Return positive values only

Hi,

I am new to JAVA and i am about half way through a JAVA course and i have been set a challenge by my tutor but i can't figure it out on my own :eek:

I have writen some code that relates to cars, it takes the velocity and it can amend the return value depending on if it accelerates, brakes or stops (as you will see in the code below)

I've been asked to look in more details at the outcome if the velocity is lower then the braking value (which will return a negative value) how do i make it return 0 instead of returning a negative value.

This is my code i used for marking so it does contains things that are not needed for my above question but please ignore them. In its current form it returns posative numbers but if i changed the velocity or brake to make it return a negative value...

Any help would be great!!!

file 1 - Car.java

public class Car
{

int velocity;
public Car()
{
velocity = 55;
System.out.println("Inside default constructor");
}

public void accelerate()
{
velocity += 10;
}

public void brake()
{
velocity -= 20;
}

public void stop()
{
velocity = 0;
}

public void setVelocity(int newVelocity)
{
velocity = newVelocity;
}


public int getVelocity()
{
return velocity;
}
public Car(int a)
{
velocity = a;
System.out.println("Inside other constructor");

}

}


File 2 - CarProgram.java

public class CarProgram
{
public static void main(String [] args)
{
Car porsche = new Car();

porsche.setVelocity(55);

System.out.println(porsche.getVelocity());

porsche.accelerate();

System.out.println(porsche.getVelocity());

porsche.brake();

System.out.println(porsche.getVelocity());

porsche.stop();

System.out.println(porsche.getVelocity());

Car ford = new Car(30);

ford.setVelocity(30);

System.out.println("The initial velocity is " + ford.getVelocity());
}
}

Are you just looking for an if statement?
The if-then and if-then-else Statements (The Java™ Tutorials > Learning the Java Language > Language Basics)

I'm not too sure tbh

Looking at that it shows to apply the brakes if the car is moving. But the car is moving, if the velocity can be inputted by the user but is lower then the brake value (-20) how do i get it to return 0

example,

velocity = 1

brake -= 20

the return would be -19

but it needs to be 0

I thought of an if before but was not sure how to use it properly in this case

Well, if you read down to the bottom of the tutorial, it shows you how to use inequalities in an if statement.

ah, i get it now :D

public void brake()
{
if (velocity >= 20)
{
velocity -= 20;
}
else if (velocity <20)
{
velocity = 0;
}
}

it seems to work to :rolleyes:

thanks alot!!!!!

That's one way to do it. Or you could subtract 20, then check for negatives. Either one is fine, and there are probably dozens of other ways to structure that simple if statement.

thanks,

its the first time i've used an if funtion in JAVA, i am used to them in Excel :D

Cool. To be nitpicky, they aren't functions- they're control flow statements. But I'm glad you got it working.

Quote:

---

there are probably dozens of other ways to structure that simple if statement.

---

I would do it in this computationally inefficient but easy-on-the-eyes way ;)

Code:

---

public void brake() {
    velocity = Math.max(velocity - 20, 0);
}

---

db

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KevinWorkman

Cool. To be nitpicky, they aren't functions- they're control flow statements. But I'm glad you got it working.

---

thanks, again, my Excel background kicking in :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Darryl.Burke

I would do it in this computationally inefficient but easy-on-the-eyes way ;)

Code:

---

public void brake() {
    velocity = Math.max(velocity - 20, 0);
}

---

db

---

that is alot easier on the eye. I'll look up math.max and find out how it works for future

thanks for your help

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Darryl.Burke

I would do it in this computationally inefficient but easy-on-the-eyes way ;)

Code:

---

public void brake() {
    velocity = Math.max(velocity - 20, 0);
}

---

db

---

Wait what? Math.max is inefficient in Java? I'd been assuming it was as efficient as a simple if/else statement to determine the larger value is this not the case?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Skiller

Wait what? Math.max is inefficient in Java? I'd been assuming it was as efficient as a simple if/else statement to determine the larger value is this not the case?

---

Nah, it's not much more than you hoped for:

Code:

---

    public static int max(int a, int b) {
        return (a >= b) ? a : b;
    }

---

*Stolen from src.zip in my JDK directory.

kind regards,

Jos

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JosAH

Nah, it's not much more than you hoped for:

Code:

---

    public static int max(int a, int b) {
        return (a >= b) ? a : b;
    }

---

---

Ahh cool, that's what I was expecting it to do, was a little worried there for a second as I'm using max and min a lot in my game.

But remember, if that's the only use of Math, it'll cause the class to be loaded just for executing a single method. That's inefficient.

db