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Java Print vs Println – What’s The Difference?

If you’re learning how to code in Java, or even if you’ve been coding Java for years, you may still find yourself confused about the differences between the print and println methods. There are, after all, a lot of different versions of each one! But it turns out there are only two you need to worry about—or at least two that you should worry about. We’ll discuss those two here so that you know when to use print and when to use println in your Java programs.

Java Print vs Println

Print and println are two different methods of printing text in Java. There are some subtle but significant differences between them which you should know before deciding how to use each technique. The main difference is that print will append a newline character at the end of each printed line, while println will not. 

This is why they are often used to write sentences or paragraphs of text where it is required that they be on separate lines (like when outputting values from a loop), but you do not need to see any space between them on-screen. Using println is also helpful if you wish to see all text written with no white spaces between them on-screen.

On some computers, it may be necessary for specific lines of code to fit inside one screen without any automatic wrapping by the operating system occurs. Because println does not add an extra newline character after each printed word, there may appear empty white spaces on your screen during testing if your monitor displays more than 80 characters per line. 

What is print in Java?

It simply writes text to an ObjectOutputStream object. When given to a FileOutputStream, this stream object will save whatever is written to it in a binary format. That means that if you want to display any information you’ve written in Java, you’ll need one of two things: 

  1. An active ObjectInputStream that can load the saved objects from your hard drive; or 
  2. A way of rendering binary information into something viewable by humans. 

Either way, print isn’t meant for on-screen feedback. What about println?: The PrintWriter class includes five different versions of its write() method (with four variations on write(String)). The methods are named very specifically so as not to be confused with each other write(), print(), println(), printf()).

While write(String) only works with String arguments, all four versions of write(Object) return void and can work with nearly any data type—the method call name is enough context for Java to figuring out which version you’re using based on your argument type. 

In short, when you use println(), Java knows what that period should output to your screen. Any numerical variables won’t require extra formatting—for example, a whole number will automatically add a leading zero where necessary, and dates will automatically show their time portion in 24-hour rather than 12 hours.

There are some exceptions for really long numbers and single characters, but they usually make sense in context. As mentioned before, it’s entirely possible to get more than just strings from ObjectOutputStream thanks to serialization (which happens behind the scenes), but doing so requires some additional work outside of Java itself.

Syntax for Print

import java.io.*;

class something{
	public static void main(String[] args)
	{
		System.out.print("Hello");
	}
}

Output:
Hello

What is println in Java?

Println() is used in Java to output a string to the console. This method will add a new line at the end of your string before displaying it on-screen. If you don’t want your string to be followed by a new line, you can use printf(), which replaces all occurrences of %n with nothing. Meaning it won’t cause your text to move onto a new line.

This option makes printf() more helpful in creating formatted output in most cases, though Println() has its place when you need to separate different code sections in one file with blank lines. The following method mentioned here would allow you to do that without using both ways together.

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Four different ways to call another class’ constructor from Java: Constructors are used in programming languages like Java to control how an object gets created or instantiated. There are four ways to invoke a constructor within your class. Each with its advantages and disadvantages depending on how they’re used.

To understand their purpose and syntax better, let’s look at some examples of classes calling constructors through these four options. Here are all four choices separated by character count. They may seem similar, but they all serve very different purposes in Java code. Misusing them will hinder readability and make debugging more difficult; choose wisely! Below is each example is written out for quick reference.

Syntax for Println

import java.io.*;

class something{
	public static void main(String[] args)
	{
                System.out.println("Hello");
                System.out.println("Hello");
	}
}

Output:
Hello
Hello
PrintPrintln
It is a method in java used to display It is also a method in java used to display
Only works with argumentsIt can work with or without arguments
The cursor stays at the same place Cursor move on to the next line or new line
No whitespace between charactersWhite spaces between lines

How can I use print and println them correctly?

When you’re learning how to program, it can be tough to remember these new terms. But it’s essential to be aware of them when you look at different types of Java code on GitHub or Stack Overflow. When asking questions about syntax on sites like that, don’t forget to specify whether you’re referring to print or println. Make sure you determine which one! After all, if no one else knows which method is suitable for your code, chances are pretty good that your code won’t work correctly.

Here are a few basic guidelines about when and how each should be used. Print is most often used in output-only scenarios where you don’t need more than one expression in parentheses. If you have several expressions sent to standard out, use println instead. If your expression doesn’t have an expression in parentheses already, add it yourself—don’t leave off parentheses.

Conclusion

I hope this article helps you understand the difference between print and println in Java. If you have any more questions you can drop them down in the comments.

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