University of Washington, CSE 142

Lab 7: Array methods

Except where otherwise noted, the contents of this document are Copyright 2012 Stuart Reges and Marty Stepp.

lab document created by Marty Stepp, Stuart Reges and Whitaker Brand

Basic lab instructions

• Talk to your classmates for help. You can even work on the lab with a partner if you like.
• You may want to bring your textbook to future labs to look up syntax and examples.
• Stuck? Confused? Have a question? Ask a TA for help, or look at the book or past lecture slides.
• Complete as many problems as you can within the allotted time. You don't need to keep working on these exercises after you leave the lab.
• Feel free to complete problems in any order.
• Before you leave today, make sure to check in with one of the TAs in the lab to get credit for your work.

Today's lab

Goals for today:

• use arrays for storing lists of data
• practice using for loops to traverse and process array data
• use arrays as parameters into and returns from methods
• explore the idea of reference parameters
• recall file Scanner usage
• Where you see this icon, you can click it to check the problem in Practice-It!

Exercise : Array declaration syntax

Which of the following choices is the correct syntax for declaring/initializing an array of integers?

1. []int a = [10]int;
2. int a[10];
3. int[10] a = new int[10];
4. int a[10] = new int[10];
5. int[] a = new int[10];

Exercise : Quick initialization syntax

Which of the following choices is the correct syntax for quickly declaring/initializing an array of integers to store a particular list of values? We didn't get to this in lecture -- check the slides or chapter 7 in the book.

1. int[] a = {17, -3, 42, 5, 9, 28};
2. int a {17, -3, 42, 5, 9, 28};
3. int[] a = new int[6] {17, -3, 42, 5, 9, 28};
4. int[6] a = {17, -3, 42, 5, 9, 28};
5. int[] a = new {17, -3, 42, 5, 9, 28} [6];

Exercise : Array code tracing

Fill in the array with the values that would be stored after the code executes:

int[] data = new int[8];
data[0] = 3;
data[7] = -18;
data[4] = 5;
data[1] = data[0];

int x = data[4];
data[4] = 6;
data[x] = data[0] * data[1];

Exercise : Array code tracing 2

Fill in the array with the values that would be stored after the code executes:

int[] list = {2, 18, 6, -4, 5, 1};
for (int i = 0; i < list.length; i++) {
    list[i] = list[i] + (list[i] / list[0]);
}

Exercise : PromptNumbers

• Download the following file PromptNumbers.java to your machine and open it with jGrasp.
• The program is supposed to prompt the user to enter several integers, store them into an array, then print those integers back out in forwards and backwards order. Finish the program so that it runs properly. Use an array to make your program flexible enough that it will work no matter how many integers the user wants to type.

Arrays as parameter/return (declare)

public static type name(type[] name) {   // pass array parameter

public static type[] name(parameters) {   // return array

• Arrays can be passed as parameters and returned from methods.
• This method takes an array of doubles, and returns a new array of rounded ints:

public static int[] roundAll(double[] realNums) {
    int[] roundedNums = new int[realNums.length];
    for (int i = 0; i < realNums.length; i++) {
        roundedNums[i] = (int) Math.round(realNums[i]);
    }
    return roundedNums;
}

Arrays as parameter/return (call)

• Below is an example usage of the roundAll method from the previous slide:

import java.util.*; // to use Arrays

public class MyProgram {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        double[] realNumbers = {5.5, 7.31, 8.09, -3.234234, 2.0, 0.0};
        int[] roundedNumbers = roundAll(realNumbers);
        System.out.println(Arrays.toString(roundedNumbers));
    }
    ...
}

// Output: [5, 7, 8, -3, 2, 0]

Arrays class methods

Exercise : Array reference mystery

What values are stored in the array at the comment in main? Note that the incrementAll method returns void, but does take an int[] parameter.

public class ArrayReference {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int[] nums = {2, 4, -1, 3};
        incrementAll(nums);

        // HERE!
    }

    public static void incrementAll(int[] data) {
        for (int i = 0; i < data.length; i++) {
            data[i]++;
        }
    }
}

Exercise : Array reference mystery

Solve another reference mystery problem on PracticeIt!

Discuss it with your neighbor before submitting the answer and make sure you agree with each other's solution. There will be a problem of this type on the final!

Exercise : array mystery

Suppose that each array at right were passed as a parameter to the mystery method below. Fill in the boxes with the array contents after each method call.

public static void mystery(int[] a) {
    for (int i = 0; i < a.length - 1; i++) {
        if (a[i] < a[i + 1]) {
            a[i] = a[i + 1];
        }
    }
}

{4, 4}

[^0-9,]+

{3, 6, 6}

[^0-9,]+

{7, 8, 8, 4}

[^0-9,]+

{5, 7, 7, 4, 4}

[^0-9,]+

{4, 6, 6, 7, 9, 9}

[^0-9,]+

Exercise : jGRASP Debugger

• Download the file TriangleCount.java to your machine and open it with jGrasp.
• This program explores patterns of digits for what are called the triangle numbers. The program counts how many times a triangle number ends in a particular 2-digit sequence. For example, the 15th triangle number is 120, which ends in the 2-digit sequence 20.
• Run the program and you will see a pattern: Most counts are 0 and most of the rest are exactly 200. Which 2-digit sequences have a count of 500?

