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7 - Lec - Classes and Methods Part-2

The document discusses parameters in methods, including formal parameters and actual parameters. It explains how to define methods that take parameters, and how to call methods by passing arguments. It also covers private and public access, and get and set methods for encapsulating attributes.

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Aqeel Abbas
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33 views14 pages

7 - Lec - Classes and Methods Part-2

The document discusses parameters in methods, including formal parameters and actual parameters. It explains how to define methods that take parameters, and how to call methods by passing arguments. It also covers private and public access, and get and set methods for encapsulating attributes.

Uploaded by

Aqeel Abbas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 14

Passing Values to a Method:

Parameters
• Input values for methods (within the program, not from user)
• passed values or parameters
• More flexibility for methods
• formal parameters
• Part of method definition
• After the method name, within parentheses
• type
• name
• arguments, or actual parameters
• Calling a method with an object within the parentheses
• matching data type
• in the same order
1
Formal vs Actual Parameters
public static void main(String[] args)
{
print(“George Bush”); //“George Bush” as argument
}

public static void print(String name) //name as parameter


{
System.out.print(“The name is: “ + name);
}

2
Parameter Passing Example
//Definition of method to square an integer
public int doubleValue(int numberIn)
{
return 2 * numberIn;
}

//Invocation of the method... somewhere in main...


...
int square = keyboard.nextInt();
System.out.println(someObj.doubleValue(square));
//calling
• What is the formal parameter in the method definition?
• numberIn
• What is the argument (actual parameter) in the method invocation?
• square

3
Arguments to Methods
• An argument in a method invocation can be
• a literal such as 2 or ‘A’
• a variable
• an expression that yields a value

4
Multiple Arguments to Methods
anObject.result(42, 85, 3.59, ‘B’); //call
//definition
public void result(int n1, int n2, double d1, char c1)
{…}

• arguments and formal parameters are matched by position


• Corresponding types need to match

5
public and private
public
• Attribute (instance variable)
• any class can directly access/change

• Method
• any class can invoke

private
• Attribute (instance variable)
• only the same class can access/change

• Method
• only the same class can invoke

6
private or public ?
• Attributes (instance variables)
• should be private, why?

• Methods
• usually public, why?
• sometimes private

• Default is package access in Java


• Convention is to explicitly state public or private

7
Accessors (get) and Mutators (set)
Methods
• Accessor / get methods—public methods that allow attributes (instance
variables) to be read
• Mutator / set methods—public methods that allow attributes (instance
variables) to be modified
• Check to make sure that changes are appropriate.
• Much better than making instance variables public

private attributes (instance variables) with public accessor and


mutator methods
• Use set methods to alter the value
• Use get methods to retrieve the value

8
Set Methods
• Fields in classes are usually private and therefore cannot be accessed from
outside the class.
• To assign values to such fields we need public methods that can be called by
application classes external to the class in which they are defined.
• The practice of assigning a value to a private field is so common that methods
which are specifically intended to do so are called “set methods”.
• For example, a set method in Circle class
public void setRadius(double cRad) {
radius = cRad;
}

9
Get Methods
• Another common requirement is for an application calls to access (get)
the value associated with a private field defined in another class.
• To do this it is common practice to define a public method for each field
which may need to be accessed that returns the value for each field.
• Such methods are generally referred to as "get methods".
• For example, a get method in Circle class
public double getRadius() {
return radius;
}

10
Account Class with an Instance Variable, and
set and get Methods

11
Circle Class Definition

12
CircleTest Class Definition

13
Assignment – Get and Set Methods
• Write a class called Person with the following attributes:
 title (Dr., Mr., Mrs., Ms.)
 first name
 last name
 age in years
 gender (boolean - true/false to indicated either male or female)

• The Person class should have a setter method with public access for each attribute.
• The Person class should have a getter method with public access for each attribute.
• For a Person with the following attributes:
title = "Mr."
first name = "William"
last name = "Gates"
age = 44
gender = true (true is male, false is female, or vice versa)
• The Person class should have the following public access methods that return Strings as follows:
standardName() formalName()
concatenation of the first and last names concatenation of the title, first name, and lastname
(i.e., "William Gates") (i.e., "Mr. William Gates")
14

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