Program to compares two text files!

I have to make a program that compares two given text files and then tells the user if there is or isn't any differences. Then if there is, print the line number and the two lines. I got most of it but I couldn't complete the readFrom method and I wasn't sure what I was doing wrong. My teacher gave me help with it and said to fill in the blank, but I'm clueless at this point. And until I get that method done, I can't really test the whole program. So if you guys could help it'd be great. Also, it's an intro course so try to keep it simple lol thanks :)

Code :

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import java.util.*;
import java.io.*;
 
 
 
//This program compares 2 text files and checks for differences in the two
public class CompareFiles {
	//This method explains the program, asks for the file names, and calls the compareFiles method
	public static void main(String[] args) throws FileNotFoundException {
		System.out.println("This program compares two files for differences"); // outputs program description
		System.out.println();
		Scanner console = new Scanner(System.in); 
		System.out.println("Enter a first file name"); //asks for first file name
		String name1 = console.nextLine(); //saves file as name1
		System.out.println("Enter a second file name"); //asks for second file name
		String name2 = console.nextLine(); //saves as name2
		System.out.println();
		Scanner infile1 = new Scanner(new File(name1)); //reads the text
		Scanner infile2 = new Scanner(new File(name2));
		compareFiles(infile1, infile2); //calls the compareFiles method
	}
	//this method compares the two files
	public static void compareFiles(Scanner infile1, Scanner infile2) {
		boolean different = false; //sets a new boolean variable to false
		int line = 0; //sets a line variable to 0
		while (infile1.hasNextLine() || infile2.hasNextLine()) { // if both files have a next line
			String line1 = readFrom(infile1); 
			String line2 = readFrom(infile2);
 
			line++;
			if (!line1.equals(line2)) { //if line 1 does not equal line 2 
				if (!different) { // if different variable is false
					System.out.println("Differences found"); //tell user there is a difference in the files
					different = false; //set different to false
				}
 
				System.out.println("Line " + line + ":"); //output line number
				printLine("<", line1); //calls the printLine method
				printLine(">", line2);
				System.out.println(); //blank line
			}
 
			if (line1.equals(line2)) { //if line 1 equals line 2
				System.out.println("No differences found"); //no differences found
			}
		}
	}
	//returns a line of text
	public static String readFrom(Scanner infile) {
		if (infile.hasNextLine()) {
			____ infile.nextLine();
 
		}
 
		else { 
			return null;
		}
	}
	//prints the given line or says it is the end of the file
	public static void printLine(String prefix, String line) {
		System.out.print(prefix + " ");
		if (line == null) { //if there are no more lines
			System.out.println("no such line (end-of-file)"); //tell the user
		}
 
		else {
			System.out.println(line); //if there is a line, print the line
		}
	}
}

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You should never compare strings with == or != unless you are checking against null.

To compare strings:

Code Java:

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string1.equals(string2)

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Code Java:

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!string1.equals(string2)

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Wrap your code in highlight/code tags! [highlight=Java]**Java Code goes here[/highlight] [code]**Code goes here**[/code] either one works

Ok I fixed it. Thanks for the tip. But in the readFrom method I need to complete the code where the blank is and that's what is stumping me. I think if there is a next line to be read, I need to read it, then return the result back through the parameter. But I don't know how to do this lol

I know I am 2 years late to answer here..but you could use a BufferedLineReader to get the scanner to get the line number...