Writing Classes

Java Software Solutions

Foundations of Program Design
Seventh Edition

John Lewis
William Loftus

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Outline
Creating Objects
The String Class
The Random and Math Classes
Formatting Output
Enumerated Types
Wrapper Classes

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Creating Objects
• A variable holds either a primitive value or a
reference to an object
• A class name can be used as a type to declare an
object reference variable
String title;
• No object is created with this declaration
• An object reference variable holds the address of
an object
• The object itself must be created separately

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Creating Objects
• Generally, we use the new operator to create an
object
• Creating an object is called instantiation
• An object is an instance of a particular class

title = new String ("Java Software Solutions");

This calls the String constructor, which is

a special method that sets up the object

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Invoking Methods
• Once an object has been instantiated, we can use
the dot ( . )operator to invoke its methods

numChars = title.length()

• A method may return a value, which can be used in

an assignment or expression

• A method invocation can be thought of as asking an

object to perform a service

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

References
• Note that a primitive variable contains the value
itself, but an object variable contains the address of
the object
• An object reference can be thought of as a pointer
to the location of the object
• Rather than dealing with arbitrary addresses, we
often depict a reference graphically

num1 38

name1 "Steve Jobs"

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Assignment Revisited
• The act of assignment takes a copy of a value and
stores it in a variable
• For primitive types:

num1 38
Before:
num2 96

num2 = num1;

num1 38
After:
num2 38

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Reference Assignment
• For object references, assignment copies the
address:

name1 "Steve Jobs"

Before:
name2 "Steve Wozniak"

name2 = name1;

name1 "Steve Jobs"

After:
name2

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Aliases
• Two or more references that refer to the same
object are called aliases of each other
• That creates an interesting situation: one object
can be accessed using multiple reference variables
• Aliases can be useful, but should be managed
carefully
• Changing an object through one reference
changes it for all of its aliases, because there is
really only one object

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Garbage Collection
• When an object no longer has any valid references
to it, it can no longer be accessed by the program

• The object is useless, and therefore is called

garbage

• Java performs automatic garbage collection

periodically, returning an object's memory to the
system for future use

• In other languages, the programmer is responsible

for performing garbage collection

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Outline
Creating Objects
The String Class
The Random and Math Classes
Formatting Output
Enumerated Types
Wrapper Classes

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

The String Class
• Because strings are so common, we don't have to
use the new operator to create a String object

title = "Java Software Solutions";

• !!!This is a special syntax that works only for strings

• Each string literal (enclosed in double quotes)

represents a String object

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

String Methods
• Once a String object has been created, neither
its value nor its length can be changed
• Therefore we say that an object of the String
class is immutable
• However, several methods of the String class
return new String objects that are modified
versions of the original

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

String Indexes
• It is occasionally helpful to refer to a particular
character within a string
• This can be done by specifying the character's
numeric index
• The indexes begin at zero in each string
• In the string "Hello", the character 'H' is at
index 0 and the 'o' is at index 4
• See StringMutation.java in the next Slide

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

//********************************************************************
// StringMutation.java Author: Lewis/Loftus
//
// Demonstrates the use of the String class and its methods.
//********************************************************************

public class StringMutation

{
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
// Prints a string and various mutations of it.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
public static void main (String[] args)
{
String phrase = "Change is inevitable";
String mutation1, mutation2, mutation3, mutation4;

System.out.println ("Original string: \"" + phrase + "\"");

System.out.println ("Length of string: " + phrase.length());

mutation1 = phrase.concat (", except from vending machines.");

mutation2 = mutation1.toUpperCase();
mutation3 = mutation2.replace ('E', 'X');
mutation4 = mutation3.substring (3, 30);

continued

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

continued

// Print each mutated string

System.out.println ("Mutation #1: " + mutation1);
System.out.println ("Mutation #2: " + mutation2);
System.out.println ("Mutation #3: " + mutation3);
System.out.println ("Mutation #4: " + mutation4);

System.out.println ("Mutated length: " + mutation4.length());

}
}

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Output
Original string: "Change is inevitable"
Length of string: 20
continued
Mutation #1: Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.
Mutation // #2: CHANGE
Print IS INEVITABLE,
each mutated string EXCEPT FROM VENDING MACHINES.
Mutation #3: CHANGX IS INXVITABLX,
System.out.println ("Mutation #1:XXCXPT FROM VXNDING MACHINXS.
" + mutation1);
Mutation System.out.println ("MutationXXCXPT
#4: NGX IS INXVITABLX, #2: " +F mutation2);
MutatedSystem.out.println
length: 27 ("Mutation #3: " + mutation3);
System.out.println ("Mutation #4: " + mutation4);

System.out.println ("Mutated length: " + mutation4.length());

}
}

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Quick Check
What output is produced by the following?

