Chapter 8 Designing Classes

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

Chapter Goals

To learn how to choose appropriate classes for a given problem

To understand the concept of cohesion
To minimize dependencies and side effects
To learn how to find a data representation for a class
To understand static methods and variables
To learn about packages

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

Discovering Classes
A class represents a single concept from the problem domain.
Name for a class should be a noun that describes concept.
Concepts from mathematics:
Point
Rectangle
Ellipse

Concepts from real life:

BankAccount
CashRegister

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

Discovering Classes
Actors (end in -er, -or) objects do some kinds of work for
you:
Scanner
Random // Better name: RandomNumberGenerator

Utility classes no objects, only static methods and constants:

Math

Program starters: a class with only a main method

The class name should indicate what objects of the class will
do: Paycheck is a better name than PaycheckProgram.
Don't turn a single operation action into a class: Paycheck is a
better name than ComputePaycheck.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

Self Check 8.1

What is the rule of thumb for finding classes?

Answer: Look for nouns in the problem description.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

Self Check 8.2

Your job is to write a program that plays chess. Might
ChessBoard be an appropriate class? How about
MovePiece?

Answer: Yes (ChessBoard) and no (MovePiece).

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

Designing Good Methods - Cohesion

A class should represent a single concept.
The public interface of a class is cohesive if all of its features
are related to the concept that the class represents.
The members of a cohesive team have a common goal.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

Designing Good Methods - Cohesion

This class lacks cohesion.
public class CashRegister
{
public static final double QUARTER_VALUE = 0.25;
public static final double DIME_VALUE = 0.1;
public static final double NICKEL_VALUE = 0.05;
...
public void receivePayment(int dollars,
int quarters, int dimes, int nickels,
int pennies)
...
}

It contains two concepts

A cash register that holds coins and computes their total
The values of individual coins.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

Designing Good Methods - Cohesion

Solution: Make two classes:
public class Coin
{
public Coin(double aValue, String aName) { . . . }
public double getValue() { . . . }
...
}
public class CashRegister
{
...
public void receivePayment(int coinCount, Coin coinType)
{
payment = payment + coinCount * coinType.getValue();
}
...
}

Now CashRegister class can handle any type of coin.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

Minimizing Dependencies
A class depends on another class if its methods use that class
in any way.
CashRegister depends on Coin

UML: Unified Modeling Language

Notation for object-oriented analysis and design

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

10

Minimizing Dependencies

Figure 1 UML class diagram showing dependency relationship

between the CashRegister and Coin Classes.
The Coin class does not depend on the CashRegister class.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

11

Minimizing Dependencies
Example: printing BankAccount balance
Recommended
System.out.println("The balance is now $" +
momsSavings.getBalance());

Don't add a printBalance method to BankAccount

public void printBalance() // Not recommended
{
System.out.println("The balance is now $" + balance);
}

The method depends on System.out

Not every computing environment has System.out
Violates the rule of minimizing dependencies

Best to decouple input/output from the work of your classes

Place the code for producing output or consuming input in a separate
class.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

12

Separating Accessors and Mutators

A mutator method changes the state of an object.
An accessor method asks an object to compute a result,
without changing the state.
An immutable class has no mutator methods.
String is an immutable class
No method in the String class can modify the contents of a string.

References to objects of an immutable class can be safely

shared.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

13

Separating Accessors and Mutators

In a mutable class, separate accessors and mutators
A method that returns a value should not be a mutator.
In general, all mutators of your class should have return type
void.
Sometimes a mutator method can return an informational
value.
ArrayList remove method returns true if the removal was
successful.
To check the temperature of the water in the bottle, you could
take a sip, but that would be the equivalent of a mutator
method.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

14

Minimizing Side Effects

A side effect of a method is any externally observable data
modification.
Mutator methods have a side effect, namely the modification of
the implicit parameter.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

15

Minimizing Side Effects

In general, a method should not modify its parameter variables.
/** Computes the total balance of the given accounts.
@param accounts a list of bank accounts
*/
public double getTotalBalance(ArrayList<String> accounts)
{
double sum = 0;
while (studentNames.size() > 0)
{
BankAccount account = accounts.remove(0); // Not recommended
sum = sum + account.getBalance();
}
return sum;
}

Such a side effect would not be what most programmers

expect.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

16

Minimizing Side Effects

The following method mutates the System.out object, which is
not a part of the BankAccount object.
public void printBalance() // Not recommended
{
System.out.println("The balance is now $" +
balance);
}

That is a side effect.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

17

Minimizing Side Effects

Keep most of your classes free from input and output
operations.
This taxi has an undesirable side effect, spraying bystanders
with muddy water.

