We Keep Coding

CodeHS: How use one class's toString method in another class's toString multiple times

This exercise is asking us to make a "RoadTrip" class that creates an ArrayList of geolocations using a geolocation class. Part of the exercise asks that we make a toString method within the RoadTrip Class that would end up returning a string like:
1. San Francisco (37.7833, -122.41671)
2. Los Angeles (34.052235, -118.2436831)
3. Las Vegas (36.114647, -115.1728131)
making a string for each of the GeoLocation objects within the ArrayList.
But I cannot put the return statement in a for loop. Here's an example of me "cheating" to get it do simulate what I would want it do actually do.
public String toString()
{
int counter = 1;
for (int i = 0; i < locationList.size() ; i++)
{
System.out.println(counter + ". " + locationList.get(i).toString());
counter++;
}
return "";
}
If I were to simply replace the System.out.println() with return and remove the return "";, I would get the errors:
RoadTrip.java:43: error: unreachable statement
counter++;
^
RoadTrip.java:45: error: missing return statement
}
^
2 errors
I saw other solutions that would utilize a StringBuilder, but I am assuming that the creators of the curriculum intend that we complete the exercises with the tools we are provided. Is there another method that I can use that would limit itself to the given "toolset"?
Pardon me if my techincal language is off, I'm still relatively new to coding.

Why the problem happens-
The control encounters the return statement on the first loop iteration and goes back to where the method was called from. Hence the following lines in the loop body are not reachable.
Since the return statement is within a loop and is subject to conditional execution, the compiler tells you there is a missing return statement. See code below:
public class Program
{
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println(method());
}
static int method()
{
int i= (int)Math.random();
if(i>0)
return 1;
}
}
Since this is your assignment I won't be providing working code.
The easiest solution would be to define a String variable, store an empty String ("") in it, concat whatever you need in the loop and return it.

If you cannot use StringBuilder, why not concatenate Strings like this;
public String toString()
{
int counter = 1;
String str = "";
for (int i = 0; i < locationList.size() ; i++)
{
str = str + counter + ". " + locationList.get(i).toString();
str = str + "\n";
counter++;
}
return str;
}
P.S - I didn't run the code.

