Object Oriented

Programming
with Java II

Dr. Mohamed K. Hussein

Lecture 3

Associate Prof., Computer Science department,

Faculty of Computers & Information Science,

Suez Canal University

Email: [email protected]
 Lecture outcomes
• The this reference

• Array of objects
• Passing array of objects to methods

• Static variables and methods

• Usage and syntax

• Passing object to the constructor

• Immutable objects and classes

Dr. Mohamed K. Hussein 2

 The this Reference
 The this reference allows an object to refer to itself.

 That is, the this reference, used inside a method, refers to the object through which the
method is being executed

• The this reference can also be used to distinguish the parameters of a

constructor from the corresponding instance variables with the same names

public Person (int age, Sring name)

{
this.age = age;
this.name = name;
}
Dr. Mohamed K. Hussein 3
 Array of Objects
• Although referred to as an array of objects they are actually arrays of
references to objects.
• Recall for arrays: 2 steps are involved to create the array
int [] array; // Reference to array
array = new int[3]; // Creates array of integers

• Recall for objects: 2 steps are required to create the object

Person ahmed; // Reference to Person object
ahmed = new Person(); // Creates object

Dr. Mohamed K. Hussein 4

 Array of Objects
• An array of objects is actually an array of references to objects.

• So 3 steps are usually required

• Two steps are still needed to create the array
// Step 1: create reference to array
Person [] somePeople;

// Step 2: create array

somePeople = new Person[3];
• In Java after these two steps each array element will be null.
somePeople[0].setAge(10); // Null pointer exception

Dr. Mohamed K. Hussein 5

 Array of Objects
- The third step requires traversal through array elements (as needed):
- create a new object and have the array element refer to that object.

for (i = 0; i < 3; i++)

{
// Create object, array element refers to that object
somePeople[i] = new Person();

// Now that array element refers to an object, a method can be called.

somePeople[i].setAge(i);
}

Dr. Mohamed K. Hussein 6

Passing/return array of objects to/from methods
public class MainClass{
public static void main(String [] args) {
Person [] somePeople; // Reference to array
somePeople = createObjectArray(); // Create array
printArray(somePeople);
}
public static Person[] createObjectArray() {
Person[] people = new Person[5];
for (int i = 0; i < people.length; i++) {
people[i] = new Person();
People[i].setAge(i*10);
}
return people; // Return array of objects
}
public static void printArray( Person[] people) {
for (int i = 0; i < people.length; i++)
System.out.println(“Age “ + people[i].getAge());
}
}
Dr. Mohamed K. Hussein 7
 Static Variables
 Static variables are also called class variables
 Normally, each object has its own data space, but
if a variable is declared as static, only one copy of
the variable exists
Class Person

private static int number;

Object Object Object
 Memory space for a static variable is created when the
name: p1 name: p2 name: p3
class in which it is declared is loaded
 All objects created from the class share static variables
 Changing the value of a static variable in one object
changes it for all others
Dr. Mohamed K. Hussein 8
 Static Variables

•Inside the class definition

Format:
<Access permission> static <attribute or method name>

Example:
class Person
{
private static int number = 0;

public Person()
{
number++;
}
}
Dr. Mohamed K. Hussein 9
 Static Methods
•Associated with the class as a whole and not individual instances of the class.

–Can be called without having an instances (because it’s called through the class
name not a reference/instance name).
double squareRoot = Math.sqrt(9); // ClassName.method()

 Recall that the main method is static;

 it is invoked by the system without creating an object

• Static methods cannot reference instance variables, because instance variables

don't exist until an object exists
 However, a static method can reference static variables or local variables
Dr. Mohamed K. Hussein 10
Static Data & Methods: UML Diagram
Static attribute is
specified using
underlining Person
-number:int
MClass -age: int
+Person()
+Person(age:int)
+getNumber():int
+getAge():int
+setAge(age:int):void

Dr. Mohamed K. Hussein 11

 Passing object to the constructor
public class Person{
private int age;
public class Main{
public Person(){age = 0;}
public static void main(String[] args) {
public Person(int age){
this.age = age; Person p1 = new Person(20);
} Person p2 = new Person(p1);
public Person(Person p){ p1.setAge(30);
this.age = p.getAge();
System.out.println(p1.getAge());
}
public int getAge(){ System.out.println(p2.getAge());
return age; }
} }
public void setAge(int age){
this.age = age;
}
Dr. Mohamed K. Hussein 12
}
 import java.util.Date;public
class Person{
private int age;
Immutable objects & private Date dateCreated;
public Person(){
classes age = 0;
dateCreated = new Date();
• Define immutable classes to create immutable
}
objects. public Date getDate(){
return dateCreated;
• The contents of immutable objects cannot be
}
changed. }

• Required steps to create immutable class: import java.util.Date;

public class Main{
• All the attributes must be private public static void main(String[] args) {
• Cannot contain public setter methods for any Person p1 = new Person();
Date d1;
data fields. System.out.println(p1.getDate());
• No accessor methods can return a d1 = p1.getDate();
d1.setDate(200000);
reference to a data field that is System.out.println(p1.getDate());
mutable. }
Dr. Mohamed K. Hussein } 13
 Assignment 3

I. Design a Shopping Cart program. In this task you will complete a class that
implements a shopping cart as an array of items. The Item class models an item one
would purchase. An item has a name, price, and quantity (the quantity purchased).
The file ShoppingCart.java implements the shopping cart as an array of Item
objects. Complete the ShoppingCart class by doing the following:
• Declare an instance variable cart to be an array of Items and instantiate cart in the
constructor to be an array holding capacity Items.
• There should be addToCart method. This method should add the item to the cart and
update the totalPrice instance variable (note this variable takes into account the
quantity).

Dr. Mohamed K. Hussein 14

 Assignment 3

II. Design a library program. In this task you will complete a class that
implements a Library as an array of Books. The Book class that models a book
one would find the library. A book has a title, price, year, and Author. The
Library.java implements the library as an array of Books objects. Complete the
Library class by doing the following:
• Declare an instance variable library to be an array of Books and instantiate library
in the constructor to be an array holding capacity Items.
• There should be addBook method. This method should add the book to the
library.

Dr. Mohamed K. Hussein 15

Thank you