When designing methods, minimize side effects.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

18

Self Check 8.3

Why is the CashRegister class from Chapter 4 not cohesive?

Answer: Some of its features deal with payments, others

with coin values.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

19

Self Check 8.4

Why does the Coin class not depend on the CashRegister
class?
Answer: None of the coin operations require the
CashRegister class.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

20

Self Check 8.5

Why is it a good idea to minimize dependencies between
classes?
Answer: If a class doesn't depend on another, it is not
affected by interface changes in the other class.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

21

Self Check 8.6

Is the substring method of the String class an accessor or a
mutator?
Answer: It is an accessor calling substring doesn't
modify the string on which the method is invoked. In fact,
all methods of the String class are accessors.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

22

Self Check 8.7

Is the Rectangle class immutable?
Answer: No translate is a mutator.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

23

Self Check 8.8

If a refers to a bank account, then the call
a.deposit(100)

modifies the bank account object. Is that a side effect?

Answer: It is a side effect; this kind of side effect is
common in object-oriented programming.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

24

Self Check 8.9

Consider the Student class of Chapter 7. Suppose we add a
method
void read(Scanner in)
{
while (in.hasNextDouble())
addScore(in.nextDouble());
}

Does this method have a side effect other than mutating the
data set?
Answer: Yes the method affects the state of the Scanner
argument.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

25

Consistency
While it is possible to eat with mismatched silverware, consistency
is more pleasant.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

26

Problem Solving: Patterns for Object Data Keeping a Total

All classes that manage a total follow the same basic pattern.
Keep an instance variable that represents the current total:
private double purchase;

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

27

Problem Solving: Patterns for Object Data Keeping a Total

Provide these methods as necessary
A method to increase the total by a given amount
public void recordPurchase(double amount)
{
purchase = purchase + amount;
}
A method that reduces or clears the total
public void clear()
{
purchase = 0;
}
A method that yields the current total
public double getAmountDue()
{
return purchase;
}

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

28

Problem Solving: Patterns for Object Data

Counting Events
A counter that counts events is incremented in methods that
correspond to the events.
Keep a counter:
private int itemCount;

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

29

Problem Solving: Patterns for Object Data

Counting Events
Increment the counter in those methods that correspond to the
events that you want to count:
public void recordPurchase(double amount)
{
purchase = purchase + amount;
itemCount++;
}

Provide a method to clear the counter if necessary:

public void clear()
{
purchase = 0;
itemCount = 0;
}

You may need a method to report the count to the user of the class.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

30

Problem Solving: Patterns for Object Data

Collecting Values
An object can collect other objects in an array or array list.
A shopping cart object needs to manage a collection of items.

An array list is usually easier to use than an array:

public class Question
{
private ArrayList<String> choices;
...
}

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

31

Problem Solving: Patterns for Object Data

Collecting Values
Initialize the instance variable to an empty collection:
public Question()
{
choices = new ArrayList<String>();
}

Supply a mechanism for adding values:

public void add(String option)
{
choices.add(option);
}
The user of a Question object can call this method multiple times to add
the choices.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

32

Problem Solving: Patterns for Object Data Managing Properties of an Object

A property is a value of an object that an object user can set
and retrieve.
Provide an instance variable to store the propertys value and
methods to get and set it.
public class Student
{
private String name;

public String getName() { return name; }

public void setName(String newName { name = newName; }

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

33

Problem Solving: Patterns for Object Data Managing Properties of an Object

It is common to add error checking to the setter method:
public void setName(String newName)
{
if (newName.length() > 0) { name = newName; }
}

Some properties should not change after they have been set in
the constructor
Dont supply a setter method
public class Student
{
private int id;
...
public Student(int anId) { id = anId; }
public String getId() { return id; }
// No setId method
...
}
Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

34

Problem Solving: Patterns for Object Data Modeling Objects with Distinct States
Some objects have behavior that varies depending on what has
happened in the past.
If a fish is in a hungry state, its behavior changes.