String str = "Space, the final frontier.";

System.out.println (str.length());
System.out.println (str.substring(7));
System.out.println (str.toUpperCase());
System.out.println (str.length());

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Quick Check
What output is produced by the following?

String str = "Space, the final frontier.";

System.out.println (str.length());
System.out.println (str.substring(7));
System.out.println (str.toUpperCase());
System.out.println (str.length());

26
the final frontier.
SPACE, THE FINAL FRONTIER.
26

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Outline
Creating Objects
The String Class
The Random and Math Classes
Formatting Output
Enumerated Types
Wrapper Classes

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

The Random Class
• The Random class is part of the java.util
package
• It provides methods that generate pseudorandom
numbers
• A Random object performs complicated calculations
based on a seed value to produce a stream of
seemingly random values
• See RandomNumbers.java

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

//********************************************************************
// RandomNumbers.java Author: Lewis/Loftus
//
// Demonstrates the creation of pseudo-random numbers using the
// Random class.
//********************************************************************

import java.util.Random;

public class RandomNumbers

{
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
// Generates random numbers in various ranges.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
public static void main (String[] args)
{
Random generator = new Random();
int num1;
float num2;

num1 = generator.nextInt();
System.out.println ("A random integer: " + num1);

num1 = generator.nextInt(10);
System.out.println ("From 0 to 9: " + num1);

continued

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

continued

num1 = generator.nextInt(10) + 1;
System.out.println ("From 1 to 10: " + num1);

num1 = generator.nextInt(15) + 20;

System.out.println ("From 20 to 34: " + num1);

num1 = generator.nextInt(20) - 10;

System.out.println ("From -10 to 9: " + num1);

num2 = generator.nextFloat();
System.out.println ("A random float (between 0-1): " + num2);

num2 = generator.nextFloat() * 6; // 0.0 to 5.999999

num1 = (int)num2 + 1;
System.out.println ("From 1 to 6: " + num1);
}
}

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

continued Sample Run
A random integer: 672981683
num1 = generator.nextInt(10) + 1;
From 0 to 9:("From
System.out.println 0 1 to 10: " + num1);
From 1 to 10: 3
num1 =From 20 to 34: 30
generator.nextInt(15) + 20;
System.out.println
From -10 to ("From
9: -4 20 to 34: " + num1);
A random float (between 0-1): 0.18538326
num1 =From
generator.nextInt(20)
1 to 6: 3 - 10;
System.out.println ("From -10 to 9: " + num1);

num2 = generator.nextFloat();
System.out.println ("A random float (between 0-1): " + num2);

num2 = generator.nextFloat() * 6; // 0.0 to 5.999999

num1 = (int)num2 + 1;
System.out.println ("From 1 to 6: " + num1);
}
}

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Quick Check
Given a Random object named gen, what range of
values are produced by the following expressions?

gen.nextInt(25)
gen.nextInt(6) + 1
gen.nextInt(100) + 10
gen.nextInt(50) + 100
gen.nextInt(10) – 5
gen.nextInt(22) + 12

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Quick Check
Given a Random object named gen, what range of
values are produced by the following expressions?
Range
gen.nextInt(25) 0 to 24
gen.nextInt(6) + 1 1 to 6
gen.nextInt(100) + 10 10 to 109
gen.nextInt(50) + 100 100 to 149
gen.nextInt(10) – 5 -5 to 4
gen.nextInt(22) + 12 12 to 33

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Quick Check
Write an expression that produces a random integer
in the following ranges:

Range
0 to 12
1 to 20
15 to 20
-10 to 0

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Quick Check
Write an expression that produces a random integer
in the following ranges:

