How to use scanner to input into a 2 dimensional array? - arrays

Question

I'm taking a online Java course and attempting my 2nd assignment. The first assignment was not difficult but this one is just way over top. I honestly don't know where to begin. The problem is this class is online, basic instructions are to read these chapters and then write the program. There's not much guidance since my instructor is not with me physically.
I've never used scanner before or created two dimensional arrays. My instructor gives notes on what to do in each area of his skeleton program but I don't have a clue which one to start with.
Your task is to implement a similar scheme to store poynomials of any number of terms, such that the
number of terms and the components (coefficient, variable and exponent) of every term are entered from
the keyboard.
To implement the interactive input we will using the Java class Scanner, defined in the java.utils
standard package. The Scanner class can be used in Java to read data types from a file. Since the input
console (keyboard) is treated as the file called System.in, we can create a Scanner for that input stream
as new Scanner (System.in), as shown below. Once you define a Scanner object, using its method
next() you can read Strings from the file/keyboard.
The incomplete program below is your assignment. You are supposed to complete without changing the
existing code.
Your output should be the terms of the polynomial entered by the user, separated by + signs.
Additional instructions in the code below, that you will change to achieve the requested functionality.
import java.util.Scanner;
public class Polynomials {
public static void storeTerm (int coeff, String var, int exp, String poly[][], int
where){
//ENTER THE COEFFICIENT, VARIABLE AND EXPONENT INTO THE
//ARRAY POLY THAT REPRESENTS THE POLYNOMIAL, AT POSITION "where"
//THAT RANGES BETWEEN INDEX 0 AND POLY.LENGTH-1
}
public static void printTerm (String [] term) {
//PRINTS EACH TERM
//IF THE EXPONENT OF THE VARIABLE IS 1 DOE NOT PRINT THE EXPONENT
//IF THE EXPONENT IS 0, PRINT ONLY THE COEFFCIENT
//IF THE COEFFICIENT IS 1, DO NOT PRINT IT, UNLESS IT IS THE ONLY COMPONENT OF
//THE TERM
}
public static void printPolynomial(String terms[][]){
//CALL printTerm in a loop to print all terms separated by + signs
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
int numberTerms = 0;
System.out.println("How many terms?");
numberTerms = sc.nextInt();
//ENTER HERE THE CODE TO CREATE THE TWO DIMENSIONAL ARRAY NEEDED TO STORE THE TERMS
//OF THE POLYNOMIAL
if (numberTerms <= 0)
System.out.println("Error: Polynomials must have at least one term");
else {
String coeff = "", variable="", exponent="";
for (int i = 1; i<= numberTerms; i++) {
System.out.println("Enter the coeffcient for term " + i);
coeff = sc.next();
System.out.println("Enter the variable name:");
variable = sc.next();
System.out.println("Enter the expoenent for this term");
exponent = sc.next();
//CALL METHOD storeTerm TO INPUT THIS NEW TERM INTO THE ARRAY WRITE THE CORRECT
//CALL TO storeTerm HERE
}
printPolynomial(terms);
}//endf if
}//end main
}//end class
Again not looking for answers. Just where to start. Then I'll post my results.

Answer 1

It is not completely obvious where the two-dimensional array enters, since the structure hints at a list of terms.
You will need to define a data structure, in Java as a class, to hold the information for each term.
From the description, it seems that the input are polynomials of the form 3x^2+5y^7 and not xy+3y^2z^3.