Modular
Programming
CSX3002/ITX2001 Object-Oriented Concepts and Programming
CS4402 Selected Topic in Object-Oriented Concepts
IT2371 Object-Oriented Programming
Modular Programming (1)
Divide and conquer
Break down a big problem into smaller problems
We tackle one smaller problem at a time, further applying the D&C
if not small enough.
Each smaller piece is more manageable than original one
Solution to each smaller problem is often made into a module
(function).
Each function can accept parameters and return
Parameters and return values are medium of communication
between the function and the caller.
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Modular Programming (2)
Boss to worker analogy
A boss (the calling function or caller) asks the secretary (the called
function) to perform a task giving her data to process and asks her
to return (i.e., report) the results when the task is done.
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Methods
Modules: methods and classes
Programs use new and “prepackaged” modules
New: programmer-defined functions, classes
Prepackaged: from the standard library
Functions enable modular programming and support the
D&C design technique
Extra Benefits:
Code-reuse
Information Hiding
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Methods
Useful functions are written once and can be used many times.
in the same program
in different programs
Users (callers) of a function do not need to know how the
function does its job. The caller is only interested in what it
does.
communicating through parameters and return value
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Built-in (Pre-packaged) Libraries:
Standard Java Libraries
Java comes with large number of built-in functions organized
into set of libraries.
You can use them without knowing how they are written as
long as you understand what they do and how to
communicate with them.
parameters and return value
For example, there are useful mathematical functions in the
math library.
To use these functions, you have to import java.lang.Math
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Built-in Libraries
In the Math class,
double sqrt(double x);
Example
System.out.println(Math.sqrt(900.0));
The preceding statement would print 30
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Math Library Functions
Function arguments can be
Constants
Math.sqrt( 4 );
Variables
Math.sqrt( x );
Expressions
Math.sqrt(Math.sqrt( x ) ) ;
Math.sqrt( 3 – 6 * x );
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Defining a Method
Method Declaration
<return type> methodName(<list of parameters>)
{
// body of the method
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Example: Method Declaration
public double calculateAnswer(double wingSpan,
int numberOfEngines,
double length,
double grossTons) {
//do the calculation here
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Components of Method
Declaration
Modifiers
such as public, private, and others you will learn about later.
Return type
the data type of the value returned by the method, or void if the method does not return a
value.
Method name
the rules for field names apply to method names as well, but the convention is a little different.
Parameter list in parenthesis
a comma-delimited list of input parameters, preceded by their data types, enclosed by
parentheses, ().
If there are no parameters, you must use empty parentheses.
Exception list—to be discussed later
Method body, enclosed between braces
the method's code, including the declaration of local variables, goes here.
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Signature of a Method
Method Declaration
public double calculateAnswer(double wingSpan,
int numberOfEngines,
double length,
double grossTons) {
//do the calculation here
}
Signature
calculateAnswer(double, int, double, double)
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Sample using built-in function
c
a
ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑐 = 𝑎2 + 𝑏 2
double hypothenuse(int a, int b) {
return Math.sqrt(a*a+ b*b);
}
Math.pow(a, 2) Math.pow(a, 2) 14
In-Class Exercise 1
Create a method determine if a given integer is positive
or not.
Design Issues
What is a good method name?
Should the method take any parameters?
If so, what are the types of those parameters?
What would be a proper return type?
Then, write a program that repeatedly takes an integer
and prints out if the input value is a positive or negative
number.
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In-Class Exercise 2
Create a method that takes two numbers and returns the
largest value.
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In-Class Exercise 3a
Create a method that takes three numbers and returns the
largest value.
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In-Class Exercise 3b
Create a method that takes three numbers and returns the
largest value.
Use the method Math.max()
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In-Class Exercise 4
Create a method called rollDice() which returns a number
from 1 to 6.
Hint: You will need to randomize a number.
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Parameter Passing
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Parameters
Formal Parameters
Actual Parameters
public int multiply(int x, int y) {
return x * y;
}
// This is where the method multiply gets called
int length = 10;
int width = 5;
int area = multiply(length, width);
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Parameter Passing
Pass by Value
A copy of the value of each actual parameter is passed to the
method.
You can change that copy inside the method, but this will have no
effect on the actual parameter.
Pass by Reference
and others
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Changes on x
and y do not
have effect on a
Example in C++: Swap Function and b.
void swap(int x, int y) x 10 20
{
20 10
int temp = x;
y
x = y;
y = temp;
} temp 10
// void swap (int, int);
int main()
{
a = 10; b = 20; a 10
swap (a, b);
cout << “a is “ << a << endl; b 20
cout << “b is “ << b << endl;
return 0; 23
}
Example in C++: Swap Function
void swap(int &x, int &y) Changes on x
{ and y have
x is an alias of a.
int temp = x; y is an alias of b. effect on a and
x = y; b.
y = temp;
}
temp, x, a 10
int main()
{
a = 10; b = 20; y, b 20
swap (a, b);
cout << “a is “ << a << endl;
cout << “b is “ << b << endl;
return 0; 24
}
Java's Parameter Passing
Pass by Value
Primitive Types
Object References
We can manipulate the object in any way, but we cannot make the
reference refer to a different object.
Pass by Reference (not really)
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Passing Primitive Types in
Java
public void swap(int a, int b) {
int temp = a;
int a = b;
What are the value of
int b = temp; x and y after the
method is called?
}
// This is where the method swap gets called
int x = 10;
int y = 20;
swap(x, y);
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Passing Object References in
Java (1)
class Student {
String firstName;
String lastName;
// getters/setters
}
public static void tryObject(Student s)
{
s.firstName = "Fred”;
s.lastName = "Flintstone”;
}
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Passing Object References in
Java (2)
Student aStudent = new Student();
aStudent.setFirstName("Homer");
aStudent.setFirstName("Simpson");
tryObject(aStudent);
System.out.println(aStudent.getFirstName()
+ " "
+ aStudent.getLastname());
What will be printed
on the screen?
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Does this method work?
public void createStudent(Student s,
String fName,
String lName)
{
s = new Student();
s.setFirstName(fName);
s.setLastName(lName);
}
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Passing String in Java
public static void tryString(String s)
{ What will be
printed on the
s = "a different string";
} screen?
// This is where the method gets called.
String str = "This is a string literal.”;
tryString(str);
System.out.println("str = " + str);
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