how many time the characters of string are to be found in another string

my professor gave me an exercise to find how many time the characters of string called "filter" are to be found in a second string called "query".
before I begin I am java noob and English isnt my native language.
example:
String filter="kjasd";
String query="kjg4t";
Output:2
getting how many times a char has been found in another string isnt my problem but the problem that the professor gave us some rules to stick with:
class filter. The class must be the following public
Provide interfaces:
public Filter (String letters) (→ Constructor of class)
The string representing the filter should be stored in the letters string
public boolean contains (char character)
Returns true if the passed character is contained in the query string, otherwise false
-public String toString ()
Returns an appropriate string representation of the class (just to be clear I have no clue about what does he means with this one!)
To actually determine the occurrences of the filter in the query, another class QueryResolver is to be created.
The class should be able to be used as follows:
QueryResolver resolver = new QueryResolver();
int count = resolver.where(query).matches(filter).count();
the filter and the query are given by the user.
(i couldnt understand this one! )The methods "where" and "matches" configure the "QueryResolver" to include a subsequent call of "count" the calculation based on the previously passed variables
"query" and "filter" performs.
The count method should use the filter's previously-created method.
The modifier static is not allowed to use!
I dunno if he means that we cant use static {} or we cant use public (static) boolean contains (char character){}
we are not allowed to use void
so the problems that encountered me
- I can not pass a char to the method contains as long as it is not static.
error "Non-static variable can not be referenced from a static context"
i did not understand what i should do with the method toStirng!
what I've done so far:
Approach Nr 1:
so I just wrote everything in the main method to check whether the principle of my code works or not and then I wanted to create that whole with constructor and other methods but unfortunately I did not succeed.
Approach Nr 2:
then I tried to write the code in small mthoden as in the exercise but I did not succeed !.
in both aprroaches i violated the exercise rules but i cant seem to be able to do it alone thats why i posted the question here.
FIRST APPROACH:
public class filter{
public filter(String letters) {
//constructor of the class
String filter;
int count;
}
public boolean contains (char character){
/*Subprogram without static!
*the problem that I can't pass any char to this method if it wasn't static
*and I will get the following error"Non-static variable cannot be referenced from a static context"
*I understand why I'm getting the error but I don't know how to get around it X( */
return true ;
}
public String toString (){
/*he told us to include it in the program but honestly, I don't know what shall I write in it -_-
*I make it to null because you have to return something and I don't know what to do yet
*so, for now, I let it null. */
return null;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner in =new Scanner (System.in);
System.out.println("please enter the query string! ");
String query= in.next();
System.out.println("please enter the filter stirng!");
String filter= in.next();
System.out.println("the query string is : [" + query+ "]");
System.out.println("the filter string is : [" + filter+ "]");
int count=0;
// I initialized it temporarily because I wanted to print it!
//later I need to use it with the boolean contains as a public method
boolean contains=false;
//to convert each the query and the filter strings to chars
char [] tempArray=query.toCharArray();
char [] tempArray1=filter.toCharArray();
//to iterate for each char in the query string!
for (int i = 0; i < tempArray.length; i++) {
char cc = tempArray[i];
//to iterate for each char in the filter string!
for (int j = 0; j < tempArray1.length; j++) {
// if the value in the filter string matches the value in the temp array then increment the counter by one!
if(tempArray1[j] == cc){
count++;
contains=true;
}
}
}
System.out.println("the characters of the String ["+filter+"] has been found in the forworded string ["+query+"] exactly "+count+" times!" );
System.out.println("the boolean value : "+ contains);
in.close();
}
}
SECOND APPROACH
- But here too I violated the rules of the task quite brutally :(
- First, I used void and did not use the tostring method.
- Second, I did not use a constructor.
- I did not add comments because that's just the same principal as my first attempt.
public class filter2 {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner in = new Scanner (System.in);
System.out.println("enter the filter string:");
String filterStr=in.next();
System.out.println("enter the query string:");
String querystr =in.next();
Filter(filterStr, querystr);
in.close();
}
public static void Filter(String filterstr , String querystr){
char [] tempArray1 = filterstr.toCharArray();
contains(tempArray1, querystr);
}
public static void contains(char[]tempArray1, String querystr){
boolean isThere= false ;
int counter=0;
char [] tempArray = querystr.toCharArray();
for (int i = 0; i < tempArray.length; i++) {
char cc = tempArray[i];
for (int j = 0; j < tempArray1.length; j++) {
if(tempArray1[j] == cc){
counter++;
isThere=true;
}
}
}
System.out.println("the letters of the filter string has been found in the query string exactly "+counter+" times!\nthus the boolean value is "+isThere);
}
/*
* sadly enough i still have no clue what is meant with this one nor whatshall i do
* public String toString (){
* return null;
* }
*
*/
}
Few hints and advice would be very useful to me but please demonstrate your suggestions in code because sometimes it can be difficult for me to understand what you mean by the given advice. ;)
Thank you in advance.
(sorry for the gramatical and the type mistakes; english is not my native language)

