Java clarification on += assignment operator

Question

I'm a bit confused about how += assignment operator works. I know that x += 1 is x = x+1. However, in this code there is a string variable called 'String output' and initialized with an empty string. My confusion is that that there are 5 different outputs for the variable 'output' but I don't see where it's being stored. Help clarify my misunderstanding. I can't seem to figure it out.

import java.util.Scanner;

public class SubtractionQuiz {
public static void main(String[] args) {
    final int NUMBER_OF_QUESTIONS = 5; //number of questions
    int correctCount = 0; // Count the number of correct answer
    int count = 0; // Count the number of questions
    long startTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
    String output = " "; // Output string is initially empty
    Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);

    while (count < NUMBER_OF_QUESTIONS) {
        // 1. Generate two random single-digit integers
        int number1 = (int)(Math.random() * 10);
        int number2 = (int)(Math.random() * 10);

        // 2. if number1 < number2, swap number1 with number2
        if (number1 < number2) {
            int temp = number1;
            number1 = number2;
            number2 = temp;
        }

        // 3. Prompt the student to answer "What is number1 - number2?"
        System.out.print(
          "What is " + number1 + " - " + number2 + "? ");
        int answer = input.nextInt();

        // 4. Grade the answer and display the result
        if (number1 - number2 == answer) {
            System.out.println("You are correct!");
            correctCount++; // Increase the correct answer count
        }
        else
            System.out.println("Your answer is wrong.\n" + number1
                + " - " + number2 + " should be " + (number1 - number2));


        // Increase the question count
        count++;

        output +=  "\n" + number1 + "-" + number2 + "=" + answer +
                ((number1 - number2 == answer) ? " correct" : "        
                                    wrong");

    }

    long endTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
    long testTime = endTime = startTime;

    System.out.println("Correct count is " + correctCount +
      "\nTest time is " + testTime / 1000 + " seconds\n" + output);

    }


 }

string1 + string2 concatenates strings. So output += someString appends the content of someString to output. — assylias
– assylias, Commented Jun 18, 2013 at 19:10
The "5 different outputs" is actually one output string separated into 5 lines using the newline character \n — DannyMo
– DannyMo, Commented Jun 18, 2013 at 19:18
@damo thanks for the response. I just figured that out, took a while. — Minh Tran
– Minh Tran, Commented Jun 18, 2013 at 20:19

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:13:00Z

1

Answer given by Badshah is appreciable for your program and if you want to know more about operator' usability, jst check out this question i came across

+ operator for String in Java

The answers posted have very good reasoning of the operator

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:13

CommunityBot

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answered Jun 18, 2013 at 19:41

Umar Sid

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Comments

Suresh Atta · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-18 19:09:44Z

0

Its Add AND assignment operator.

It adds right operand to the left operand and assign the result to left operand.

In your case

output += someString // output becomes output content +somestring content.

`

answered Jun 18, 2013 at 19:09

Suresh Atta

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1 Comment

Minh Tran Over a year ago

Thanks, Baadshah, took me a while to see that.

Yasin Okumuş · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-18 19:39:43Z

Maybe the proper answer was written but if I understand your question correctly, you want some clarification instead of meaning of +=

Change the code;

    // Increase the question count
    count++;

    output +=  "\n" + number1 + "-" + number2 + "=" + answer +
            ((number1 - number2 == answer) ? " correct" : "wrong");

as this:

    output +=  "\nCount: " + count + " and the others: " + 
            number1 + "-" + number2 + "=" + answer +
            ((number1 - number2 == answer) ? " correct" : "wrong");
    // Increase the question count
    count++;

So you can see the line and the count together. Then increase as your wish.

In Java, Strings are immutable. So output += somethingNew makes something like this:

String temp = output;
output = temp + somethingNew;

At the end, it becomes something like concat/merge

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