Range
0 to 12 gen.nextInt(13)
1 to 20 gen.nextInt(20) + 1
15 to 20 gen.nextInt(6) + 15
-10 to 0 gen.nextInt(11) – 10

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

The Math Class
• The Math class is part of the java.lang package
• The Math class contains methods that perform
various mathematical functions
• These include:
– absolute value
– square root
– exponentiation
– trigonometric functions

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

The Math Class
• The methods of the Math class are static methods
(also called class methods)

• Static methods are invoked through the class name

– no object of the Math class is needed
value = Math.cos(90) + Math.sqrt(delta);

• We discuss static methods further in Chapter 7

• See Quadratic.java

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

//********************************************************************
// Quadratic.java Author: Lewis/Loftus
//
// Demonstrates the use of the Math class to perform a calculation
// based on user input.
//********************************************************************

import java.util.Scanner;

public class Quadratic

{
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
// Determines the roots of a quadratic equation.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
public static void main (String[] args)
{
int a, b, c; // ax^2 + bx + c
double discriminant, root1, root2;

Scanner scan = new Scanner (System.in);

System.out.print ("Enter the coefficient of x squared: ");

a = scan.nextInt();

continued

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

continued

System.out.print ("Enter the coefficient of x: ");

b = scan.nextInt();

System.out.print ("Enter the constant: ");

c = scan.nextInt();

// Use the quadratic formula to compute the roots.

// Assumes a positive discriminant.

discriminant = Math.pow(b, 2) - (4 * a * c);

root1 = ((-1 * b) + Math.sqrt(discriminant)) / (2 * a);
root2 = ((-1 * b) - Math.sqrt(discriminant)) / (2 * a);

System.out.println ("Root #1: " + root1);

System.out.println ("Root #2: " + root2);
}
}

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

continued
Sample Run
Enter the coefficient of x squared: 3
System.out.print ("Enter the coefficient of x: ");
Enter the coefficient of x: 8
b = scan.nextInt();
Enter the constant: 4
Root #1:("Enter
System.out.print -0.6666666666666666
the constant: ");
Root #2: -2.0
c = scan.nextInt();

// Use the quadratic formula to compute the roots.

// Assumes a positive discriminant.

discriminant = Math.pow(b, 2) - (4 * a * c);

root1 = ((-1 * b) + Math.sqrt(discriminant)) / (2 * a);
root2 = ((-1 * b) - Math.sqrt(discriminant)) / (2 * a);

System.out.println ("Root #1: " + root1);

System.out.println ("Root #2: " + root2);
}
}

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Outline
Creating Objects
The String Class
The Random and Math Classes
Formatting Output
Enumerated Types
Wrapper Classes

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

 Wrapper Classes
• The java.lang package contains wrapper
classes that correspond to each primitive type:

Primitive Type Wrapper Class

byte Byte
short Short
int Integer
long Long
float Float
double Double
char Character
boolean Boolean
Wrapper Classes
• The following declaration creates an Integer
object which represents the integer 40 as an object
Integer age = new Integer(40);
• An object of a wrapper class can be used in any
situation where a primitive value will not suffice
• For example, some objects serve as containers of
other objects
• Primitive values could not be stored in such
containers, but wrapper objects could be

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Wrapper Classes
• Wrapper classes also contain static methods that
help manage the associated type
• For example, the Integer class contains a
method to convert an integer stored in a String
to an int value:
num = Integer.parseInt(str);
• They often contain useful constants as well
• For example, the Integer class contains
MIN_VALUE and MAX_VALUE which hold the
smallest and largest int values

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Autoboxing
• Autoboxing is the automatic conversion of a
primitive value to a corresponding wrapper object:
Integer obj;
int num = 42;
obj = num;
• The assignment creates the appropriate Integer
object
• The reverse conversion (called unboxing) also
occurs automatically as needed

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Quick Check
Are the following assignments valid? Explain.

Double value = 15.75;

Character ch = new Character('T');

char myChar = ch;

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Quick Check
Are the following assignments valid? Explain.

Double value = 15.75;

Yes. The double literal is autoboxed into a Double object.

