simple java program

[nathang1392]

im writing a program that tries to simulate the flipping of a coin. it generates a random number and then uses that number to indicate if it is a head or a tail. i have that part working, but the program is supposed to output like this:http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2z8vl78&s=4
any help would be appreciated.



/**
* Write a description of class HeadsOrTailsV1 here.
*
* @author (your name)
* @version (a version number or a date)
*/
import java.util.Scanner;
public class HeadsOrTailsV1
{
public static void main(String [] args)
{
Scanner in;
in = new Scanner(System.in);

System.out.println("Enter the number of flips: ");
int numberOfFlips = in.nextInt();
int numberOfHeads = 0;
int numberOfTails = numberOfFlips - numberOfHeads;
System.out.println("\n");

double randomNumber = 0;
int counter = 0;
while(counter < numberOfFlips)
{

randomNumber = Math.random();
counter ++;


boolean isTails = randomNumber > .5;

if (isTails) {
System.out.print("\nT " + randomNumber);
numberOfTails++;

}
else {
System.out.print("\nH " + randomNumber);
numberOfHeads++;



}
System.out.println("\nNumber of Heads: " + numberOfHeads);
System.out.println("\nNumber of Tails: " + numberOfTails);


}



}
}

[Renée Jade]

I'm an a brand new Ubuntu install and I haven't installed JDK yet so I can't compile it. Can you tell me what it outputs as it is?

[Renée Jade]

Also, numberOfTails should be initialised to zero and you should be using a bounded (i.e. for) loop, not an unbounded (i.e. while) loop. I suggest you have a look at System.out.printf() for a much more powerful and flexible print function too - you'll never look back.

[nathang1392]

Number of Tails: 11

T 0.8145386864009515
Number of Heads: 1

Number of Tails: 13

T 0.5256666045038697
Number of Heads: 2

Number of Tails: 15

T 0.5797177749625496
Number of Heads: 3

Number of Tails: 17

H 0.09433232148290327
Number of Heads: 5

Number of Tails: 18

T 0.5798698367636074
Number of Heads: 6

Number of Tails: 20

T 0.6579312191200797
Number of Heads: 7

Number of Tails: 22

T 0.5671814995772273
Number of Heads: 8

Number of Tails: 24

H 0.29725882610632626
Number of Heads: 10

Number of Tails: 25

T 0.6941613183640829
Number of Heads: 11

Number of Tails: 27
it is pretty rambled. at one point i had it all correct, except that i wanted it to tell me the number of heads and tails in the output, and then it just turned into a mess.

[sunchiqua]

Does this look better ( can't compile it, so .. not sure if it works the way you want ) ?


/**
* Write a description of class HeadsOrTailsV1 here.
*
* @author (your name)
* @version (a version number or a date)
*/
import java.util.Scanner;
public class HeadsOrTailsV1
{
public static void main(String [] args)
{
Scanner in;
in = new Scanner(System.in);

System.out.println("Enter the number of flips: ");
int numberOfFlips = in.nextInt();
int numberOfHeads = 0;
int numberOfTails = numberOfFlips - numberOfHeads;
System.out.println("\n");

double randomNumber = 0;
int counter = 0;
while(counter < numberOfFlips)
{

randomNumber = Math.random();
counter ++;


boolean isTails = randomNumber > .5;

if (isTails) {
System.out.print("\nT " + randomNumber);
numberOfTails++;
}
else {
System.out.print("\nH " + randomNumber);
numberOfHeads++;
}

}

System.out.println("\nNumber of Heads: " + numberOfHeads);
System.out.println("\nNumber of Tails: " + numberOfTails);

}
}

Oh, and .. don't touch tails before you enter the loop - if you set flips to 10, tails will be defaulted to -10, which means, it can end up with being zero.

[Renée Jade]

Yikes. Well, in addition to what I said in my earlier post, you also need to move your "print(numberOf...)" calls. I'm sure you can work out where they're meant to be.

[nathang1392]

thanks jade and sun. you guys helped me out alot.

[Renée Jade]

That's alright mate. Have fun learning Java! :D