Operators - JavaTech: An Introduction to Scientific and Technical Computing with Java - page 687

Table A.2.3 Increment and decrement operators. x and y are numeric

(floating-point and integer) or char types.

Operator Description

Post-increment: add 1 to the value.
The value is returned before the increment is made, e.g.

x++

x = 1;
y = x++;

Then y will hold 1 and x will hold 2

Post-decrement: subtract 1 from the value.
The value is returned before the decrement is made, e.g.

x--

x = 1;
y = x--;
Then y will hold 1 and x will hold 0.

Pre-increment: add 1 to the value.
The value is returned after the increment is made, e.g.

++x

x = 1;
y = ++x;

Then y will hold 2 and x will hold 2.

Pre-decrement: subtract 1 from the value.
The value is returned after the decrement is made, e.g.

--x

x = 1;
y = --x;

Then y will hold 0 and x will hold 0.