i am trying to make "stars" and i am starting off simple, i made a variable "a", and if its less than 255 it adds 1 to "a", if its greater than 255 it takes away 1. but obviosuly as soon as it takea 1 away it will add 1, again and be stuf at 255. i am not sure how i can workaround this... without an array though.

 

int[] starx = new int[50];
int[] stary = new int[50];
int a = 0;

void setup()//open setup
{
  smooth();
  size(500,500);
  //set x, y values
  for (int i = 0; i <50; i++)
  {
    starx[i] = int(random(500));
    stary[i] = int(random(500));
    }
}//end setup
//
void draw()//open draw
{
  smooth();
  background(0);
 
   //check the alpha value
   if (a < 255)
  {
    a += 1;
  }
  if(a<255) ///<<<<<@@@@@@ if it goes below it will add 1 again
  {
    a -= 1;
  }
  //draws all the circles
  for (int i = 0; i <50; i++)
  {
    fill(255, a);
    ellipse(starx[i],stary[i], 5, 5);
  }
 
}//end draw