Character ch = new Character('T');

char myChar = ch;

Yes, the char in the object is unboxed before the assignment.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Outline

Anatomy of a Class
Encapsulation
Anatomy of a Method

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Writing Classes
• The programs we’ve written in previous examples
have used classes defined in the Java standard
class library
• Now we will begin to design programs that rely on
classes that we write ourselves
• The class that contains the main method is just the
starting point of a program
• True object-oriented programming is based on
defining classes that represent objects with well-
defined characteristics and functionality

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Examples of Classes

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Classes and Objects
• Recall from our overview of objects in Chapter 1
that an object has state and behavior
• Consider a six-sided die (singular of dice)
– It’s state can be defined as which face is showing
– It’s primary behavior is that it can be rolled
• We represent a die by designing a class called
Die that models this state and behavior
– The class serves as the blueprint for a die object
• We can then instantiate as many die objects as we
need for any particular program

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Classes
• A class can contain data declarations and method
declarations

int size, weight; Data declarations

char category;

Method declarations

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Classes
• The values of the data define the state of an object
created from the class
• The functionality of the methods define the
behaviors of the object

For our Die class, we might declare an integer called

faceValue that represents the current value
showing on the face
One of the methods would “roll” the die by setting
faceValue to a random number between one
and six Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
Classes
• We’ll want to design the Die class so that it is a
versatile and reusable resource
• Any given program will probably not use all
operations of a given class
• See RollingDice.java
• See Die.java

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

//********************************************************************
// Die.java Author: Lewis/Loftus
//
// Represents one die (singular of dice) with faces showing values
// between 1 and 6.
//********************************************************************

public class Die

{
private final int MAX = 6; // maximum face value

private int faceValue; // current value showing on the die

//-----------------------------------------------------------------
// Constructor: Sets the initial face value.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
public Die()
{
faceValue = 1;
}

continue

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

continue

//-----------------------------------------------------------------
// Rolls the die and returns the result.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
public int roll()
{
faceValue = (int)(Math.random() * MAX) + 1;
return faceValue;
}

//-----------------------------------------------------------------
// Face value mutator.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
public void setFaceValue (int value)
{
faceValue = value;
}

//-----------------------------------------------------------------
// Face value accessor.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
public int getFaceValue()
{
return faceValue;
}

continue

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

continue

//-----------------------------------------------------------------
// Returns a string representation of this die.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
public String toString()
{
String result = Integer.toString(faceValue);

return result;
}
}

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

//********************************************************************
// RollingDice.java Author: Lewis/Loftus
//
// Demonstrates the creation and use of a user-defined class.
//********************************************************************

public class RollingDice

{
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
// Creates two Die objects and rolls them several times.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
public static void main (String[] args)
{
Die die1, die2;
int sum;

die1 = new Die();

die2 = new Die();

die1.roll();
die2.roll();
System.out.println ("Die One: " + die1 + ", Die Two: " + die2);

continue

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

continue

die1.roll();
die2.setFaceValue(4);
System.out.println ("Die One: " + die1 + ", Die Two: " + die2);

sum = die1.getFaceValue() + die2.getFaceValue();

System.out.println ("Sum: " + sum);

sum = die1.roll() + die2.roll();

System.out.println ("Die One: " + die1 + ", Die Two: " + die2);
System.out.println ("New sum: " + sum);
}
}

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

continue

die1.roll();
die2.setFaceValue(4);
System.out.println ("Die One: " + die1 + ", Die Two: " + die2);

sum = die1.getFaceValue() + die2.getFaceValue();

System.out.println ("Sum: " + sum);

sum = die1.roll() + die2.roll();

System.out.println ("Die One: " + die1 + ", Die Two: " + die2);
System.out.println ("New sum: " + sum);
}
}

Sample Run
Die One: 5, Die Two: 2
Die One: 1, Die Two: 4
Sum: 5
Die One: 4, Die Two: 2
New sum: 6

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

The Die Class
• The Die class contains two data values
– a constant MAX that represents the maximum face value
– an integer faceValue that represents the current face
value

• The roll method uses the random method of the

Math class to determine a new face value
• There are also methods to explicitly set and
retrieve the current face value at any time

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

The toString Method
• It's good practice to define a toString method for
a class

• The toString method returns a character string

that represents the object in some way

toString method is called automatically when an

object is concatenated to a string or when it is
passed to the println method

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Constructors
• As mentioned previously, a constructor is used to
set up an object when it is initially created
• A constructor has the same name as the class

