Console Input and Output - Java - page 64

format string , which can be followed with any number of additional arguments, each
of which is a value to output. The format string should include one format specifier,
such as %6.2f or %s , for each value output, and they should be in the same order as the
values to be output. For example:

format string

double price = 19.8;
String name = "magic apple";
System.out.printf("$%6.2f for each %s.", price, name);
System.out.println();
System.out.println("Wow");

Display 2.1 Format Specifiers for System.out.printf

CONVERSION
CHARACTER

TYPE OF OUTPUT EXAMPLES

d Decimal (ordinary) integer %5d

%d

f Fixed-point (everyday notation) floating point %6.2f

%f

e E-notation floating point %8.3e

%e

g General floating point (Java decides whether to use

E-notation or not)

%8.3g
%g

s String %12s

%s

c Character %2c

%c

This code outputs the following:

$ 19.80 for each magic apple.
Wow

Note that the format string may contain text as well as format specifiers, and this text
is output along with the values of the other arguments to printf .
You can include line breaks in a format string. For example, the two lines

new lines

System.out.printf("$%6.2f for each %s.", price, name);
System.out.println();

can be replaced by the single line below, which uses the escape sequence \n :

System.out.printf("$%6.2f for each %s.\n", price, name);