Supply an instance variable for the current state

public class Fish
{
private int hungry;
...
}
Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

35

Problem Solving: Patterns for Object Data Modeling Objects with Distinct States
Supply constants for the state values:
public static final int NOT_HUNGRY = 0;
public static final int SOMEWHAT_HUNGRY = 1;
public static final int VERY_HUNGRY = 2;

Determine which methods change the state:

public void eat()
{
hungry = NOT_HUNGRY;
...
}
public void move()
{
...
if (hungry < VERY_HUNGRY) { hungry++; }
}

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

36

Problem Solving: Patterns for Object Data Modeling Objects with Distinct States
Determine where the state affects behavior:
public void move()
{
if (hungry == VERY_HUNGRY)
{
Look for food.
}
...
}

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

37

Problem Solving: Patterns for Object Data Describing the Position of an Object
To model a moving object:
You need to store and update its position.
You may also need to store its orientation or velocity.

If the object moves along a line, you can represent the position
as a distance from a fixed point:
private double distanceFromTerminus;

If the object moves in a grid, remember its current location and

direction in the grid:
private int row;
private int column;
private int direction; // 0 = North, 1 = East, 2 = South, 3 = West

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

38

Problem Solving: Patterns for Object Data Describing the Position of an Object
A bug in a grid needs to store its row, column, and direction.

There will be methods that update the position. You may be told
how much the object moves:
public void move(double distanceMoved)
{
distanceFromTerminus =
distanceFromTerminus + distanceMoved;
}

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

39

Problem Solving: Patterns for Object Data Describing the Position of an Object
If the movement happens in a grid, you need to update the row
or column, depending on the current orientation.
public void moveOneUnit()
{
if (direction == NORTH) { row--; }
else if (direction == EAST) { column++; }
else if (direction == SOUTH) { row++; }
else if (direction == WEST) { column; }
}

Your program will simulate the actual movement in some way.

Locate the methods that move the object, and update the
positions according to the rules of the simulation.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

40

Self Check 8.10

Suppose we want to count the number of transactions in a bank
account in a statement period, and we add a counter to the
BankAccount class:
public class BankAccount
{
private int transactionCount;

In which methods does this counter need to be updated?

Answer: It needs to be incremented in the deposit and
withdraw methods. There also needs to be some method
to reset it after the end of a statement period.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

41

Self Check 8.11

In How To 3.1, the CashRegister class does not have a
getTotalPurchase method. Instead, you have to call
receivePayment and then giveChange. Which recommendation
of Section 8.2.4 does this design violate? What is a better
alternative?
Answer: The giveChange method is a mutator that returns
a value that cannot be determined any other way. Here is
a better design. The receivePayment method could
decrease the purchase instance variable. Then the
program user would call receivePayment, determine the
change by calling getAmountDue, and call the clear
method to reset the cash register for the next sale.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

42

Self Check 8.12

In the example in Section 8.3.3, why is the add method required?
That is, why cant the user of a Question object just call the add
method of the ArrayList<String> class?
Answer: The ArrayList<String> instance variable is private,
and the class users cannot acccess it.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

43

Self Check 8.13

Suppose we want to enhance the CashRegister class in How To
3.1 to track the prices of all purchased items for printing a
receipt. Which instance variable should you provide? Which
methods should you modify?
Answer: You need to supply an instance variable that can
hold the prices for all purchased items. This could be an
ArrayList<Double> or ArrayList<String>, or it could
simply be a String to which you append lines. The
instance variable needs to be updated in the
recordPurchase method. You also need a method that
returns the receipt.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

44

Self Check 8.14

Consider an Employee class with properties for tax ID number
and salary. Which of these properties should have only a getter
method, and which should have getter and setter methods?