The Die constructor is used to set the initial face

value of each new die object to one
We examine constructors in more detail later in this
chapter
Data Scope
• The scope of data is the area in a program in which
that data can be referenced (used)

– Data declared at the class level can be referenced by all

methods in that class
– Data declared within a method can be used only in that
method
– Data declared within a method is called local data

In the Die class, the variable result is declared

inside the toString method -- it is local to that
method and cannot be referenced anywhere else
Instance Data
• A variable declared at the class level (such as
faceValue) is called instance data
– Each object of the class has its own instance variable

• Each time a Die object is created, a new

faceValue variable is created as well
• The objects of a class share the method definitions,
but each object has its own data space (! they dont
share the instance data !)
• That is, two objects can have different states
Instance Data
• We can depict the two Die objects from the
RollingDice program as follows:

die1 faceValue 5

die2 faceValue 2

Each object maintains its own faceValue

variable, and thus has its own state
UML Diagrams
• UML stands for the Unified Modeling Language

• UML diagrams show relationships among classes

and objects
• A UML class diagram consists of one or more
classes, each with sections for the class name,
attributes (data), and operations (methods)
• Lines between classes represent associations

• A dotted arrow shows that one class uses the other

(calls its methods)

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

 UML Class Diagrams
• A UML class diagram for the RollingDice
program:

RollingDice Die
faceValue : int
main (args : String[]) : void
roll() : int
setFaceValue (int value) :
void
getFaceValue() : int
toString() : String
Quick Check
What is the relationship between a class and an
object?

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Quick Check
What is the relationship between a class and an
object?

A class is the definition/pattern/blueprint of an
object.

It defines the data that will be managed by an
object but doesn't reserve memory space for it.

Multiple objects can be created from a class,
and each object has its own copy of the
instance data.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Quick Check
Where is instance data declared?

What is the scope of instance data?

What is local data?

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Quick Check
Where is instance data declared?
At the class level.
What is the scope of instance data?
It can be referenced in any method of the class.
What is local data?
Local data is declared within a method, and is
only accessible in that method.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Outline

Anatomy of a Class
Encapsulation
Anatomy of a Method

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Encapsulation
• We can take one of two views of an object:
– internal - the details of the variables and methods of the
class that defines it
– external - the services that an object provides and how
the object interacts with the rest of the system

• From the external view, an object is an

encapsulated entity, providing a set of specific
services
• These services define the interface to the object

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Encapsulation
• One object (called the client) may use another
object for the services it provides
• The client of an object may request its services
(i.e.call its methods), but it should not have to be
aware of how those services are accomplished
• Any changes to the object's state (its variables)
should be made by that object's methods
• We should make it difficult, if not impossible, for a
client to access an object’s variables directly
• That is, an object should be self-governing
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
Encapsulation

main doIt helpMe

obj.doIt(); helpMe();

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Encapsulation
• An encapsulated object can be thought of as a black
box -- its inner workings are hidden from the client
• The client invokes the interface methods and they
manage the instance data

Client Methods

Data

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Visibility Modifiers
• In Java, we accomplish encapsulation through the
appropriate use of visibility modifiers
• A modifier is a Java reserved word that specifies
particular characteristics of a method or data
• We've used the final modifier to define constants

• Java has three visibility modifiers: public,

protected, and private
• The protected modifier involves inheritance,
which we will discuss later

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Visibility Modifiers
• Members of a class that are declared with public
visibility can be referenced anywhere
• Members of a class that are declared with private
visibility can be referenced only within that class
• Members declared without a visibility modifier have
default visibility and can be referenced by any class
in the same package
• An overview of all Java modifiers is presented in
Appendix E

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Visibility Modifiers
• Public variables violate encapsulation because they
allow the client to modify the values directly
• Therefore instance variables should not be declared
with public visibility
• It is acceptable to give a constant public visibility,
which allows it to be used outside of the class
• Public constants do not violate encapsulation
because, although the client can access it, its value
cannot be changed

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Visibility Modifiers
• Methods that provide the object's services are
declared with public visibility so that they can be
invoked by clients
• Public methods are also called service methods

