Sortie 12 puis 2

Simply stated: Java executes code line by line in order. It is a lot more complicated than that but the full set of rules are sure to confuse you at this point so this is sufficient knowledge to complete this task. In this code, starting at the line:

int x = 2;

You can start reading the code as follows: step 1: an int variable called 'x' is declared and set to a value of 2 step 2: an int variable called 'y' is declared and set to a value of 12 The next 2 lines of code are commented out and the compiler skips them completely. step 3: the next line of code is:

x = y - x;

With the equals operator (=), the operand on the left is going to be set to the operand on the left. In this line of code 'x' is on the left and 'y - x' is on the left. The compiler will first replace any operand variables on the right with their values, so this line of code will look like this:

x = 12 - 2;

This evaluates to 10 and the variable 'x' is then set to the value of 10. step 4: The next line of code is considered:

y = y - x;

as stated above, the compiler replaces variables first with their values. The variable 'y' has not changed and remains at 12, but the variable 'x' has been changed at this point in code from its initial value of 2 to the value of 10. So the expression first is changed to:

y = 12 - 10;

So 12 minus 10 is equal to 2, which 'y' will be now set to. step 5: next line of code:

System.out.println(x);

'x', value 10, is output to screen step 6: and finally 'y', value 2, is output to screen