Need help with a java coding problem

Question

I am current working on a java problem that goes like this : "Write a program that prompts for and reads a person’s name, age, college name.".

This is my current code:

import java.util.Scanner;

public class Main

{

public static void main(String[] args) {

String college, name;

int age;

Scanner in= new Scanner(System.in);

System.out.println("Enter your name here");

name=in.nextLine();

System.out.println("Enter your age here");

age=in.nextInt();

System.out.println("Enter your college here");

college=in.nextLine();

System.out.println("Hello, my name is " +name+ " and I am " +age+ " years old. I am enjoying my time at " +college+ " very much ");

}

}

The problem is that every time I try to run the code it skips over the college input part so I cant even add a input and it just leaves a space in the output where the college part is supposed to be. If anyone can help me with this I will be very grateful.

Answer 1

The issue you're encountering in your Java code is a common one when using a `Scanner` object for both string and numeric input. When you read the age using `in.nextInt()`, it consumes only the number, not the end-of-line character that is entered when you press Enter. So when `in.nextLine()` is called for reading the college name, it reads the remainder of the line of input (which is just the end-of-line character from the age input) and then moves on.

To fix this, you can add an extra `in.nextLine()` call after reading the age and before reading the college name. This extra call will consume the end-of-line character. Here's the corrected code:

import java.util.Scanner;

public class Main {

public static void main(String[] args) {

String college, name;

int age;

Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in);

System.out.println("Enter your name here");

name = in.nextLine();

System.out.println("Enter your age here");

age = in.nextInt();

in.nextLine(); // This line consumes the end-of-line character

System.out.println("Enter your college here");

college = in.nextLine();

System.out.println("Hello, my name is " + name + " and I am " + age + " years old. I am enjoying my time at " + college + " very much.");

}

}

This modification will ensure that the user's input for the college name is correctly captured.

Answer 2

`nextInt()` reads the input integer value, but doesn't consume the newline character resulting from you hitting "Enter". Thus, that newline character is what the following `nextLine()` consumes, and thus `college` ends up being an empty string.

Try adding a `nextLine()` call after `nextInt()` to consume the newline character, before you ask for the college input.