Resolving the Array Element Output Issue in Java Vehicle Rental Program

Learn how to fix the problem of only displaying the last vehicle type input in your Java array by understanding loops and indexing.
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Resolving the Array Element Output Issue in Java Vehicle Rental Program

When working with arrays in Java, especially for tasks like creating a vehicle rental program, it's easy to run into unexpected behavior. A common problem arises when trying to store and print user inputs from arrays correctly. In this article, we'll dive into a specific issue: only being able to print the last input from an array of vehicle types instead of all the user inputs.

The Problem

In the situation presented, a user attempts to rent two types of vehicles (e.g., "Car" and "Trailer"). However, during the printing stage of the program, only the last input is displayed. The expected output should show all vehicle types that the user chose, but the system only prints the second one.

This problem originates from the way the nested loops are organized in the program. Let's explore the program, identify the root cause, and offer a structured solution to remedy the problem.

Understanding the Code Structure

User Input for Vehicle Count

The initial part of the code invites the user to input the number of vehicles they wish to rent:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Here, the user can specify how many types of vehicles they will rent, which is validated through the IsValidVehicleNumber function.

Array Declaration

The code initializes two arrays: vehicleTypes to hold the vehicle types, and vehicleRentedArry to store the properties of each vehicle.

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Collecting Vehicle Types

The collection of vehicle types uses a loop to ask the user for the vehicle type:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

The Issue in Detail

The nested loop is problematic. Each time the outer loop runs for the vehicleTypes array, it runs the inner loop that populates the vehicleRentedArry. Because the inner loop iterates through all elements of vehicleRentedArry, every index is filled with the last input value.

The Solution

To fix the issue, we need to replace the inner loop with a simple if-else structure, allowing for each entered vehicle type to be stored correctly in the corresponding index of the vehicleRentedArry.

Revised Code Snippet

Here is the corrected version of the loop:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Outputting the Results

Finally, in the output portion of the program, you can now correctly iterate through vehicleRentedArry and print all vehicle types that were stored:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Conclusion

By restructuring the code to avoid using an unnecessary inner loop and ensuring the correct indexing of arrays, you can effectively print all vehicle types rented by the user. This adjustment not only resolves the immediate issue but also enhances the overall readability and logic of your program.

With these changes, you should see all vehicle types printed on the console as intended!

Feel free to reach out if you have any further questions or need additional assistance with your Java programming needs!