Conways Game of Life trouble [java]

Question

public static boolean[][] calculate(boolean cellState[][])//imports cell patern(in the form of a graph)
{
    int x = 0, y = 0;
    int alive = 0;
    boolean newCellState[][] = new boolean[50][50];//what the next generation is stored in

    while(x < 50 && y < 50)//calculation loop
    {
        try//each adjacent cell
        {
            if(cellState[x-1][y] == true)
                alive++; //if the  adjacent cell is alive the alive variable gets + 1
        }catch(IndexOutOfBoundsException e) {}

        try
        {
            if (cellState[x-1][y-1] == true)
                alive++;
        } catch(IndexOutOfBoundsException e) { }

        try
        {
            if(cellState[x-1][y+1] == true)
                alive++;
        } catch(IndexOutOfBoundsException e) { }

        try
        {
            if (cellState[x][y+1] == true)
                alive++;
        } catch(IndexOutOfBoundsException e) { }

        try
        {
            if (cellState[x][y-1] == true)
                alive++;
        } catch(IndexOutOfBoundsException e) { }

        try
        {
            if(cellState[x+1][y] == true)
                alive++;
        } catch(IndexOutOfBoundsException e) { }

        try
        {
            if(cellState[x+1][y-1] == true)
                alive++;
        } catch(IndexOutOfBoundsException e) { }

        try
        {
            if(cellState[x+1][y+1] == true)
                alive++;
        } catch(IndexOutOfBoundsException e) { }

        if(cellState[x][y] = true) //determines if the cell should be alive in the next generation
        {
            if(alive < 2)
                newCellState[x][y] = false;
            else if(alive > 3)
                newCellState[x][y] = false;
            else if(alive == 2)
                newCellState[x][y] = true;//stores in new cell state for next gen
            else
                newCellState[x][y] = true;
        } else
        {
            newCellState[x][y] = false;
        }

        alive = 0; //resets alive

        if(x == 49)//counter for graph
        {
            y++;
            x=0;
        }else
        {
            x++;
        }
    }

    return newCellState;
}

This is my method that is used to calculate the next generation of Conway's game of life. Each time it is run, no matter what the pattern is, it prints out every cell as dead except the edges of the grid.

This is the main method:

public static void main(String Args[])
{
    int x = 0;
    int y = 0;
    boolean cellState[][] = new boolean[50][50];
    String answer;
    Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);

    while(true)
    {
        System.out.print("\n Type anything for next generation, 'new' for new grid, or 'stop' to end>> ");
        answer = input.nextLine();
        if(answer.equals("new"))
        {
            cellState = newCells();
        }else if(answer.equals("stop"))
        {
            break;
        }else
        {
            cellState = calculate(cellState);
            print(cellState);
        }

    }


}

I have tested the printing method so it doesn't have a problem there. I just can't figure out why it does this. All help is appreciated! Thanks!

Answer 1

if(cellState[x][y] = true) 

You forgot to use == for this one. Otherwise, your code looks fine.