Instead of the modulo operator, which has slightly different semantics, for non-negative integers, you can use the remainder operator %. For your exact example:

if ((a % 2) == 0)
{
    isEven = true;
}
else
{
    isEven = false;
}

This can be simplified to a one-liner:

isEven = (a % 2) == 0;
Answer from Cody Hatch on Stack Overflow
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GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › java › modulo-or-remainder-operator-in-java
Modulo or Remainder Operator in Java - GeeksforGeeks
January 24, 2026 - The modulo operator (%) in Java is an arithmetic operator used to find the remainder after division of one number by another.
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Baeldung
baeldung.com › home › java › core java › the modulo operator in java
The Modulo Operator in Java | Baeldung
September 3, 2025 - Using the modulo operator, we prevent writeIndex from falling out of the boundaries of the array; therefore, we’ll never get an ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException. However, once we insert more than QUEUE_CAPACITY items, the next item will overwrite the first. In cases where the dividend is negative, Java returns a negative remainder:
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IONOS
ionos.com › digital guide › websites › web development › java modulo
How to use the Java modulo operator - IONOS
December 18, 2024 - That’s what the Java modulo operator is for. It’s also known as the remainder operator, as it de­ter­mines and returns the remainder after two numbers are divided. There are various sit­u­a­tions in which it is extremely important. The operator can be used, for example, to find out whether a number is even or odd or whether a number is prime.
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Medium
medium.com › @AlexanderObregon › what-is-javas-modulo-and-how-to-use-it-10e8e464d974
What Is Java’s Modulo (%) and How to Use It | Medium
April 1, 2025 - Java’s modulo operator % shows up all the time—in loops, conditions, and number-based logic—but for a lot of beginners, it can feel a bit unclear. It looks like it's just giving you the remainder of a division, but there’s more going on under the hood.
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Edureka
edureka.co › blog › mod-method-in-java
Modulus in Java | Remainder or Modulus Operator in Java | Edureka
July 5, 2024 - Modulus in Java is an Operator. % is also known as the modulus or remainder operator. The % operator returns the remainder of two numbers
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Java67
java67.com › 2014 › 11 › modulo-or-remainder-operator-in-java.html
How to use Modulo , Modulus, or Remainder Operator in Java? [Example] | Java67
You use the modulo operator to get the remainder of the division between an int variable and 10 and a double variable and 10, as described in the code snippet below. import java.util.Arrays; /** * Java program to demonstrate how to use modulo operator in Java.
Find elsewhere
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Codedamn
codedamn.com › news › java
What is Modulo/Modulus/Remainder Operator In Java?
November 20, 2023 - Java, with its widespread use in ... in handy is the modulo operator, denoted by the % sign. It provides the remainder of a division operation between two numbers....
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Dot Net Perls
dotnetperls.com › modulo-java
Java - Modulo Operator Examples - Dot Net Perls
Java · Modulo Operator Examples · Links · Updated Jul 7, 2022 · for Loop ExamplesMath.floor Method, floorDiv and floorMod · In programs we often use the modulo division operator to compute remainders. A "%" performs modulo division. It returns the part left over when the numbers are divided.
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Modulo
ctp.mkprog.com › en › java › modulo
Java | Modulo: % | Easy language reference
by using the modulo operator we can easily test the divisibility of integers, if the result is 0, then the number is divisible without a remainder.
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iO Flood
ioflood.com › blog › java-modulus-modulo
Java Modulus/Modulo: Your Guide to Remainder Operations
February 29, 2024 - Think of Java’s modulus operator as a skilled mathematician – it performs modulus operations to find the remainder of a division, a fundamental operation in many programming tasks.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/learnjava › what the hell is a modulo?
r/learnjava on Reddit: What the HELL is a modulo?
October 30, 2016 -

I have a test tomorrow, in the test one of the questions will be to seperate a number from a 3 digit number, say I have 641, I need to know how to print out 6,4 and 1 seperately.

What the hell do I do ? The teacher is so bad I couldn't understand a word she said and neither did my class, we already complained about her but this isn't the issue, the issue is that I have no easy answers on the internet for what the modulo is.