As already mentioned, it is important to learn to solve those problems yourself. The homework is not for punishment, but to teach you how to learn new stuff on your own, which is an important trait of a computer scientist.
Nonetheless, because it seems like you really made some effort to solve it yourself already, here is my solution, followed by some explanation.
General concepts
The first thing that I feel like you didn't understand is the concept of classes and objects. A class is like a 'blueprint' of an object, and the object is once you instanciated it.
Compared with something like a car, the class would be the description how to build a car, and the object would be a car.
You describe what a class is with public class Car { ... }, and instanciate an object of it with Car myCar = new Car();.
A class can have methods(=functions) and member variables(=data).
I just repeat those concepts because the code that you wrote looks like you didn't fully understand that concept yet. Please ask some other student who understood it to help you with that.
The Filter class
public class Filter{
String letters;
public Filter(String letters) {
this.letters = letters;
}
public boolean contains (char character){
for(int i = 0; i < letters.length(); i++) {
if(letters.charAt(i) == character)
return true;
}
return false;
}
public String toString (){
return "Filter(" + letters + ")";
}
}
Ok, let's brake that down.
public class Filter{
...
}
I guess you already got that part. This is where you describe your class structure.
String letters;
This is a class member variable. It is unique for every object that you create of that class. Again, for details, ask other students that understood it.
public Filter(String letters) {
this.letters = letters;
}
This is the constructor. When you create your object, this is the function that gets called.
In this case, all it does is to take an argument letters and stores it in the class-variable letters. Because they have the same name, you need to explicitely tell java that the left one is the class variable. You do this by adding this..
public boolean contains (char character){
for(int i = 0; i < letters.length(); i++) {
if(letters.charAt(i) == character)
return true;
}
return false;
}
This takes a character and looks whether it is contained in this.letters or not.
Because there is no name collision here, you can ommit the this..
If I understood right, the missing static here was one of your problems. If you have static, the function is class-bound and not object-bound, meaning you can call it without having an object. Again, it is important that you understand the difference, and if you don't, ask someone. (To be precise, ask the difference between class, object, static and non-static) It would take too long to explain that in detail here.
But in a nutshell, if the function is not static, it needs to be called on an object to work. Look further down in the other class for details how that looks like.
public String toString (){
return "Filter(" + letters + ")";
}
This function is also non-static. It is used whenever the object needs to be converted to a String, like in a System.out.println() call. Again, it is important here that you understand the difference between class and object.
The QueryResolver class
public class QueryResolver {
Filter filter;
String query;
public QueryResolver where(String queryStr) {
this.query = queryStr;
return this;
}
public QueryResolver matches(String filterStr) {
this.filter = new Filter(filterStr);
return this;
}
public int count() {
int result = 0;
for(int i = 0; i < query.length(); i++) {
if(filter.contains(query.charAt(i))){
result++;
}
}
return result;
}
}
Again, let's break that down.
public class QueryResolver {
...
}
Our class body.
Note that we don't have a constructor here. It is advisable to have one, but in this case it would be an empty function with no arguments that does nothing, so we can just leave it and the compiler will auto-generate it.
public QueryResolver where(String queryStr) {
this.query = queryStr;
return this;
}
This is an interesting function. It returns a this pointer. Therefore you can use the result of the function to do another call, allowing you to 'chain' multiple function calls together, like resolver.where(query).matches(filter).count().
To understand how that works requires you to understand both the class-object difference and what exactly the this pointer does.
The short version is that the this pointer is the pointer to the object that our function currently lives in.
public QueryResolver matches(String filterStr) {
this.filter = new Filter(filterStr);
return this;
}
This is almost the same as the where function.
The interesting part is the new Filter(...). This creates the previously discussed Filter-object from the class description and puts it in the QueryResolver object's this.filter variable.
public int count() {
int result = 0;
for(int i = 0; i < query.length(); i++) {
if(filter.contains(query.charAt(i))){
result++;
}
}
return result;
}
Iterates through the object's query variable and checks for every letter if it is contained in filter. It keeps count of how many times this happens and returns the count.
This function requires that filter and query are set. Therefore it is important that before someone calls count(), they previously call where(..) and matches(..).
In our case, all of that happens in one line, resolver.where(query).matches(filter).count().
The main function
I wrote two different main functions. You want to test your code as much as possible during development, therefore the first one I wrote was a fixed one, where you don't have to enter something manually, just click run and it works:
public static void main(String[] args) {
String filter="kjasd";
String query="kjg4t";
QueryResolver resolver = new QueryResolver();
int count = resolver.where(query).matches(filter).count();
System.out.println(count);
}
Once you understand the class-object difference, this should be straight forward.
But to repeat:
QueryResolver resolver = new QueryResolver();
This creates your QueryResolver object and stores it in the variable resolver.
int count = resolver.where(query).matches(filter).count();
Then, this line uses the resolver object to first call where, matches, and finally count. Again, this chaining only works because we return this in the where and matches functions.
Now finally the interactive version that you created:
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner in =new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.println("please enter the query string! ");
String query= in.next();
System.out.println("please enter the filter stirng!");
String filter= in.next();
System.out.println("the query string is : [" + query+ "]");
System.out.println("the filter string is : [" + filter+ "]");
QueryResolver resolver = new QueryResolver();
int count = resolver.where(query).matches(filter).count();
System.out.println("the characters of the String ["+filter+"] has been found in the forworded string ["+query+"] exactly "+count+" times!" );
in.close();
}

Looping the wrong way?

