What is the difference between "System.out.println" and "System.out.printf" in java

[gautamz07]

for(String x: s)
System.out.printf("%s" , x);

Why is "%s" used here ? :((

[Nepomuk]

While println will take a String, print it and add a new line at the end, printf will take a formatted String and not add a new line at the end. A formatted String means, that you can do stuff like this:

for(int i=1; i<=10; i++) {
   System.out.printf("The given number is %d and it is %s\n", i, (i % 2 == 0 ? "even" : "odd"));
}

This will print

The given number is 1 and it is odd.
The given number is 2 and it is even.
The given number is 3 and it is odd.
The given number is 4 and it is even.
The given number is 5 and it is odd.
The given number is 6 and it is even.
The given number is 7 and it is odd.
The given number is 8 and it is even.
The given number is 9 and it is odd.
The given number is 10 and it is even.

So in short: %s is used when you want to have a String at that place, %d is used for integers.