How loop through an array of objects, and add a ref name - java

I have a for loop that adds values to an array of objects.
Say I have class B, and make a array of class B inside class A.
like
B array1 = new B[10];
How can I name each object with a reference name that will look like
for(int x = 0; x<array1.length; x++){
B object+x = new Bar(int value1, int value2);
x++;
}
each time it goes through the for-loop
I'm not sure how to add a number after "object" so that I can have 10 array objects like object1, object2, object3...
I want to be able to reference these saved objects inside another method in class A, without creating a new object each time, and then call a method from class B on the object.
Sorry I cant provide much code, its part of a assignment and I cant post my code.

You cannot this. In Java you cannot create variables with dynamic names calculated in runtime. If you think your teacher asked this of you, it is very likely a misunderstanding.
The closest would be probably something like:
Bar[] array1 = new Bar[10];
for(int x = 0; x<array1.length; x++){
array1[x] = new Bar(...);
}

Related

I keep getting NullPointerException when referencing an array index for my Deque [duplicate]

public class Test {
public int [] x;
public Test(int N)
{
int[] x = new int [N];
for (int i=0;i<x.length;i++)
{
x[i]=i;
StdOut.println(x[i]);
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
String path = "/Users/alekscooper/Desktop/test.txt";
In reader = new In(path);
int size=reader.readInt();
StdOut.println("Size = "+size);
Test N = new Test(size);
StdOut.println(N.x[3]);
}
/* ADD YOUR CODE HERE */
}
Hello guys. I'm learning Java through reading Robert Sedgwick's book on algorithms and I'm using his libraries such as StdOut, for example. But the question is about Java in general. I don't understand why Java here throws a NullPointerException. I do know what that means in general, but I don't know why it is here because here's what I think I'm doing:
read an integer number from the file - the size of the array
in the class Test. In my test example size=10, so no out-of-bound type of thing happens.
print it.
create the object N of type Test.
In this object I think I create an array of size that I have just
read from the file. For fun I initialize it from 0 to size-1 and
print it. So far so good.
and here where it all begins. Since my class is public and I've run
the constructor I think I have the object N which as an attribute
has the array x with size elements. However, when I'm trying
to address x, for example,
StdOut.println(N.x[3]);
Java throws NullPointerException.
Why so? Please help and thank you very much for your time.
what you did is called shadowing you shadowed your field x with local variable x. so all you need to do is avoiding this:
int[] x = new int [N]; is wrong, if you want your field to initialize instead of a local variable then you could do something like : x = new int [N]; for more information read this
change the first line in constructor from
int[] x = new int [N];
to
x = new int [N];
it should work...
Actually in constructor when you say int[] x, it is creating one more local variable instead setting data to public variable x... if you remove int[] from first line of constructor then it initizes the public variable & you will be able to print them in main() method
Inside public Test(int n):
Change
int[] x = new int [N]; // Creating a local int array x
to
x = new int [N]; // Assigning it to x
Everyone has given the code that would work. But the reason is something called as variable scoping. When you create a variable (by saying int[] x, you are declaring x as an integer array and by saying x = new int[4] you are assigning a new array to x). If you use the same variable name x everywhere and keep assigning things to it, it'll be the same across your class.
But, if you declare int[] x one more time - then you are creating one more variable with the name x - now this can result in duplicate variable error or if you're declaring in a narrower 'scope', you will be overriding your previous declaration of x.
Please read about java variable scopes to understand how scoping works.
int size=reader.readInt(); // size < 3
StdOut.println(N.x[3]); // length of x[] less than 3, so x[3] case NullPointException