The assignment for my class asks me to create a program that tells a supermarket which customer, on a daily basis, has spent the most money in the store. The program must find this customer and display their name.
Goals of assignment - To work with multiple classes, work with ArrayLists and apply the knowledge gained.
My question:
How should I loop my two output statements in my main class? Is that right in my main method? I need it to loop until the sentinel is used.
How is this going to affect my sentinel?
What type of questions should I be asking myself when dealing with loops? I'd like to think I'm overthinking this portion.
I really want to understand what I am doing here, so any help in the right direction would be appreciated! Thanks, in advance, for taking the time to help me out!
import java.util.Scanner;
public class main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("* * * * * THE SUPERMARKET * * * * *");
System.out.println(" Written by Nate Irwin");
System.out.println();
double finalTotal = -1;
String anAccountName;
Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
Store store = new Store();
do {
System.out.println("Enter the customer name: ");
if(input.hasNextLine()){
anAccountName = input.nextLine();
System.out.println("Enter customer total price, hit 0 to QUIT: ");
finalTotal = input.nextDouble();
store.addAccount(anAccountName, finalTotal);
System.out.println();
}
} while (finalTotal != 0);
System.out.println(store.getHighestCustomerTotal() + " has spent the most with us today!");
}
}
Store class:
import java.util.ArrayList;
public class Store {
// Creates an ArrayList.
private ArrayList<CustomerAccount> accounts = new ArrayList<CustomerAccount>();
//
public void addAccount(String anAccountName, double finalTotal) {
accounts.add(new CustomerAccount(anAccountName, finalTotal));
}
// Gets the HIGHEST customer total.
public String getHighestCustomerTotal() {
CustomerAccount highest = accounts.get(0);
for (int i = 1; i < accounts.size(); i++) {
if (accounts.get(i).getTotal() > highest.getTotal())
{
highest = accounts.get(i);
}
}
return highest.getAccountName();
}
}
CustomerAccount class:
public class CustomerAccount {
// Variables defined to this class.
private String accountName;
private double total;
// Constructor.
public CustomerAccount(String anAccountName, double finalTotal) {
accountName = anAccountName;
total = finalTotal;
}
// Gets total from each customer.
public double getTotal() {
return total;
}
// Gets a customer's name.
public String getAccountName() {
return accountName;
}
}

I think your approach is fine, it gets the job done.
I'm not too sure what you're asking by saying how should you loop the two output statements, followed by if it should be in the main method. From what I understand, and by looking at your code, running this input loop is perfectly fine from the main class. The do-while is fine although I'd move the first 'introductory' output outside the loop so you don't see it every time the loop reiterates.
Also, I notice you're not actually calling/instantiating the Store class in your main method, there's no data being added to the Store class for when it iterates through the accounts ArrayList.
As far as the answer that stated a more "modern" approach, I think the for loop you used is fine. I think the person was referring to the for-each loop. It doesn't really matter how you loop through it with the little amount of data you have.
There's some error in the logic for that loop. The getHighestCustomerTotal() is referencing an empty accounts ArrayList. You declared an ArrayList within the Store class and tried to loop through it but it's empty unless you called the addAccount() method from your main method at some point, so you'd need some error checking on that.

Your loop in main:
Doesn't really use the data you type in... One would expect this data to be used to create CustomerAccount instances
Has a completely unnecessary while(Condition) test at the end. This kind of loop is normally done with a While True and some test in the loop breaks out of the loop.
In getHighestCustomerTotal()
you can use a more "modern" form of the for() where you iterate elements of the list directly instead of iterating the index.

Array in Method Header: error ']' expected (Java)

