Source code for Factorial.java

/*
 * This work by W. Patrick Hooper is free of known copyright restrictions.
 * The work is in the public domain.
 * 
 * Author's website: <a href="http://wphooper.com">http://wphooper.com</a>. 
 */

/** Compute n!
 *
 * @author Pat Hooper
 */
public class Factorial {

    /** 
     * Prints out n!, where n is the first command line argument. 
     * 
     * @param args the command line arguments
     */
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Convert the first argument to an integer and store it as n.
        int n=Integer.parseInt(args[0]);
               
        if ( n < 0) { // Execute the following statements if n is negative.            
            // When you add a number to a string, Java converts the number to a string,
            // and then concatenates the two strings.
            System.out.println("The number ("+n+")! is undefined because "+n+
                    " is negative."); // Print an error message.            
            System.exit(0); // Exit the program.
        }
                
        // We will compute n factorial via the formula
        // n!=1*2*3*4*5*...
        
        int factorial=1; // create an integer named factorial and set it to one
                
        int i=1; // Create another integer with value one.
        
        while (i <=n ) { // Exectute the following two lines as long as i<=n.
            factorial = factorial * i; // Update factorial.
            i = i+1; // Increase the value of i by one.
        }
                
        System.out.println(""+n+"! = "+factorial);
    }

}

Last modified on August 17, 2018.