• A method created simply to assist a service method

is called a support method
• Since a support method is not intended to be called
by any client, it should not be declared with public
visibility

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Visibility Modifiers

public private

Variables
Violate Enforce
encapsulation encapsulation

Support other
Methods
Provide services
methods in the
to clients
class

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Encapsulation and Visibility Modifiers
class MyRectangle {
Implementation
private double width;
details hidden
private double height;
private Point leftTop;
Proper class interface
public double getWidth(){ return width; }
public void setWidth(double width){this.width=width;}
public void translate(double deltaX, double deltaY){…}
}
Implementation
class MyRectangle { changed
private Rectangle rect;

public double getWidth(){ return rect.getWidth(); }

public void setWidth(double width){
Class interface
rect.setSize(width, rect.getHeight());
unchanged
}
public void translate(double deltaX, double deltaY){…}
}
Computer Eng Dept, Bilkent Univ
Accessors and Mutators
• Because instance data is private, a class usually
provides services to access and modify data values

• An accessor method returns the current value of a

variable

• A mutator method changes the value of a variable

• The names of accessor and mutator methods take

the form getX and setX, respectively, where X is
the name of the value

• They are sometimes called “getters” and “setters”

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
Mutator Restrictions
• The use of mutators gives the class designer the
ability to restrict a client’s options to modify an
object’s state
• A mutator is often designed so that the values of
variables can be set only within particular limits
• For example, the setFaceValue mutator of the
Die class should restrict the value to the valid
range (1 to MAX)
• We’ll see in Chapter 5 how such restrictions can be
implemented

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Quick Check
Why was the faceValue variable declared as
private in the Die class?

Why is it ok to declare MAX as public in the Die

class?

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Quick Check
Why was the faceValue variable declared as
private in the Die class?
By making it private, each Die object controls its
own data and allows it to be modified only by the
well-defined operations it provides.
Why is it ok to declare MAX as public in the Die
class?
MAX is a constant. Its value cannot be changed.
Therefore, there is no violation of encapsulation.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Outline

Anatomy of a Class
Encapsulation
Anatomy of a Method

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Method Declarations
• Let’s now examine methods in more detail

• A method declaration specifies the code that will be

executed when the method is invoked (called)

• When a method is invoked, the flow of control

jumps to the method and executes its code

• When complete, the flow returns to the place where

the method was called and continues

• The invocation may or may not return a value,

depending on how the method is defined
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
Method Control Flow
• If the called method is in the same class, only the
method name is needed

compute myMethod

myMethod();

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Method Control Flow
• The called method is often part of another class or
object

main
doIt

obj.doIt(); helpMe();

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Method Control Flow
• The called method is often part of another class or
object

main doIt helpMe

obj.doIt(); helpMe();

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Method Header
• A method declaration begins with a method header

char calc (int num1, int num2, String message)

method
parameter list
name

return The parameter list specifies the type

type and name of each parameter

The name of a parameter in the method

declaration is called a formal parameter

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Method Body
• The method header is followed by the method body

char calc (int num1, int num2, String message)

{
int sum = num1 + num2;
char result = message.charAt (sum);

return result; sum and result

} are local data

They are created

The return expression each time the
must be consistent with method is called, and
the return type are destroyed when
it finishes executing

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

The return Statement
• The return type of a method indicates the type of
value that the method sends back to the calling
location
• A method that does not return a value has a void
return type
• A return statement specifies the value that will be
returned
return expression;
• Its expression must conform to the return type

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Parameters
• When a method is called, the actual parameters in
the invocation are copied into the formal parameters
in the method header
ch = obj.calc (25, count, "Hello");

char calc (int num1, int num2, String message)

{
int sum = num1 + num2;
char result = message.charAt (sum);

return result;
}

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Local Data
• As we’ve seen, local variables can be declared
inside a method
• The formal parameters of a method create
automatic local variables when the method is
invoked
• When the method finishes, all local variables are
destroyed (including the formal parameters)
• Keep in mind that instance variables, declared at
the class level, exists as long as the object exists

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Bank Account Example
• Let’s look at another example that demonstrates
the implementation details of classes and methods
• We’ll represent a bank account by a class named
Account
• It’s state can include the account number, the
current balance, and the name of the owner
• An account’s behaviors (or services) include
deposits and withdrawals, and adding interest