  3

  28

  53

  78

continued on the next slide...

Exercise - jGRASP Debugger

• The program prints a progress dot every 200 iterations. Set a breakpoint on the System.out.print inside the if on line 23 and debug the program.
• Once the program pauses, click and drag the array at left named count, and drop it on the main code window. This will show a view of its contents.
     
• What are the first eight element values stored in the count array?

  index	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
  value	4	4	0	10	0	4	4	0

continued on the next slide...

Exercise - jGRASP Debugger

• Leave the array viewer open and click the Resume button . (This runs until the second time the System.out.print is about to execute, then stops.)
• What values do the first 8 array elements have now?

  index	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
  value	8	8	0	20	0	8	8	0

• This is a very long array with 100 total values.
  Scroll to the far right in the array viewer. What values do the last 8 elements have?

  index	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99
  value	0	0	0	8	8	0	0	0

Exercise : max errors

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// Returns the largest value in the given array.
public static int max(int data[10]) {
    int max = 0;
    for (int i = 0; i < data[].length(); i++) {
        if (array[i] > max) {
            max = array[i];
        }
    }
    return max[];
}

The above attempted solution to Practice-It problem "max" has 7 problems. Open Practice-It from the link above, copy/paste this code into it, and fix the errors. Complete the code so that it passes the test cases.

Exercise - answer

1. line 2: should not write [10] after parameter name; should write [] (without length) after int
2. line 3: starting max at 0 won't work if the array is all negative. Should initialize max variable to be data[0] and start for loop at index 1
3. line 4: should not write [] after data here
4. line 4: should not write () after length here
5. line 5: array should be data
6. line 6: array should be data
7. line 9: should not write [] after max here

Exercise - solution

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// Returns the largest value in the given array.
public static int max(int[] data) {
    int max = data[0];
    for (int i = 1; i < data.length; i++) {
        if (data[i] > max) {
            max = data[i];
        }
    }
    return max;
}

Exercise : PromptNumbers2

• Modify your PromptNumbers.java program from a previous exercise.
• Add a method that accepts an array as a parameter and prints the elements of that array in forward order.
• Then add a second method that accepts an array as a parameter and prints the elements of that array in backward order.

Exercise - answer

• PromptNumbers2.java
  (complete solution)

public class PromptNumbers2 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int count = console.nextInt();
        int[] nums = new int[count];
        ...
        System.out.println("Your numbers in forward order:");
        printForward(nums);

        System.out.println("Your numbers in backward order:");
        printBackward(nums);
    }

    // Prints the elements of the given array in forward order.
    public static void printForward(int[] a) {
        for (int i = 0; i < a.length; i++) {
            System.out.println(a[i]);
        }
    }
    // Prints the elements of the given array in backward order.
    public static void printBackward(int[] a) {
        for (int i = a.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
            System.out.println(a[i]);
        }
    }
}

Exercise : minGap

Write a method named minGap that accepts an integer array as a parameter and returns the minimum 'gap' between adjacent values in the array. The gap between two adjacent values in a array is defined as the second value minus the first value. For example, suppose a variable called array is an array of integers that stores the following sequence of values:

int[] array = {1, 3, 6, 7, 12};

The first gap is 2 (3 - 1), the second gap is 3 (6 - 3), the third gap is 1 (7 - 6) and the fourth gap is 5 (12 - 7). Thus, the call of minGap(array) should return 1 because that is the smallest gap in the array. If you are passed an array with fewer than 2 elements, you should return 0.

Click on the check-mark above to try out your solution in Practice-it!

Exercise : percentEven

Write a method named percentEven that accepts an array of integers as a parameter and returns the percentage of even numbers in the array as a real number. For example, if a variable named nums refers to an array of the elements {6, 2, 9, 11, 3}, then the call of percentEven(nums) should return 40.0. If the array contains no even elements or no elements at all, return 0.0.

Click on the check-mark above to try out your solution in Practice-it!

Exercise : copyRange

Write a method named copyRange that takes as parameters two arrays a1 and a2, two starting indexes i1 and i2, and a length l, and copies the first l elements of a1 starting at index i1 into array a2 starting at index i2.

For example, if the following arrays are declared:

int[] a1 = {10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60};
int[] a2 = {91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96};
copyRange(a1, a2, 0, 2, 3);

After the preceding call, the contents of a2 would be {91, 92, 10, 20, 30, 96}. You may assume that the parameters' values are valid, that the arrays are large enough to hold the data, and so on.

Exercise : equals

Write a method named equals that accepts two arrays of integers as parameters and returns true if they contain exactly the same elements in the same order, and false otherwise. Note that the arrays might not be the same length; if the lengths differ, return false. Do not call Arrays.equals in your solution.