Answer: The tax ID of an employee does not change, and

no setter method should be supplied. The salary of an
employee can change, and both getter and setter
methods should be supplied.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

45

Self Check 8.15

Suppose the setName method in Section 8.3.4 is changed so that
it returns true if the new name is set, false if not. Is this a good
idea?

Answer: Section 8.2.3 suggests that a setter should return

void, or perhaps a convenience value that the user can
also determine in some other way. In this situation, the
caller could check whether newName is blank, so the
change is fine.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

46

Self Check 8.16

Look at the direction instance variable in the bug example in
Section 8.3.6. This is an example of which pattern?
Answer: It is an example of the state pattern described in
Section 8.3.5. The direction is a state that changes when
the bug turns, and it affects how the bug moves.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

47

static Variables and Methods - Variables

A static variable belongs to the class, not to any object of the
class.
To assign bank account numbers sequentially
Have a single value of lastAssignedNumber that is a property of the
class, not any object of the class.

Declare it using the static reserved word

public class BankAccount
{
private double balance;
private int accountNumber;
private static int lastAssignedNumber = 1000;
public BankAccount()
{
lastAssignedNumber++;
accountNumber = lastAssignedNumber;
}
...
}
Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

48

static Variables and Methods

Every BankAccount object has its own balance and
accountNumber instance variables
All objects share a single copy of the lastAssignedNumber
variable
That variable is stored in a separate location, outside any
BankAccount objects

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

49

static Variables and Methods

static variables should always be declared as private,
This ensures that methods of other classes do not change their values

static constants may be either private or public

public class BankAccount
{
public static final double OVERDRAFT_FEE = 29.95;
...
}

Methods from any class can refer to the constant as

BankAccount.OVERDRAFT_FEE.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

50

static Variables and Methods

Figure 5 A static Variable and Instance Variables

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

51

static Variables and Methods - Methods

Sometimes a class defines methods that are not invoked on an
object
Called a static method

Example: sqrt method of Math class

if x is a number, then the call x.sqrt() is not legal

Math class provides a static method: invoked as Math.sqrt(x)
No object of the Math class is constructed.
The Math qualifier simply tells the compiler where to find the sqrt
method.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

52

static Variables and Methods

You can define your own static methods:
public class Financial
{
/** Computes a percentage of an amount.
@param percentage the percentage to apply
@param amount the amount to which the percentage is applied
@return the requested percentage of the amount
*/
public static double percentOf(double percentage, double amount)
{
return (percentage / 100) * amount;
}
}

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

53

static Variables and Methods

When calling such a method, supply the name of the class
containing it:
double tax = Financial.percentOf(taxRate, total);

The main method is always static.

When the program starts, there arent any objects.
Therefore, the first method of a program must be a static method.

Programming Tip: Minimize the Use of static Methods

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

54

Self Check 8.17

Name two static variables of the System class.

Answer: System.in and System.out.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

55

Self Check 8.18

Name a static constant of the Math class.
Answer: Math.PI

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

56

Self Check 8.19

The following method computes the average of an array of
numbers:
public static double average(double[] values)

Why should it not be defined as an instance method?

Answer: The method needs no data of any object. The only

required input is the values argument.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

57

Self Check 8.20

Harry tells you that he has found a great way to avoid those pesky
objects: Put all code into a single class and declare all methods
and variables static. Then main can call the other static
methods, and all of them can access the static variables. Will
Harry's plan work? Is it a good idea?
Answer: Yes, it works. static methods can access static
variables of the same class. But it is a terrible idea. As your
programming tasks get more complex, you will want to use
objects and classes to organize your programs.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

58

Packages
Package: Set of related classes
Important packages in the Java library:

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

59

Organizing Related Classes into Packages

In Java, related classes are grouped
into packages.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

60

Organizing Related Classes into Packages

To put classes in a package, you must place a line
package packageName;

as the first instruction in the source file containing the classes.

