99 Bottles of beer on the wall - Subtraction loop

Question

I need the song to sing this out from 99 to 0. but when i get to 1 bottle i need it to be formatted the right way. I tried to use an if statement and it works but it doesnt save me the from the loop doing its thing. The format is screwed up the first time the loop gets to it.

public class Example1 {

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    int counter = 99;
    int sum = 0;
    while (counter < 100 && counter > 0) {
      if (counter >= 2) {
        System.out.println(
            counter + " bottles of Pepsi on the wall, " + counter + " bottles of Pepsi.");
        System.out.println(
            "Take one down, pass it around, " + (counter - 1) + " bottles of Pepsi on the wall.");
        counter--;
        if (counter == 1) {
          System.out.println("1 bottle of Pepsi on the wall, 1 bottle of Pepsi.");
          System.out.println("Take one down, pass it around, 0 bottles of Pepsi on the wall.");
          counter--;
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

It needs to look like this on the output at the end.

2 bottles of Pepsi on the wall, 2 bottles of Pepsi.\n
Take one down, pass it around, 1 bottle of Pepsi on the wall.\n
1 bottle of Pepsi on the wall, 1 bottle of Pepsi.\n
Take one down, pass it around, 0 bottles of Pepsi on the wall.\n

Right now it outputs like this.

Take one down, pass it around, 2 bottles of Pepsi on the wall.
2 bottles of Pepsi on the wall, 2 bottles of Pepsi.
Take one down, pass it around, 1 bottles of Pepsi on the wall.
1 bottle of Pepsi on the wall, 1 bottle of Pepsi.
Take one down, pass it around, 0 bottles of Pepsi on the wall.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[What is a debugger and how can it help me diagnose problems?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/25385173/what-is-a-debugger-and-how-can-it-help-me-diagnose-problems) — Andy Turner, Mar 07 '18 at 08:26
Well this is less of an issue with debugging and more of an issue of your code simply not doing what it should.If you want to do the if/else route, do a `if(counter >=3)` an `else if(counter == 2)` and an `else` I guess. — Ben, Mar 07 '18 at 08:28
why don't you write a helper function that takes an int and returns a string "n bottle(s)" — Patrick Parker, Mar 07 '18 at 08:33
Patrick dont know how :P Good idea Ben I can try that.. Thanks guys — Sean Gowing, Mar 07 '18 at 08:56
Ben it worked thanks! I dont know why I didnt think of that! — Sean Gowing, Mar 07 '18 at 09:00

OldCurmudgeon · Answer 1 · 2018-03-07T09:16:09.173

1

It would be easier if you pulled out the code that makes the n bottle(s) into a separate method.

private static String nBottles(int n) {
    return "" + n + " bottle" + (n != 1 ? "s" : "");
}

public void test(String[] args) throws Exception {
    int counter = 99;
    while (counter < 100 && counter > 0) {
        System.out.println(nBottles(counter) + " of Pepsi on the wall, " + nBottles(counter) + " of Pepsi.");
        counter--;
        System.out.println("Take one down, pass it around, " + nBottles(counter) + " of Pepsi on the wall.");
    }
}

edited Mar 07 '18 at 09:16

answered Mar 07 '18 at 08:33

OldCurmudgeon

64,482
16
119
213

2

Nit: `n != 1`, rather than `n > 1`, because you say "0 bottles, 1 bottle, 2 bottles". – Andy Turner Mar 07 '18 at 08:35
3

"bottle" and "bottles" should be separate strings. don't hard code a pluralization mechanic – Patrick Parker Mar 07 '18 at 08:36

99 Bottles of beer on the wall - Subtraction loop

1 Answers1