For example, if the following arrays are declared:

int[] a1 = {10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60};
int[] a2 = {10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60};
int[] a3 = {20, 3, 50, 10, 68};

The call equals(a1, a2) returns true but the call equals(a1, a3) returns false.

Exercise : append

Write a method called append that accepts two integer arrays as parameters and that returns a new array that contains the result of appending the second array's values at the end of the first array.

You should solve this problem in Practice-It!

Exercise : swapAll

Write a method named swapAll that accepts two arrays of integers as parameters and swaps their entire contents. You may assume that the arrays passed are not null and are the same length.

For example, if the following arrays are passed:

int[] a1 = {11, 42, -5, 27, 0, 89};
int[] a2 = {10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60};
swapAll(a1, a2);

After the call, the arrays should store the following elements:

a1: {10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60}
a2: {11, 42, -5, 27, 0, 89}

Exercise : longestSortedSequence

Write a method called longestSortedSequence that accepts an array of integers as a parameter and that returns the length of the longest sorted (nondecreasing) sequence of integers in the array.

You should solve this problem in Practice-It!

Exercise : countWords errors

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// Counts the total lines and words in the given input scanner.
public static void countWords(Scanner input) {
    Scanner input = new Scanner(new File("example.txt"));
    int lineCount = 0;
    int wordCount = 0;
    
    while (input.nextLine()) {
        String line = input.line();       // read one line
        lineCount++;
        while (line.next()) {             // count tokens in line
            String word = lineScan.hasNext;
            wordCount++;
        }
    }
}

The above attempted solution to Practice-It problem "countWords" has 5 errors. Open Practice-It from the link above, copy/paste this code into it, and fix the errors. Complete the code so that it passes the test cases.

Exercise - answer

1. line 3: should not declare another Scanner for the file
2. line 7: nextLine should be hasNextLine
3. line 8: line should be nextLine
4. line 10: need a second line Scanner to read the tokens of each line
5. line 11: hasNext should be next()
6. line 14: need to add 3 println statements to print line/word stats

Exercise - solution

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// Counts the total lines and words in the given input scanner.
public static void countWords(Scanner input) {
    Scanner input = new Scanner(new File("example.txt"));
    int lineCount = 0;
    int wordCount = 0;
    
    while (input.hasNextLine()) {
        String line = input.nextLine();   // read one line
        lineCount++;
        Scanner lineScan = new Scanner(line);
        while (lineScan.hasNext()) {      // count tokens in line
            String word = lineScan.next();
            wordCount++;
        }
    }
    
    System.out.println("Total lines = " + lineCount);
    System.out.println("Total words = " + wordCount);
    System.out.printf("Average words per line = %.3f\n", (double) wordCount / lineCount);
}

Exercise : coinFlip

Write a method named coinFlip that accepts a Scanner for an input file of coin flips that are heads (H) or tails (T). Consider each line to be a separate set of coin flips and output the number and percentage of heads in that line. If it is more than 50%, print "You win!". Consider the following file:

H T H H T
T t    t  T h  H
      h

For the input above, your method should produce the following output:

3 heads (60.0%)
You win!

2 heads (33.3%)

1 heads (100.0%)
You win!

Exercise : printDuplicates

Write a method printDuplicates that accepts a Scanner for an input file. Examine each line for consecutive occurrences of the same token on the same line and print each duplicated token along how many times it appears consecutively. For example the file:

hello how how are you you you you
I I I am Jack's Jack's smirking smirking smirking smirking smirking revenge
one fish two fish red fish blue fish
   bow  wow wow yippee yippee   yo yippee   yippee yay  yay yay

leads to the following console output:

how*2 you*4
I*3 Jack's*2 smirking*5

wow*2 yippee*2 yippee*2 yay*3

Exercise : mostCommonNames

Write a method mostCommonNames that accepts a Scanner for an input file with names on each line separated by spaces. Some names appear multiple times in a row. For example:

Benson Eric   Eric  Marty Kim  Kim Kim   Jenny  Nancy Nancy  Nancy  Paul  Paul
Stuart Stuart Stuart Ethan Alyssa Alyssa Helene Jessica Jessica Jessica Jessica
Jared  Alisa Yuki   Catriona  Cody   Coral   Trent Kevin  Ben Stefanie Kenneth

For each line, print the most commonly occurring name. If there's a tie, use the first name that had that many occurrences.

Most common: Kim
Most common: Jessica
Most common: Jared

Also return the total number of unique names in the whole file (e.g. 23 for the above input).

Exercise : stripHtmlTags

Write a method stripHtmlTags that accepts a Scanner for an input file containing an HTML web page, then reads that file and prints the file's text with all HTML tags removed. A tag is any text between the character < and >. For example, consider the following text:

<html>
   <head>
   <title>My web page</title>
   </head>  
</html>

If a file containing these lines were passed to your program, your program should output the following:

	
	
My web page

If you finish them all...

If you finish all the exercises, try out our Practice-It web tool. It lets you solve Java problems from our Building Java Programs textbook.

You can view an exercise, type a solution, and submit it to see if you have solved it correctly.

Choose some problems from the book and try to solve them!