Question

Consider the following code segment.

int x;
int y;
x = 3;
y = /* missing expression */;
x = 1 + 2 * y;
System.out.print(x);
System.out.println(y);
Which of the following can be used as a replacement for /* missing expression */ so that the code segment prints 94 ?
A. 3
B. x
C. x - 1
D. x + 1
E. 1 - 2 * x

Answer 1

The missing expression in the Java code should be replaced with 'x + 1' to print '94'. When y is assigned 'x + 1', y becomes '4', then x is calculated as '1 + 2 * 4', which equals '9', resulting in the output '94'.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student's question involves solving for a missing expression in a Java code snippet that results in printing the output '94' when the code executes. To find the correct expression to replace '/* missing expression */', we need to work backward from the desired output. We know the final value of x is '94,' and the code x = 1 + 2 * y gives us a clue about y's value. Since x is assigned '1 + 2 * y' right before the print statements, and we want the final x to be '94', we can set up the equation '94 = 1 + 2 * y' and solve for y, which gives us 'y = 46.5'. However, since y is of type int and cannot hold a decimal value, we discard this result and look at the options provided. The correct expression to replace the missing one is ('x + 1'), which evaluates to '3 + 1', giving y a value of '4'. Now, when x is reassigned to '1 + 2 * 4', it results in x being '9', which together with y being '4', prints '94' exactly as the student has asked.