Is there a difference between x++ and ++x in java?

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Is there a difference between ++x and x++ in java?

18 Answers

++x is called preincrement while x++ is called postincrement.

int x = 5, y = 5;

System.out.println(++x); // outputs 6
System.out.println(x); // outputs 6

System.out.println(y++); // outputs 5
System.out.println(y); // outputs 6

yes

++x increments the value of x and then returns x
x++ returns the value of x and then increments

example:

x=0;
a=++x;
b=x++;

after the code is run both a and b will be 1 but x will be 2.

These are known as postfix and prefix operators. Both will add 1 to the variable but there is a difference in the result of the statement.

int x = 0;
int y = 0;
y = ++x;            // result: y=1, x=1

int x = 0;
int y = 0;
y = x++;            // result: y=0, x=1

Yes,

int x=5;
System.out.println(++x);

will print 6 and

int x=5;
System.out.println(x++);

will print 5.

In Java there is a difference between x++ and ++x

++x is a prefix form: It increments the variables expression then uses the new value in the expression.

For example if used in code:

int x = 3;

int y = ++x;
//Using ++x in the above is a two step operation.
//The first operation is to increment x, so x = 1 + 3 = 4
//The second operation is y = x so y = 4

System.out.println(y); //It will print out '4'
System.out.println(x); //It will print out '4'

x++ is a postfix form: The variables value is first used in the expression and then it is incremented after the operation.

For example if used in code:

int x = 3;

int y = x++;
//Using x++ in the above is a two step operation.
//The first operation is y = x so y = 3
//The second operation is to increment x, so x = 1 + 3 = 4

System.out.println(y); //It will print out '3'
System.out.println(x); //It will print out '4' 

Hope this is clear. Running and playing with the above code should help your understanding.

Yes.

public class IncrementTest extends TestCase {

    public void testPreIncrement() throws Exception {
        int i = 0;
        int j = i++;
        assertEquals(0, j);
        assertEquals(1, i);
    }

    public void testPostIncrement() throws Exception {
        int i = 0;
        int j = ++i;
        assertEquals(1, j);
        assertEquals(1, i);
    }
}

Yes, using ++X, X+1 will be used in the expression. Using X++, X will be used in the expression and X will only be increased after the expression has been evaluated.

So if X = 9, using ++X, the value 10 will be used, else, the value 9.

If it's like many other languages you may want to have a simple try:

i = 0;
if (0 == i++) // if true, increment happened after equality check
if (2 == ++i) // if true, increment happened before equality check

If the above doesn't happen like that, they may be equivalent

Yes, the value returned is the value after and before the incrementation, respectively.

class Foo {
    public static void main(String args[]) {
        int x = 1;
        int a = x++;
        System.out.println("a is now " + a);
        x = 1;
        a = ++x;
        System.out.println("a is now " + a);
    }
}

$ java Foo
a is now 1
a is now 2
public static void main(String[] args) {    

int a = 1;    
int b = a++; // this means b = whatever value a has but, I want to    
increment a by 1    
    
System.out.println("a is --> " + a);    //2    
System.out.println("b is --> " + b);    //1     
a = 1;    
b = ++a;  // this means b = a+1    
    
System.out.println("now a is still  --> " + a);    //2    
System.out.println("but b is --> " + b);           //2    

}    

Try to look at it this way: from left to right do what you encounter first. If you see the x first, then that value is going to be used in evaluating the currently processing expression, if you see the increment (++) first, then add one to the current value of the variable and continue with the evaluation of the expression. Simple

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