JavaPrint Variables

Display Variables

Theprintln() method is often used to display variables.

To combine both text and a variable, use the+ character:

String name = "John";System.out.println("Hello " + name);

You can also use the+ character to add a variable to another variable:

String firstName = "John ";String lastName = "Doe";String fullName = firstName + lastName;System.out.println(fullName);

In Java, the+ symbol has two meanings:

• For text (strings), it joins them together (calledconcatenation).
• For numbers, it adds values together.

For numeric values, the+ character works as a mathematicaloperator (notice that we useint (integer) variables here):

int x = 5;int y = 6;System.out.println(x + y); // Print the value of x + y

From the example above, here's what happens step by step:

• x stores the value 5
• y stores the value 6
• println() displays the result ofx + y, which is11

Mixing Text and Numbers

Be careful when combining text and numbers in the same line of code. Without parentheses, Java will treat the numbers as text after the first string:

int x = 5;int y = 6;System.out.println("The sum is " + x + y);   // Prints: The sum is 56System.out.println("The sum is " + (x + y)); // Prints: The sum is 11

Explanation:

In the first line, Java combines"The sum is " withx, creating the string"The sum is 5". Theny is added to that string, so it becomes"The sum is 56".

In the second line, the parentheses make surex + y is calculated first (resulting in11), so the output is"The sum is 11".