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Java Java Objects Harnessing the Power of Objects Constants

Ranak Bansal
Ranak Bansal
1,207 Points
Posted by Ranak Bansal
Ranak Bansal
1,207 Points

Why did the teacher use %d and %n instead of %s and /n?

In previous lessons the teacher always used %s (now he used %d) when inserting a variable and /n (now he used %n) when creating a new line. How come he switched? Did he talk about this in a previous lesson that I missed, or what?

Thanks

2 Answers

Cam Richardson
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MOD
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Cam Richardson
Front End Web Development Treehouse Moderator 16,895 Points
Cam Richardson
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Cam Richardson
Front End Web Development Treehouse Moderator 16,895 Points

I believe he briefly explains the difference in a later lesson, but I can provide some explanation for reference.

%d is for when you're referencing a number in the formatted string specifically. Likewise %s is for String variables.

For the newline characters each OS handles them differently. *nix based systems (MacOS, Linux, etc.) expect a \n to denote a newline. Windows actually expects something different: \r\n. So when you type \n, you run the risk of having your string being incorrectly formatted on other platforms. Java has a built in solution for this in formatted strings which is %n. This automatically adds the platform appropriate newline character sequence for you so you don't have to worry about it.

Hope that helps!

Lylie Lylie
Lylie Lylie
10,872 Points

Thank you <3

Victor Curtis Jr
Victor Curtis Jr
5,268 Points
Victor Curtis Jr
Victor Curtis Jr
5,268 Points

Thanks for the info. I found your explanation very useful! :)