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Java – Increment and Decrement Operator

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The ++ and the – – are Java’s increment and decrement operators. ++ is used to increase the value by 1 and – – is used to decrease the value by 1. There are two kinds of Increment and Decrement Operators.

They are:

  • Post-Increment or Post-Decrement:
    First, the value is used for operation and then incremented or decremented. Represented like a++ or a–.
  • Pre-Increment Pre-Decrement:
    Here First the value is incremented or decremented then used for the operation. Represented like ++a or – –a.

Example on Increment and Decrement Operator in java

//This program demonstrates the ++ and -- operators.

public class IncrementDecrement
{
   public static void main(String[] args)
   {
      int number = 10;

      //Original Value
      System.out.println("Original value: " + number);

      //Incrementing the number.
      number++;

      //Value after incrementing
      System.out.println("After Incrementing: " + number);

      // Decrement number.
      number--;

      // Display the value in number.
      System.out.println("Again, after decrementing " + number);
   }
}

Output: After execution following result will be displayed.

Original value: 10
After Incrementing: 11
Again, after decrementing 10

Limitations of Increment and Decrement Operators:

Increment and decrement operators can only be applied to variables but not on constant values. If we apply on canstants then we will get a compile-time error.

int x = 10;       
int y = ++10; // this will through compile-time error.

Example of Pre increment and Post increment in java:

a = 4;
i = ++a + ++a + a++;
i = 5 + 6 + 6;
(a = 7)

The above shows the use of a++ and ++a and at the end, if you print the value of a, you will get 7 as the value of a.

Pre-increment: (++a)

The major point to remember is that ++a increments the value and immediately returns it.

Post-increment: (a++)

a++ also increments the value but returns an unchanged value of the variable. It does not return the value immediately but if it is executed on the next statement then a new value is used.

Example of Pre decrement and Post decrement in java:

a = 4;
i = --a + --a + a--;
i = 3 + 2 + 2;
(a = 1)

Pre-decrement: (—a)

The major point to remember is that ––a decrements the value and immediately returns it.

Post-decrement: (a—)

a–– also decrements the value but returns an unchanged value of the variable. It does not return the value immediately but if it is executed on the next statement then a new value is used.

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