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Driver Programs
• A driver program drives the use of other, more
interesting parts of a program
• Driver programs are often used to test other parts
of the software
• The Transactions class contains a main method
that drives the use of the Account class,
exercising its services
• See Transactions.java
• See Account.java

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

//********************************************************************
// Transactions.java Author: Lewis/Loftus
//
// Demonstrates the creation and use of multiple Account objects.
//********************************************************************

public class Transactions

{
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
// Creates some bank accounts and requests various services.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
public static void main (String[] args)
{
Account acct1 = new Account ("Ted Murphy", 72354, 102.56);
Account acct2 = new Account ("Jane Smith", 69713, 40.00);
Account acct3 = new Account ("Edward Demsey", 93757, 759.32);

acct1.deposit (25.85);

double smithBalance = acct2.deposit (500.00);

System.out.println ("Smith balance after deposit: " +
smithBalance);

continue

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

continue

System.out.println ("Smith balance after withdrawal: " +

acct2.withdraw (430.75, 1.50));

acct1.addInterest();
acct2.addInterest();
acct3.addInterest();

System.out.println ();
System.out.println (acct1);
System.out.println (acct2);
System.out.println (acct3);
}
}

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

continue
Output
Smith balance after deposit: 540.0
System.out.println ("Smith
Smith balance balance
after after withdrawal:
withdrawal: 107.55 " +
acct2.withdraw (430.75, 1.50));

72354 Ted Murphy

acct1.addInterest(); $132.90
69713 Jane Smith
acct2.addInterest(); $111.52
93757 Edward Demsey
acct3.addInterest(); $785.90

System.out.println ();
System.out.println (acct1);
System.out.println (acct2);
System.out.println (acct3);
}
}

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

//********************************************************************
// Account.java Author: Lewis/Loftus
//
// Represents a bank account with basic services such as deposit
// and withdraw.
//********************************************************************

import java.text.NumberFormat;

public class Account

{
private final double RATE = 0.035; // interest rate of 3.5%

private long acctNumber;

private double balance;
private String name;

//-----------------------------------------------------------------
// Sets up the account by defining its owner, account number,
// and initial balance.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
public Account (String owner, long account, double initial)
{
name = owner;
acctNumber = account;
balance = initial;
}

continue
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
continue

//-----------------------------------------------------------------
// Deposits the specified amount into the account. Returns the
// new balance.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
public double deposit (double amount)
{
balance = balance + amount;
return balance;
}

//-----------------------------------------------------------------
// Withdraws the specified amount from the account and applies
// the fee. Returns the new balance.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
public double withdraw (double amount, double fee)
{
balance = balance - amount - fee;
return balance;
}

continue

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

continue

//-----------------------------------------------------------------
// Adds interest to the account and returns the new balance.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
public double addInterest ()
{
balance += (balance * RATE);
return balance;
}

//-----------------------------------------------------------------
// Returns the current balance of the account.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
public double getBalance ()
{
return balance;
}

//-----------------------------------------------------------------
// Returns a one-line description of the account as a string.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
public String toString ()
{
NumberFormat fmt = NumberFormat.getCurrencyInstance();
return (acctNumber + "\t" + name + "\t" + fmt.format(balance));
}
}

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Bank Account Example

acct1 acctNumber 72354

balance 102.56

name "Ted Murphy"

acct2 acctNumber 69713

balance 40.00

name "Jane Smith"

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Bank Account Example
• There are some improvements that can be made to
the Account class
• Formal getters and setters could have been defined
for all data
• The design of some methods could also be more
robust, such as verifying that the amount
parameter to the withdraw method is positive

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Constructors Revisited
• Note that a constructor has no return type specified
in the method header, not even void
• A common error is to put a return type on a
constructor, which makes it a “regular” method that
happens to have the same name as the class
• The programmer does not have to define a
constructor for a class
• Each class has a default constructor that accepts
no parameters

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Quick Check
How do we express which Account object's balance
is updated when a deposit is made?

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Quick Check
How do we express which Account object's balance
is updated when a deposit is made?
Each account is referenced by an object
reference variable:

Account myAcct = new Account(…);

and when a method is called, you call it through

a particular object:

myAcct.deposit(50);

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.