How to access array of object outside the method it was created in

I two classes, A and B. I have a method demo() in class A, that creates an array of objects and by using a previous array1 of ints to get a value 'v3' I will create 'array2' of array1 length. And hence create a new object of array2 with parameters v1,v2,v3. I also have some getter/setters in class B for v1/2/3. I then want to access each element like
System.out.print(array2[0].getValue1());
outside the method or atleast know that it was created successfully,. But I get an error straight away by trying to print out a value, so I'm guessing not having a toString method would be the problem. I have created a variable outside the method as:
private B[] array2;
I then call in the main:
B array2 = new B[array1.length];
demo();
System.out.print(array2[0].getValue1());
This is the method
public void demo(){
int v1= 2;
int v2= 2;
int v3= 0;
B[] array2 = new B[array1.length];
for(int x = 0; x<array2.length; x++)
{
v3 = array1[x];
array1[x] = new B(v1,v2,v3);
array1[x].setValue2(v1);
array1[x].setValue2(v2);
array1[x].setValue3(v3);
v1++;
}
}
It also seems I have to restate
B[] array2 = new B[array1.length];
in the method or I get an error. This seems like a similar problem
Basically you have two B[] array2 variables created, one outside demo() method and another inside it.
Since you have created a new B[] array2 variable in demo() method, it is not updating the variable created earlier outside the demo() method.
Because this array (B[] array2 that was created outside) was not modified ever since it was created, so when you try to access the element inside it, NullpointerException is thrown.
Fix:
In demo() method don't create a new array again, instead refer the one created outside it.
So in demo() method at line 4 it should be like this.
array2 = new B[array1.length];
Hope that helps.

How to initialize an array in the constructor?

Lets say we have these two different constructors.
What is the different between the first one and the second one.
How is the way to do it? Explain the difference please!
(I know you cant have these two constructors in the same class, this is just to show what i mean.
public class StackOverFlow {
private int[] x; // instance variable
StackOverFlow(int[] x) { // constructor
this.x=x;
}
StackOverFlow(int[] x) { // constructor
this.x = new int[x.length];
for(int k=0 ; k < x.length; k++) {
this.x[k]=x[k];
}
}
The first constructor assigns a reference of an existing int array to the member variable. The caller of the constructor can later change the array and the change would be reflected in the instance.
The second constructor copies the array, so later changes in the passed array wouldn't change the copy stored in the instance.
int[] intArray = new intArray {1,2,3};
StackOverFlow so1 = new StackOverFlow(intArray); // assume we are using the first constructor
intArray[1]=5; // changes the array stored in `so1` object
StackOverFlow so2 = new StackOverFlow(intArray); // assume we are using the second constructor
intArray[1]=8; // doesn't change the array stored in `so2` object
In the first case you tell your instance variable to refer to the given x, so when you change data in one of these variables, that changes also affect the second variable.
And in the second case you create a copy of an object, so your instance variable and variable you pass to constructor will need independent from each other in your further code.
This will not work since you got an ambiguity issue as both constructors receive the same type of parameters. So when you try to create an instance :
StackOverflow instance = new StackOverflow(new int[]{});
There is no way to know which constructor should be called.
You need to decide which behavior is good for you.
I would recommend using the second constructor and create a setter method if you want to set the array from an initialized one :
public class StackOverFlow {
private int[] x; // instance variable
StackOverFlow(int[] x) { // conctructor
this.x = new int[x.length];
for(int k=0 ; k < x.length; k++) {
this.x[k]=x[k];
}
}
public void setTheArray(int[] x) {
this.x = x;
}
}