I'm quite new to arrays and methods, and I've been seeing this error recurring through several programs: error '[' expected.
In each occasion, it seems to correct itself as I adjust something else, but in this particular case, I am completely stumped.
By the way, I am using several methods and arrays to create a quiz (before you ask, yes, this is an assignment and I agree, a list is a better way to handle this data - but that is not an option).
It is possible that I am not passing the arrays correctly between methods, as I'm a little muddy on that process. From my understanding, in order to send/receive (i.e. import/export) an array or other variable between methods, I must declare that variable/array in the method header parameters.
import java.util.Scanner;
public class H7pseudo
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
//call getAnswerkey method
getAnswerkey(answerkey[i]);
//call getAnswers method
getAnswers(answers[i]);
//call passed method? necessary or no?
boolean passed = passed(answerkey[i], answers[i], qMissed[i], points);
//Print results of grading
if (passed)
{
System.out.println("Congratulations! You passed.");
}
else
{
System.out.println("Try again, sucka. You FAILED.");
}
//call totalPoints
totalIncorrect(points);
//call questionsMissed
questionsMissed(qMissed[i]);
}
//get answer key (create answerkey array & export)
public static void getAnswerkey(answerkey[i])
{
//create answerkey array here
char[] answerkey;
//determine number of questions (indices)
answerkey = new char[20];
//input values (correct answers) for each index
//for our purposes today, the answer is always 'c'.
for (int i = 0; i <=20; i++)
{
answerkey[i] = 'c';
}
}
//get student answers (create answers array & export)
public static void getAnswers(answers[i])
{
//initialize scanner for user input
Scanner scan = new Scanner(System.in);
//create answer array here
char[] answers;
//determine number of questions (indices)
answers = new char[20];
//prompt for user input as values of each index
for (int i = 0; i <= 20; i++) {
answers[i] = scan.nextChar();
}
}
//grade student answers (import & compare index values of arrays:answers&answerkey
//create & export qMissed array
public static boolean passed(answerkey[i], answers[i], qMissed[i], points)
{
int points = 0;
//create new array: qMissed
boolean[] qMissed;
//determine number of questions to be graded
qMissed = new boolean[20];
//initialize values for array
for (int i = 0; i <= 20; i++) {
qMissed[i] = false;
}
//cycle through indices of answerkey[i] & answers[i];
for (int i = 0; i =< 20; i++)
{
if (answers[i] == answerkey[i])
{
correct = true;
points = points+1;
qMissed[i] = true;
}
else {
qMissed[i] = false;
}
}
//evaluate whether or not the student passed (15+ correct answers)
if (points >= 15)
{
passed = true;
}
else
{
passed = false;
}
return passed;
}
public static void totalIncorrect(points)
{
int missed = 20 - points;
System.out.println("You missed " + missed + " questions.");
}
public static void questionsMissed(qMissed[i])
{
// for each index of the array qMissed...
for (int i = 0; i < qMissed.length; i++)
{
//...print correct and false answers.
system.out.println(i + ": " + qMissed[i] + "\n");
}
}
}

You can't define array size in the method signature, in Java.

public static void getAnswerkey(answerkey[i])
You can't put anything inside the [] in a method declaration. Also, you have to mention the type:
public static void getAnswerKey(char[] answerkey)
This is not the only reason your code won't work as intended, but I'll leave the rest as part of the exercise.

Look at your method definitions:
public static void questionsMissed(qMissed[i])
This is wrong. You should define the type of the variable and it should not contain [i] like an element of an array. It should be something like this:
public static void questionsMissed(int qMissed)
Or if you want to pass the array, write it like this:
public static void questionsMissed(int[] qMissed)
Apart of this, there are other several errors in your code:
getAnswerkey(answerkey[i]); //answerkey is not defined
getAnswers(answers[i]); //answers is not defined
It would be better if you start reading a Java tutorial first.

I want to vote up Luiggi's answer, but I don't have enough reputation to do that :)
Congrats, cordivia, on getting started with Java!
Here is how an array is declared:
type[] arrayName = new type[numberOfElements]
For example, you did this right in your method definition for getAnswerkey():
char[] answerkey;
answerkey = new char[20];
The part in the method definition inside the parentheses defines the kind of data the method is willing to accept from the outside. So if you don't need to put something into the method to get something out of it, you don't need to put anything in the parentheses. Define the method like this:
getAnswerkey() {
...But that's not the whole story. If you want to get something out of the method, it needs to have a return type as well. A return type is what you're gonna get out of the method when the method's done doing it's magic. For example, if you want to get an int array out of a method you would do something like this:
public static int getTheInteger() {
Since you want an array of chars from the method, you'll want to do something like this:
public static char[] getAnswerkey() {
So that's how you get a method to give you something back. If don't want anything back, you put void:
public static void noMarshmallows() {
Now, when you use the method, you're gonna need to do something with what it gives you, or it did all that work for nothing. So you need to store the return value in a variable when you call the array (calling methods is what you've been doing in main). You know how to store something in a variable. You use the '=' operator:
int myVeryFavoriteNumber;
myVeryFavoriteNumber = 5;
So, you do the same thing when you're getting something out of an array. You assign the return value to a variable. If you want to do this with an array, do this:
int[] myFavs;
myFavs = getMyFavoriteNumbers();
Same with chars:
char[] answerKey;
answerKey = getAnswerKey();
Voila! Your answer key is now right out in the open for the rest of main to see :)
Now, if you want to put something into a method and have it do something with what you put in, you define a parameter. You know how this works. It's just like declaring a variable, and that's exactly what it is. Parameters go in the parentheses and only the method using the parameter sees that variable name (it's local). Something like this:
public static void plusOneToAll (int[] numbers) {
for (int i = 0; i < numbers.length; i++) {
numbers[i] = numbers[i] + 1;
}
}
Notice int[] numbers in the parentheses. The type being passed in is int[] or integer array. numbers is just the parameter name. It functions just like a variable, but it is declared locally (inside the parentheses) and use locally (inside the method). So, if you wanted to compare the answers from two arrays and return the number of matches (like a total score for instance), you would do something like this:
public static int getTotalScore (char[] correctAnswers, char[] userAnswers) {
int totalScore = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < correctAnswers.length; i++) {
if (userAnswers[i] == correctAnswers[i]) {
totalScore = totalScore + 1;
}
}
return totalScore;
}
Notice the return type: int (written before the method name). Inside the array I'm using the variable totalScore to keep track of the number of times the answers match. The method takes two char arrays from the outside and uses them on the inside. Finally, I return an int: totalScore. That kicks the value of totalScore back out to whatever called it (main).
If I might add one last thing: Do yourself a favor and go pick up a copy of Head First Java. It's hard to find a good tutorial online and Java textbooks are just plain boring. The Head First series are kind of like coloring books for adults.
Best of luck!

