Constructors and Method Overloading

Object – Oriented Programming
Week 9 – Public Vs Private Vs Protected, Encapsulation
Ferdin Joe John Joseph, PhD
Faculty of Information Technology
Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology

Writing classes
Intermediate Java Programming
2

Writing Classes
• We've been using predefined classes.
Now we will learn to write our own classes
to define objects
3

Outline
Anatomy of a Class
Anatomy of a Method
Encapsulation
4

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
5

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 can represent a die in software 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
6

Classes
• A class can contain data declarations and
method declarations
int size, weight;
char category;
Data declarations
Method declarations
7

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 that represents the
current value showing on the face
• One of the methods would “roll” the die by setting that value to a
random number between one and six
8

Classes
• We’ll want to design the Die class with
other data and methods to make it a
versatile and reusable resource
• Any given program will not necessarily use
all aspects of a given class
9

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
10

Instance Data
• The faceValue variable in the Die class is called instance data
because each instance (object) that is created has its own
version of it
• A class declares the type of the data, but it does not reserve any
memory space for it
• Every 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
• That's the only way two objects can have different states
11

Instance Data
• We can depict the two Die objects from
the RollingDice program as follows:
die1 5faceValue
die2 2faceValue
Each object maintains its own faceValue
variable, and thus its own state
12

Method Header
• A method declaration begins with a
method header
char calc (int num1, int num2, String message)
method
name
return
type
parameter list
The parameter list specifies the type
and name of each parameter
The name of a parameter in the method
declaration is called a formal parameter
13

Method Body
• The method header is followed by the
method body
{
int sum = num1 + num2;
char result = message.charAt (sum);
return result;
}
The return expression
must be consistent with
the return type
sum and result
are local data
They are created
each time the
method is called, and
are destroyed when
it finishes executing
14

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; 15

Parameters
• When a method is called, the actual
parameters in the invocation are copied
into the formal parameters in the method
header
{
int sum = num1 + num2;
char result = message.charAt (sum);
return result;
}
ch = obj.calc (25, count, "Hello");
16

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
17

Constructors
• a constructor is a special method that 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
18

Constructors
• 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
19

Outline
Anatomy of a Class
Anatomy of a Method
Encapsulation
20

Method Declarations
• Let’s now examine method declarations 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
21

myMethod();
myMethodcompute
Method Control Flow
• If the called method is in the same class,
only the method name is needed
22

doIt helpMe
helpMe();obj.doIt();
main
Method Control Flow
• The called method is often part of
another class or object
23

Outline
Anatomy of a Class
Anatomy of a Method
Encapsulation
24

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 25

Encapsulation
• One object (called the client) may use
another object for the services it provides
• The client of an object may request its
services (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
26

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
of the object, which manages the
instance data Methods
Data
Client
27

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
28

• 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
29

• Public variables violate encapsulation because they allow the client
to “reach in” and 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
30

• 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 a client, it
should not be declared with public visibility
31

public private
Variables
Methods
Provide services
to clients
Support other
methods in the
class
Enforce
encapsulation
Violate
encapsulation
32

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”
33

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 have restricted the
value to the valid range (1 to MAX) 34

Die.java
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;
}
/**
* Rolls the die and returns the result.
*/
public int roll() {
faceValue = (int)(Math.random() * MAX) + 1;
return faceValue;
}
35

Die.java
/**
* Face value mutator.
*/
public void setFaceValue (int value) {
faceValue = value;
}
/**
* Face value accessor.
*/
public int getFaceValue() {
return faceValue;
}
/**
* Returns a string representation of this die.
*/
public String toString() {
String result = Integer.toString(faceValue);
return result;
}
} 36

RollingDice.java
public class RollingDice {
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);
die1.roll();
die2.setFaceValue(4);
Create two objects of
class Die
Call method roll in
class Die
Call the mutator (set
method)
37

RollingDice.java
sum = die1.getFaceValue() + die2.getFaceValue();
System.out.println ("Sum: " + sum);
sum = die1.roll() + die2.roll();
System.out.println ("New sum: " + sum);
}
}
Call the accessor (get
method)
4-38

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
39

The toString Method
• All classes that represent objects should
define a toString method
• The toString method returns a
character string that represents the object
in some way
• It is called automatically when an object is
concatenated to a string or when it is
passed to the println method
40

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
41

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
42

Account.java
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;
public Account (String owner, long account, double initial) {
name = owner;
acctNumber = account;
balance = initial;
}
public double deposit (double amount) {
balance = balance + amount;
return balance;
}
43

Account.java
public double withdraw (double amount, double fee) {
balance = balance - amount - fee;
return balance;
}
public double addInterest () {
balance += (balance * RATE);
return balance;
}
public double getBalance () {
return balance;
}
public String toString () {
NumberFormat fmt = NumberFormat.getCurrencyInstance();
return (acctNumber + "t" + name + "t" + fmt.format(balance));
}
}
44

Transactions.java
public class Transactions {
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);
System.out.println ("Smith balance after withdrawal: " + acct2.withdraw
(430.75, 1.50));
45

Transactions.java
acct1.addInterest();
System.out.println ();
System.out.println (acct1);
}
}
4-46

acct1 72354acctNumber
102.56balance
name “Ted Murphy”
acct2 69713acctNumber
40.00balance
name “Jane Smith”
47

• 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
48

Constructors and Method Overloading

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