Initialize object A in java equal to another object B [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
Closed 10 years ago.
Possible Duplicate:
How do I copy an object in Java?
How can I initialize an object (say A) in java and set its initial member values equal to a second object (say B). After initialization I want to modify the members of A without modifying the members of B. So at initialization of A I only want to copy the data of B. How is this done in a nice way??
You could implement and use clone
MyClass b = new MyClass();
MyClass a = b.clone();
Note: some classes are not Cloneable, or have broken implementations. e.g. only have a shallow copy when they should be a deep copy.
If the class is Serializable you can serialize it and deserialize it in memory. Not exactly nice but it works.
Or you could create your own "copy" constructor.
One possible solution for that would be implement clone method on your class and use clone as follows:
MyClass a = new MyClass();
MyClass b = a;
You will notice that clone() isn't really a public method, so your will need to expose it. Additionally you need to tell Java that your object is Cloneable (this is done making your class implement Cloneable). The following code ilustrate it:
public class MyClass implements Cloneable {
#Override
protected MyClass clone() throws CloneNotSupportedException {
return (MyClass)super.clone();
}
}
That all depends on the type of the members. I'll give an Example:
class A
{
public float value;
public int[] anArray;
public A(B b)
{
//primitive may be assigned directly.
this.value = b.value;
// other types different approaches:
//copy the contents of the array
this.anArray = new int[b.anArray.length];
System.arraycopy(b.anArray, 0, this.anArray, 0, b.anArray.length);
}
}
class B
{
float value;
int[] anArray;
public B(int size)
{
this.value = 3f;
this.anArray = new int[size];
for (int i = size - 1; i >= 0; i--)
{
this.anArray[i] = i * 10;
}
}
}
B b = new B(5);
A a = new A(b);
Cloning is a straightforward option for copying. If you ever want to do something where you need more control, create your own method that performs your copy exactly how you need it:
public MyType copy()
{
MyType a = new MyType();
// Initialize how you need to here, use the object this was called from if you'd like
a.property = this.property;
// etc.
return a;
}
This gives you more direct control, but takes more time to code. If clone will suit your purposes, stick to that.
EDIT: I am going to give an example based on your comments on this answer.
Let us assume we have the following types:
TypeA: has the following member variables
int number = 5; // Default value built in by constructor.
int letter = 'x'; // Value is 'a' when constructed but has been changed.
ArrayList<TypeB> list = {b1, b2, b3} // All are initialized.
TypeB: has the following member variables
double decimal = 5.32
TypeC someObject = ...
TypeC: has some stuff, but we are going to ignore it.
Now, When we want to copy TypeA, we must do the following:
Copy over the number and character directly as they are value types.
Copy over a reference to the ArrayList which contains a reference to some TypeBs.
Luckily those are easy steps.
int copyNumber = this.number;
char copyChar = this.letter;
ArrayList<TypeB> copyList = this.list;
return new TypeA(copyNumber, copyChar, copyList);
Now that assumes a particular constructor that takes those three arguments, but hopefully you get the idea.
It would get tricky if you wanted to just get values, not references to all of the TypeBs in the ArrayList. You would have to loop through the ArrayList and create new TypeBs that copied all of ITS values (double and TypeC objects as either references or values...)
In short, what you want is an easier copy to perform. Simple assignment operators copy values with primitive types and references with Objects.

Java, what is the point of creating new objects?

I am fairly new to Java and was wondering what the difference between the two is. For this example I used arrays:
class testpile {
public static void main(String[] args)
{
int[] a = {1,2,3,4,5,6}; //First array
int[] b = new int[5]; //Second Array
b[0] = 7;
b[1] = 8;
b[2] = 9;
b[3] = 10;
b[4] = 11;
print(a);
print(b);
}
public static void print(int[] a) {
for (int i = 0; i < a.length; i++)
System.out.print(a[i] + " ");
System.out.println();
}
}
I understand that using "new" creates a unique object but what are the advantages of using one over the other?
In your example there's no real difference between the two. The first is mostly just "syntactic sugar" for the latter. In both cases the array is allocated on the heap.
Both of the code creating a int array of size 5/6
In the first case the array is initialized with vale at the time of creation
In second case the value is assigned latter
that's the difference
I understand that using "new" creates a unique object but what are the advantages of using one over the other?
Both constructs do exactly the same thing (with different data, though): Creating an array and filling it with data. In particular, both these arrays are "unique objects".
You'd use the "less literal" one when you do not know the size and the initial values for the element at compile-time.
int[] a = {1,2,3,4,5,6}; //First array
int[] b = new int[5]; //Second Array
They are just two different ways of creating an array. There isn't really any OOP involved here.
The first one is better when you know the values before hand, otherwise the second is better.
The first statement is called array initialization where six int variables are created and each variable is assigned. In second statement, the new keyword create 5 int variables whose initial value is zero.
Using new keyword, you may instantiate an array whenever you require.
int []a=new int[5];
for(int i:a)
System.out.println(i);
a=new int[]{11,22,33};
for(int i:a)
System.out.println(i);
I think the result is same.
But when you create a array with "new" clause, You should assign a specify length of the array.
e.g int[] b = new int[**5**];
And in this sample, you can also assign the value for b[5]. there shouldn't produce compilation error.But the error should occur in the runtime.
In regard to the another method, the length of the array don't need specify. It depend on the element count of array.

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