Bar chart not functioning the way I would want it

I was hoping if you can help me with this coding. I'm attempting to create a bar chart but it doesn't seem to be going my. I m trying to make the output below but when I run it I get [Red, Yellow, Blue](0) repeating. I feel like I'm close to solving this. If someone can push me in the right direction in what I can do it would be appreciated greatly.
import java.util.HashSet;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.Set;
public class Test {
/**
* #param args
*/
public static void main(String[] args) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
//These arrays are not to be modified and should only use these 2 arrays.
short[] points ={1,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,3,4,1,5};
String[] teams ={"Red","Yellow","Blue","Blue","Blue","Red","Yellow","Red","Yellow","Red","Blue","Blue"};
Set<String> uniqueTeams = new HashSet<String>(Arrays.asList(teams));
Barchart(points, teams, uniqueTeams);
}
public static void Barchart(short[] points, String[] teams, Set<String> uniqueTeams){
byte count=0;
for(int index=0; index < points.length; index++){
if(teams.equals(uniqueTeams)){
count++;
}
}
for(int index=0; index < points.length; index++){
System.out.println(uniqueTeams + "("+ count + ")");
}
}
}
//Output should look like this:
//
//Red(7): *******
//
//Yellow(6): ******
//
//Blue(9): *********
I have a idea of how to do it another way but I don't know how. If someone can answer this question below.
How would I be able to get or create a new array without having doubles of what I do in the teams array? So the array would look like String[] uniqueTeams = {"Red, "Yellow", "Blue"}; but not initialize or declare it but create a way to make the program create itself if that makes sense.

You're printing out uniqueTeams directly. uniqueTeams is of type Set. What you should be doing is cycling through each of the items inside the set, and printing out the stars next to them.
The OOP Approach
If it were me, I would not have everything in separate data structures, it makes for very messy code. Why not create a Bar object, that will contain the value and the name. Then you simply need to cycle through a collection of type Bar and call the toString() method`, which you will override.
While I'm here
I figure I might as well give you a step by step with the OOP approach. With Object Oriented Programming, we want to contain similar data in objects. For example, the name and value of a bar is a great object to make; all the data relates to the class.
class Bar
{
private int count;
private String name;
// Some values here to store the count and the name of the bar.
public Bar(String name, int count)
{
// Assign those values in the constructor.
this.name = name;
this.count = count;
}
// Override the Object toString() method, and replace it with our code:
public String toString()
{
String stars = "";
for(int x = 0; x < count; x++)
{
stars += "*";
}
// Create the stars string, and append it to the name and count.
return name + ":" + count + " | " + stars;
}
}
Now to access this code is much, much simpler than your solution. First, we create an ArrayList, something like barChart to store all the values, and we parameterize it to type Bar:
ArrayList<Bar> barChart = new ArrayList<Bar>();
Then we can add some test cases in:
barChart.add(new Bar("Red", 10));
barChart.add(new Bar("Blue", 20));
barChart.add(new Bar("Green", 12));
Now, because you have overridden the toString method, you can now simply pass the objects to a System.out.println() function. Something like:
for(Bar b : barChart) {
System.out.println(b);
}
Output
Red:10 | *********
Blue:20 | ********************
Green:12 | ************