Why does doing (n/100)%10; print out the hundred digit ? I have no idea how this works, please go easy on me.

Top answer
1 of 5
3
The modulo operator returns the "remainder" of a division. If you think back to your early days at school, when you first learned dividing using long divisions , you learned that for 14/4 the result is 3 and the remainder is 2. Because "4" fits "3" times in '14", but then you still have a remainder of "2" so that: 14 = 4 x 3 + 2 Now, why do they suggest using the modulo operator to get the different numbers (6, 4, 1). Well, let's start from the right. If we divide 641/10, we know that it fits 64 times inside 641 and the remainder is 1. In java terms this is: int lastDigit = 641 % 10; // 1 Now, you can repeat the same process over and over again, however, we need to "shift" the number a bit. For example, if we want to know the second digit, we first divide 641 by 10, so that we only have 64. Now we can just retrieve the last digit again by using the modulo operator: int secondDigit = 641 / 10 % 10; // = 64 % 10 = 4 Now, you should start to see a system here. You can keep doing this trick over and over again, but in stead of dividing by 10, you divide by 100, 1000, 10000, 100000, ... and you get the next digit every time. In your case, the left digit can be retrieved by using: int firstDigit = 641 / 100 % 10; // = 6 % 10 = 6 In this case, it's pretty "useless" to use the modulo operator, because if you have a number with only 3 digits, dividing by 100 will already yield the left most digit. However, let's say that our number was 1234, then we would get: int digit = 1234 / 100 % 10; // = 12 % 10 = 2
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1
Modulo is the remainder from integer division. 4 / 3 = 1 r 1 4 % 3 = 1
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Coderanch
coderanch.com › t › 785725 › java › Modulus-Operator
Modulus Operator (Java in General forum at Coderanch)
Hello, and welcome to the Ranch! That's more of a maths question than a programming question, but let's do it anyway. As you know from your topic title, the % symbol in Java (and many other languages) represents the mathematical Modulo Operation, sometimes called modulus or mod.
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Programming.Guide
programming.guide › java › remainder-modulo-operator-negative-numbers.html
Java: Remainder (modulo) operator with negative numbers | Programming.Guide
In Java, difference between default, public, protected, and private ... Executing code in comments?! ... The sign of the first operand decides the sign of the result. ... You can think of the sign of the second operand as being ignored. Here's a diagram of x % 5 (which is the same as x % -5). The % computes the remainder in a division and should not be confused with the concept of modulo arithmetic.
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JavaBeat
javabeat.net › home › how to use modulo or remainder operator in java
How to Use Modulo or Remainder Operator in Java
March 20, 2024 - The modulo operator in Java performs division on given values and retrieves the remainder as output. It is denoted with a percent sign “%”.
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Javaranch
javaranch.com › drive › modulo.html
JRJC - How To Use Modulo
21 modulo 5 is 1 22 modulo 5 is 2 23 modulo 5 is 3 24 modulo 5 is 4 25 modulo 5 is 0 In C, C++ and Java, modulo is represented as the percent sign.
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W3Schools
w3schools.com › java › java_operators_arithmetic.asp
Java Arithmetic Operators
Data Types Numbers Booleans Characters Real-Life Example Non-primitive Types The var Keyword Code Challenge Java Type Casting Java Operators
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Mkyong
mkyong.com › home › java › java mod examples
Java mod examples - Mkyong.com
March 9, 2020 - With the modulo, the result has the same sign as the divisor (second operand). This example uses % remainder to check if a given number is an odd number. For negative numbers, it can lead to an unexpected results. ... package com.mkyong; import java.util.Arrays; import java.util.List; public class JavaModExample3 { public static void main(String[] args) { int divisor = 2; List<Integer> list = Arrays.asList(-10, -9, -8, -7, -6, -5, -4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10); String format = "= %% - = -, isOdd() = k"; for (Integer dividend : list) { String result = String.format(format, dividend, divisor, dividend % divisor, isOdd(dividend)); System.out.println(result); } } // How about negative numbers?