ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException - why am I still having this problem? - console

Question

I'm trying to print a chessboard to the console using a 2D array. For testing purposes, I'm trying to simply populate the board as 'x' chars. However, I keep getting an ArrayIndexOutOfBounds exception when I try to populate the array with the following:
public void setupBoard(){
for (int i=0; i < height; i++){
for (int j=0; j < width; j++){
boardArray[i][j] = 'x';
}
}
}
The error apparently occurs at boardArray[i][j] = 'x';
Everything seems to be in order, I dont see why this isnt working.
EDIT: I got the array to populate, but now I cannot format the printing correctly. The contents all print on one line, instead of as an 8x8 square of 'x' chars. Here's what I have now:
public void displayBoard(){
for (int k=0; k < boardArray.length; k++)
for (int l=0; l < boardArray[k].length; l++){
System.out.print(boardArray[k][l]);
}
System.out.println();
}

Answer 1

Well, presumably it's because you haven't created the board properly. Unfortunately you haven't shown us the array creation statement. It should be something like:
char[][] boardArray = new char[height][width];
EDIT: Okay, now for the printing part. Your current code is:
public void displayBoard(){
for (int k=0; k < boardArray.length; k++)
for (int l=0; l < boardArray[k].length; l++){
System.out.print(boardArray[k][l]);
}
System.out.println();
}
This is equivalent to:
public void displayBoard() {
for (int k = 0; k < boardArray.length; k++) {
for (int l = 0; l < boardArray[k].length; l++) {
System.out.print(boardArray[k][l]);
}
}
System.out.println();
}
... so you're only calling println after the outer loop has finished. If you just move the call to println to after the inner loop, it'll be fine:
public void displayBoard() {
for (int k = 0; k < boardArray.length; k++) {
for (int l = 0; l < boardArray[k].length; l++) {
System.out.print(boardArray[k][l]);
}
System.out.println();
}
}
Note that this sort of thing is clearer if you always include braces for loops, if statements etc.