Java i++ vs ++i

In Java, i++ and ++i are both increment operators, but they work in slightly different ways.

i++ is called the post-increment operator, and it increments the value of i after it has been used in an expression. For example:

int i = 5;
int j = i++;
System.out.println(i); // outputs 6
System.out.println(j); // outputs 5

In this example, i is first assigned the value of 5, and then incremented by 1 using i++. The value of i is then used in the assignment to j, which means that j is assigned the original value of i (5) before it was incremented.

++i is called the pre-increment operator, and it increments the value of i before it is used in an expression. For example:

int i = 5;
int j = ++i;
System.out.println(i); // outputs 6
System.out.println(j); // outputs 6

In this example, i is first incremented by 1 using ++i, and then the value of i is used in the assignment to j. This means that j is assigned the new value of i after it was incremented.

In both cases, the value of i is incremented by 1. The difference is in when the increment takes place, either before the expression is evaluated (++i) or after the expression is evaluated (i++).

It’s important to note that the use of i++ or ++i can have different effects depending on how it is used in an expression. For example, in a for loop, the behavior of i++ and ++i can be different, which can affect the number of times the loop is executed. It’s always a good idea to understand the behavior of these operators and use them appropriately in your code.

Also, see the example code JavaExamples_NoteArena in our GitHub repository. See complete examples in our GitHub repositories.

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