Question

Given the need to loop up to an arbitrary int value, is it better programming practice to convert the value into an array and for-each the array, or just use a traditional for loop?

FYI, I am calculating the number of 5 and 6 results (“hits”) in multiple throws of 6-sided dice. My arbitrary int value is the dicePool which represents the number of multiple throws.

As I understand it, there are two options:

1. Convert the dicePool into an array and for-each the array:

   public int calcHits(int dicePool) {
      int[] dp = new int[dicePool];
      for (Integer a : dp) {
        // call throwDice method
      }
   }
   

2. Use a traditional for loop:

   public int calcHits(int dicePool) {
      for (int i = 0; i < dicePool; i++) {
        // call throwDice method
      }
   }
   

My view is that option 1 is clumsy code and involves unnecessary creation of an array, even though the for-each loop is more efficient than the traditional for loop in Option 2.

Answer 1

At this point, speed isn’t important (insert premature-optimization comment ;). What matters is how quickly you can understand what the code does, which is to call a method dicePool times.

The first method allocates an array of size dicePool and iterates through its values, which happens to run the loop body dicePool times (I’ll pretend you meant int instead of Integer to avoid the unrelated autoboxing issue). This is potentially inefficient for the computer running the code, but more importantly it’s inefficient for the human reading the code as it’s conceptually distant from what you wanted to accomplish. Specifically, you force the reader to think about the new array you’ve just made, AND the value of the variable a, which will be 0 for every iteration of the loop, even though neither of those are related to your end goal.

Any Java programmer looking at the second method will realize that you’re executing the loop body dicePool times with i ‘counting up’ to dicePool. While the latter part isn’t especially important, the beginning is exactly what you meant to do. Using this common Java idiom minimizes the unrelated things a reader needs to think about, so it’s the best choice.

When in doubt, go with simplicity. 😀