Package name consists of one or more identifiers separated by
periods.
To put the Financial class into a package named
com.horstmann.bigjava, the Financial.java file must start as
follows:
package com.horstmann.bigjava;
public class Financial
{
...
}

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

61

Organizing Related Classes into Packages

A special package: default package
Has no name
No package statement
If you did not include any package statement at the top of your source
file
o its classes are placed in the default package.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

62

Importing Packages
Can use a class without importing: refer to it by its full name
(package name plus class name):
java.util.Scanner in = new java.util.Scanner(System.in);

Inconvenient
import directive lets you refer to a class of a package by its
class name, without the package prefix:
import java.util.Scanner;

Now you can refer to the class as Scanner without the package
prefix.
Can import all classes in a package:
import java.util.*;

Never need to import java.lang.

You don't need to import other classes in the same package .
Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

63

Package Names
Use packages to avoid name clashes:
java.util.Timer

vs.
javax.swing.Timer

Package names should be unique.

To get a package name: turn the domain name around:
com.horstmann.bigjava

Or write your email address backwards:

edu.sjsu.cs.walters

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

64

Syntax 8.1 Package Specification

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65

Packages and Source Files

The path of a class file must match its package name.
The parts of the name between periods represent successively
nested directories.
Base directory: holds your program's files
Place the subdirectory inside the base directory.
If your homework assignment is in a directory
/home/britney/hw8/problem1
Place the class files for the com.horstmann.bigjava package into the
directory:
o /home/britney/hw8/problem1/com/horstmann/bigjava (UNIX)
o Or c:\Users\Britney\hw8\problem1\com\horstmann\bigjava (Windows)

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

66

Packages and Source Files

Figure 6 Base Directories and Subdirectories for Packages

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

67

Self Check 8.21

Which of the following are packages?
a. java
b. java.lang
c. java.util
d. java.lang.Math

Answer: (a) No; (b) Yes; (c) Yes; (d) No

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

68

Self Check 8.22

Is a Java program without import statements limited to using the
default and java.lang packages?
Answer: No you simply use fully qualified names for all
other classes, such as java.util.Random and
java.awt.Rectangle.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

69

Self Check 8.23

Suppose your homework assignments are located in the directory
/home/me/cs101 (c:\Users\me\cs101 on Windows). Your
instructor tells you to place your homework into packages. In
which directory do you place the class
hw1.problem1.TicTacToeTester?
Answer: /home/me/cs101/hw1/problem1 or, on Windows,
c:\Users\me\cs101\hw1\problem1

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

70

Unit Test Frameworks

Unit test frameworks simplify the task of writing classes that
contain many test cases.
JUnit: http://junit.org
Built into some IDEs like BlueJ and Eclipse

Philosophy:
Whenever you implement a class, also make a companion test class.
Run all tests whenever you change your code.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

71

Unit Test Frameworks

Customary that name of the test class ends in Test:
import org.junit.Test;
import org.junit.Assert;
public class CashRegisterTest
{
@Test public void twoPurchases()
{
CashRegister register = new CashRegister();
register.recordPurchase(0.75);
register.recordPurchase(1.50);
register.enterPayment(2, 0, 5, 0, 0);
double expected = 0.25;
Assert.assertEquals(expected,
register.giveChange(), EPSILON);
}
// More test cases
...
}
Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

72

Unit Test Frameworks

If all test cases pass, the JUnit tool shows a green bar:

Figure 7 Unit Testing with JUnit

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

73

Self Check 8.24

Provide a JUnit test class with one test case for the Earthquake
class in Chapter 5.
Answer: Here is one possible answer.
public class EarthquakeTest
{
@Test public void testLevel4()
{
Earthquake quake = new Earthquake(4);
Assert.assertEquals("Felt by many people, no destruction,
quake.getDescription());
}
}

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

74

Self Check 8.25

What is the significance of the EPSILON parameter in the
assertEquals method?
Answer: It is a tolerance threshold for comparing floatingpoint numbers. We want the equality test to pass if there is
a small roundoff error.

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons. All rights reserved.

75