )+ diameter > windowHeight )
3. Simplify (ball is in bounds)
( ball.getX( )+ diameter <= windowWidth
&& ball.getY( )+ diameter <= windowHeight )

See Example 6.12 RollABall3.java

Testing Techniques
1. Does the program produce correct results
with a set of known input values?
2. Does the program produce correct results if
the sentinel value is the first and only input?
3. Does the program deal appropriately with
invalid input?

Testing Technique 1
1. Does the program produce correct results
with known input?
To verify, select input values, calculate by
hand, and compare output to hand-
calculated values
Check boundary values
Such as lowest or highest expected values
Check "edge" values of if statements
For Example, with this if condition:
( age >= 18 )
we should test the program with values 17, 18, and 19
Testing Techniques 2 and 3
2. Does the program produce correct results if the
sentinel value is the first and only input?
Result: the while loop is not executed; will reported
results be correct?
Test: Enter sentinel value at first prompt

3. Does the program deal appropriately with invalid
input?
Possible results: an Exception is generated or an
incorrect action is performed
Test: Enter invalid data
The do/while Loop
Unlike the while loop, the condition for the
do/while loop is evaluated at the end of the
loop
Thus, do/while loop executes at least once
Some uses for a do/while loop:
Validate user input
Ask if user wants to repeat an operation

do/while Syntax
//initialize variables
do
{
// body of loop

} while ( condition );
//process the results

do/while Flow of Control

Example:Validate User Input
Prompt user inside the do/while loop
Condition is true if user entered invalid data,
so looping continues until user enters valid
data.
See Example 6.13 ValidateInput.java
Do not use an if statement to validate input
because it will catch invalid values entered
the first time only.
A do/while loop will continue to prompt the
user until the user enters a valid value.
To Repeat an Operation
Example code to prompt user to play again.

do
{
// code to play a game
System.out.print( "play again? ")
String answer = scan.next( );
} while ( answer.equalsIgnoreCase( "yes" ) );
The for Loop
Ideal when you know the number of iterations
to perform before the loop begins
Examples:
Find the sum of 5 numbers
Find the maximum of 20 numbers
Print the odd numbers from 1 to 10
The for Loop Syntax
for ( initialization; loop condition; loop update )
{
// loop body
}

Notes:
semicolons separate terms in the loop header
no semicolon follows the loop header
curly braces are required only if more than
one statement is in the loop body

for Loop Flow of Control
for Loop Flow of Control
1. The initialization statement is executed
(once only).
2. The loop condition is evaluated. If the
condition is true, the loop body is executed.
3. The loop update statement is executed, and
the loop condition is reevaluated (#2).

And so on, until the condition is false.

Using a Loop Control Variable
A loop control variable is usually used for
counting.
We set its initial value in the initialization
statement
We check its value in the loop condition
We increment or decrement its value in the loop
update statement


Example: Find Sum of 5
Integers
set total to 0
for i = 1 to 5 by 1
{
read integer
add integer to total
}
print the total

See Example 6.15 Sum5Numbers.java

Update Increment Can Be > 1
Print the even numbers from 0 to 20

set output to an empty String
for i = 0 to 20 by 2
{
append i and a space to output
}
print the output String

See Example 6.16 PrintEven.java

Loop Control Variable Scope
When a loop control variable is declared
inside the for loop header, it cannot be
referenced after the loop
for ( int i = 0; i < 3; i++ )
{
System.out.println( i ); // ok
}
System.out.println( i ); // error: i undefined

To Reference i After the Loop
int i; // declare i before loop
for ( i = 0; i < 3; i++ )
{
System.out.println( i );
}
System.out.println( i ); // ok

Decrementing the Loop
Variable
Print a string backwards:
set backwards to an empty String
read a sentence
for i = ( length of sentence 1 )
to 0 by 1
{
get character at position i
append character to backwards
}
print backwards

See Example 6.17 Backwards.java
Drawing a Bull's Eye Target
Draw 10 concentric circles
All circles have the same center point
Each circle has a different diameter
To alternate colors (black & red), we use a
toggle variable
variable alternates between two values
We must draw the circles from the largest to
the smallest to avoid covering the smaller
circles.
Pseudocode for Bull's Eye
initialize color to black
for diameter = 200 to 20 by 20
{
instantiate a circle
draw the circle
if color is black
set color to red
else
set color to black
}
See Example 6.18 Bullseye.java
Testing for Loops
An important test for for loops is that the
starting and ending values of the loop
variable are set correctly.
For example, to iterate 5 times, use this
header:
for ( int i = 0; i < 5; i++ )
or this header:
for ( int i = 1; i <= 5; i++ )

Processing a String (named
word)
Forward direction:
Correct:
for ( int i = 0; i < word.length( ); i++ )
Incorrect:
for ( int i = 0; i <= word.length( ); i++ )
Reverse direction:
Correct:
for ( int i = word.length( ) - 1; i >= 0; i-- )
Incorrect:
for ( int i = word.length( ); i >= 0; i-- )
for ( int i = word.length( ) - 1; i > 0; i-- )

Testing for Loops
Test with data that causes for loop to execute
0 times (no iterations).
Example: Test Example 6.17 Backwards.java
with an empty sentence.
Nested Loops
Loops can be nested inside other loops; that
is, the body of one loop can contain another
loop.
A while loop can be nested inside another
while loop or a for loop can be nested inside
another for loop.
A for loop can be nested inside a while loop
and a while loop can be nested inside a for
loop.

Example: Grocery Checkout
look for a customer in line
while ( there is a customer in line )
{
set total to $0.00
reach for first item
while item is not the divider bar
{
add price to total
reach for next item
}
output the total price
look for another customer in line
}


Nested for Loop Execution
Inner loop executes all its iterations for each
single iteration of the outer loop
Example: how can we print this?
1
1 2
1 2 3
1 2 3 4
1 2 3 4 5

Analysis
The highest number we print is the same as
the line number.
for line = 1 to 5 by 1
{
for number = 1 to line by 1
{
print number and a space
}
print a new line
}
See Example 6.19 NestedForLoops.java

Finding Factors
We'll let the user enter positive integers, with
a 0 being the sentinel value.
For each number, we'll find all its factors; that
is, we will find all the integers that are evenly
divisible into the number
We will not process 1 or the number itself.
If a number is evenly divisible by another, the
remainder after division will be 0. Thus, the
modulus operator (%) will be useful.

Finding Factors (con't)
To find all the factors of a number, we can
test all integers from 1 up to the number,
counting all those whose remainder after
division is 0.
But: The number 1 is a factor for every
number.
So we can begin testing at 2.
And because 2 is the smallest possible
factor, there's no need to test integers higher
than
number / 2. Thus, our range of integers to
test will be from 2 to number / 2.
Finding Factors Pseudocode
read first number // priming read
while number is not 0
{
print "The factors for number are "
for factor = 2 to ( number / 2 ) by 1
{
if number % factor is 0
print factor and a space
}
print a new line
read next number // update read
}
Finding Factors (con't)
If no factors are found, the number is prime.
We need a flag variable
We set the flag to false before starting the for loop
that checks for factors.
Inside the for loop, we set the flag to true when
we find a factor.
After the for loop terminates, we check the value
of the flag. If it is still false, we did not find any
factors and the number is prime.
See Example 6.20 Factors.java