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title Java Basic Input and Output
description Complete guide to Java input/output with examples. Learn System.out.println, Scanner class, print vs println, and user input techniques.
icon Terminal

Java Output

In Java, you can simply use

System.out.println(); or

System.out.print(); or

System.out.printf();

to send output to standard output (screen).

Here,

  • System is a class
  • out is a public static field: it accepts output data.

Don't worry if you don't understand it. We will discuss class, public, and static in later chapters.

Let's take an example to output a line.

class AssignmentOperator {
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        System.out.println("Java programming is interesting.");
    }
}

Output:

Java programming is interesting.

Here, we have used the println() method to display the string.

Difference between println(), print() and printf()

  • print() - It prints string inside the quotes.
  • println() - It prints string inside the quotes similar like print() method. Then the cursor moves to the beginning of the next line.
  • printf() - It provides string formatting.

Example: print() and println()

class Output {
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        System.out.println("1. println ");
        System.out.println("2. println ");

        System.out.print("1. print ");
        System.out.print("2. print");
    }
}

Output:

1. println
2. println
1. print 2. print

In the above example, we have shown the working of the print() and println() methods. To learn about the printf() method, visit Java printf().

Example: Printing Variables and Literals

class Variables {
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        Double number = -10.6;

        System.out.println(5);
        System.out.println(number);
    }
}

When you run the program, the output will be:

5
-10.6

Here, you can see that we have not used the quotation marks. It is because to display integers, variables and so on, we don't use quotation marks.

Example: Print Concatenated Strings

class PrintVariables {
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        Double number = -10.6;

        System.out.println("I am " + "awesome.");
        System.out.println("Number = " + number);
    }
}

Output:

I am awesome.
Number = -10.6

In the above example, notice the line,

System.out.println("I am " + "awesome.");

Here, we have used the + operator to concatenate (join) the two strings: "I am " and "awesome.".

And also, the line,

System.out.println("Number = " + number);

Here, first the value of variable number is evaluated. Then, the value is concatenated to the string: "Number = ".

Java Input

Java provides different ways to get input from the user. However, in this tutorial, you will learn to get input from user using the object of Scanner class.

In order to use the object of Scanner, we need to import java.util.Scanner package.

import java.util.Scanner;

To learn more about importing packages in Java, visit Java Import Packages.

Then, we need to create an object of the Scanner class. We can use the object to take input from the user.

// create an object of Scanner
Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);

// take input from the user
int number = input.nextInt();

Example: Get Integer Input From the User

import java.util.Scanner;

class Input {
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);

        System.out.print("Enter an integer: ");
        int number = input.nextInt();
        System.out.println("You entered " + number);

        // closing the scanner object
        input.close();
    }
}

Output:

Enter an integer: 23
You entered 23

In the above example, we have created an object named input of the Scanner class. We then call the nextInt() method of the Scanner class to get an integer input from the user.

Similarly, we can use nextLong(), nextFloat(), nextDouble(), and next() methods to get long, float, double, and string input respectively from the user.

**Note:** We have used the `close()` method to close the object. It is recommended to close the scanner object once the input is taken.

Example: Get float, double and String Input

import java.util.Scanner;

class Input {
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);

        // Getting float input
        System.out.print("Enter float: ");
        float myFloat = input.nextFloat();
        System.out.println("Float entered = " + myFloat);

        // Getting double input
        System.out.print("Enter double: ");
        double myDouble = input.nextDouble();
        System.out.println("Double entered = " + myDouble);

        // Getting String input
        System.out.print("Enter text: ");
        String myString = input.next();
        System.out.println("Text entered = " + myString);
    }
}

Output:

Enter float: 2.343
Float entered = 2.343
Enter double: -23.4
Double entered = -23.4
Enter text: Hey!
Text entered = Hey!

As mentioned, there are other several ways to get input from the user. To learn more about Scanner, visit Java Scanner.