title: Multiple Choice Java Quiz : How to input questions from a text file?
body: <p>I'm creating a multiple choice quiz using Java. I have the actual program up and running with all 10 of the questions when they're hard coded into the source code but I need to place 7 of these questions into a text file that will be inputted from a .txt and answered just the same. The only difference of course being those 7 questions that come from a text file instead of being directly in the source code.</p>
  
  <p>Can someone explain or show me a way to get this text file to be inputted into my source code and the quiz up and running this way?</p>
  
  <p>Here is my overall source code: </p>
  
  <pre><code>import java.util.Scanner;
  import java.util.*;
  
      String q1 = "What is hardware?\n"
            + "(a)virtual machine\n(b)the physical machine\n(c)applications such as browsers\n(d)part of the processor\n";
  
      String q2 = "What does counter++; do?\n"
            + "(a)Adds 1 to counter\n(b)Adds 2 to counter\n(c)Gets the sum\n(d)Multiplies the numbers\n";
  
      String q3 = "What is a loop that never stops?\n"
            + "(a)For Loop\n(b)Infinite Loop\n(c)Do-While Loop\n(d)Full Loop\n";
  
      Question [] questions = {
              new Question(q1, "b"),
              new Question(q2, "a"),
              new Question(q3, "b"),
              new Question(q4, "c"),
              new Question(q5, "d"),
              new Question(q6, "a"),
              new Question(q7, "a"),
              new Question(q8, "c"),
              new Question(q9, "a"),
              new Question(qF, "c")
      };
  
      Collections.shuffle(Arrays.asList(questions));
      takeTest(questions);
  
  
  }
  
  public static void takeTest(Question [] questions){
      int score = 0;
      Scanner keyboardInput = new Scanner(System.in);
  
  
      for(int i = 0; i &lt; questions.length; i++) {
          System.out.println(questions[i].prompt);
          String answer = keyboardInput.nextLine();
          if(answer.equals(questions[i].answer)) {
              score++;
          }
      }
      System.out.println("You got " + score + "/" + questions.length);
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>}           </p>
  
  <p>And my text file is simply the seven questions that I had originally placed in the source code : </p>
  
  <pre><code>String q4 = "In a while loop, if the boolean expression is true, what will the loop do?\n"
            + "(a)Break\n(b)Program will exit\n(c)Repeat\n(d)Continue through program\n";
  
  String q5 = "What special value is designated for controlling a loop?\n"
            + "(a)Control value\n(b)Mutator Method\n(c)Accessor Method\n(d)Sentinel Value\n";
  
  String q6 = "What is a method?\n"
            + "(a)A collection of statements grouped together to perform an operation\n(b)A value returned from a method using the return statement\n(c)The portion of the program where the variable can be accessed.\n(d)The combination of the name of a method and the list of its parameters\n";
  
  String q7 = "What is an object?\n"
            + "(a)Representation of an entity in the real world that can be distinctly identified\n(b)A static method can be called without creating an instance of the class\n(c)Instance variable/instance mthod\n(d)A template, blueprint or contract that defines what an object's data fields and methods will be.\n";
  
  String q8 = "What is an array?\n"
            + "(a)Numbers of items ArrayList can store without increasing its size\n(b)Number used as an index to pinpoint a specfic element within an array\n(c)Object that can store a group of values, all of the same type\n(d)Method of locating a specific item in a larger collection of data\n";
  
  String q9 = "You use this statement to throw an exception manually.\n"
            + "(a)Throw\n(b)call stack\n(c)try block\n(d)thrown\n";
  
  String qF = "When an exception is generated, it is said to have been what?\n"
            + "(a)Created\n(b)Called\n(c)Thrown\n(d)Generated\n";
  </code></pre>