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Java

Posted by Luke Glazebrook
Luke Glazebrook
13,564 Points

Problem with .nextLine() in Java.

I am writing this program to solve difficult decisions for me and it works fine except for one thing. When I input two words like "Toffee Crisp" it automatically takes that as being all the decisions and I can't figure out why. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

package mainPackage;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Scanner;
import java.util.Random;
public class App {
    static Scanner s = new Scanner(System.in);
    static Random rn = new Random();
    public static void main(String args[]) {
        List<String> options = new ArrayList<String>();
        System.out.println("How many options does your decision require? ");
        int optionsRequired = s.nextInt();
        for(int i = 0; i < optionsRequired; i++) {
            System.out.print("Enter your option: ");
            String option = s.next();
            options.add(option);
        }
        int answer = rn.nextInt(optionsRequired);
        System.out.println("The program chose " + options.get(answer));
    }
}

2 Answers

Craig Dennis
STAFF
Craig Dennis
Treehouse Teacher
Craig Dennis
Craig Dennis
Treehouse Teacher

Hi Luke!

Scanner.next() grabs the next token specified by the delimiter, by default it is whitespace (such as space). Maybe you want to be using nextLine()?

Hope it Helps!

Luke Glazebrook
Luke Glazebrook
13,564 Points

Hi Dennis!

Thank you for the reply I really appreciate it. I have already tried using .nextLine() thinking that would help scan the rest of the text after the first word but I still experience a similar issue.

-Luke

Craig Dennis
STAFF
Craig Dennis
Treehouse Teacher
Craig Dennis
Craig Dennis
Treehouse Teacher

Oh I see the problem now Luke.

First, use nextLine instead of next. The other fix is to call a nextLine() before you start prompting for the options. This is because nextInt does not swallow the newline character.

Here is a Stack Overflow answer explaining the problem.

Hope it helps!

Luke Glazebrook
Luke Glazebrook
13,564 Points

Thanks for the awesome help Craig I appreciate it a lot!

I shall implement the solution and see how it goes but I have no doubt that everything should be working fine!

-Luke