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Writing Java Methods: Msury - Mahunnah@ifm - Ac.tz

This document discusses Java methods, including: - Method declarations specify the code executed when a method is called. Control returns to the calling point after completion. - Accessor and mutator methods retrieve and modify private instance variables, following naming conventions like getX() and setX(). - The toString() method returns a string representation of an object and is called when objects are concatenated or printed. - The Die and RollingDice classes demonstrate methods, with Die having roll(), getFaceValue(), and setFaceValue() methods and RollingDice as a driver program to test Die.

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19 views17 pages

Writing Java Methods: Msury - Mahunnah@ifm - Ac.tz

This document discusses Java methods, including: - Method declarations specify the code executed when a method is called. Control returns to the calling point after completion. - Accessor and mutator methods retrieve and modify private instance variables, following naming conventions like getX() and setX(). - The toString() method returns a string representation of an object and is called when objects are concatenated or printed. - The Die and RollingDice classes demonstrate methods, with Die having roll(), getFaceValue(), and setFaceValue() methods and RollingDice as a driver program to test Die.

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steward materu
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Lecture 5

Writing Java Methods

Dr. Mahunnah, M
[email protected]
https://mahunnah.wordpress.com/
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
Method Control Flow
 If the called method is in the same class, only the method name is
needed
Method Control Flow
 The called method is often part of another class or object
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”
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)
Die.java
Die.java
RollingDice.java
RollingDice.java
RollingDice.java Output
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
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
toString syntax
public String toString() {
code that returns a String representing this object;
}

 Method name, return, and parameters must match exactly.

 Example:
// Returns a String representing this Point.
public String toString() {
return "(" + x + ", " + y + ")";
}
Printing Objects
 By default, Java doesn't know how to print objects:

Point p = new Point();


p.x = 10;
p.y = 7;
System.out.println("p is " + p);
// without toString()method p is Point@9e8c34

// better, but cumbersome; p is (10, 7)


System.out.println("p is (" + p.x + ", " + p.y + ")");

// desired behavior
System.out.println("p is " + p); // p is (10, 7)
The toString method
 The toString() method tells Java how to convert an object into a
String
Point p1 = new Point(7, 2);
System.out.println("p1: " + p1);
//the above code is really calling the following:
System.out.println("p1: " + p1.toString());

 Every class has a toString, even if it isn't in your code.


 Default: class's name @ object's memory address (base 16)

Point@9e8c34
Driver Program
 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 RollingDice class contains a main method that drives the


use of the Die class, exercising its services

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