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Java

Posted by Ian Z
Ian Z
14,584 Points

How do you set permanent variables that persist even once you close program? (for high score boards);

i want to do something like

if(yourScore>highScore){
  highScore = yourScore;
}

but make it permenently alter the code, so when i go open up Game.java highScore will now be set to the yourScore.

this is in java

1 Answer

William Li
William Li
Courses Plus Student 26,868 Points

Hi, Ian, when executing the Game.java, the program is running on the computer's memory, and RAM is not a persistent storage, any trace of the program is wiped clean everytime you exit it.

In order to make permanent change, your program will have to write the value to a database or file (using PrintWriter, FileOutputStream , or sth similar), so that it gets stored in the hard drive, which unlike RAM, it's a permanent storage unit.

Ian Z
Ian Z
14,584 Points

cool, so it will have some kind of text file in the folder just like an image?

William Li
William Li
Courses Plus Student 26,868 Points

Yes, if you've played any kind of computer games, you'd know that most games have the feature of letting you save your game progress, and then later load it so that you may continue where you left off; well, that's because they created a save file somewhere on your hard drive, later it'll be able to load it to the game.