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Comp1004: Building Better Objects II

Comp1004: Building Better Objects II. Encapsulation and Constructors. Coming up. Recap Variables, Scope and Methods Accessor Methods Getters and Setters Encapsulation public and protected Constructors. Recap. Scope. public class Account{ int balance = 100;

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Comp1004: Building Better Objects II

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  1. Comp1004: Building Better Objects II Encapsulation and Constructors

  2. Coming up • Recap • Variables, Scope and Methods • AccessorMethods • Getters and Setters • Encapsulation • public and protected • Constructors

  3. Recap

  4. Scope public class Account{ int balance = 100; public void withdrawFiver(){ balance = balance -5; } public void withdrawTenner(){ int tenner = 10; balance = balance – tenner; } } Member variables are visible in all the methods of a class. They are created when an object is created, and destroyed when the object is garbage collected

  5. Scope public class Account{ int balance = 100; public void withdrawFiver(){ balance = balance -5; } public void withdrawTenner(){ int tenner = 10; balance = balance – tenner; } } Member variables are visible in all the methods of a class. They are created when an object is created, and destroyed when the object is garbage collected Local variables are only visible in the method in which they are declared. They are created when the method is invoked, and destroyed when it ends.

  6. Primitives vs. References b a int a; a = 10; Elephant b; b = new Elephant(); Elephant int 10

  7. Methods and Parameters public class Account{ int balance = 100; public static void main(String[] args){ Account myAccountObject = new Account(); myAccountObject.withdraw(5); myAccountObject.withdraw(10); } public void withdraw(int amount){ balance = balance - amount; } } Values passed into a method are called arguments Values received by a method are called parameters. Within the method they can be used like any other local variable

  8. Methods and Parameters public class Account{ int balance = 100; int overdraft = 100; public static void main(String[] args){ Account myAccountObject = new Account(); myAccountObject.withdraw(5); int funds = getAvailableFunds(); System.out.println(funds); } public void withdraw(int amount){ balance = balance - amount; } public intgetAvailableFunds(){ return balance + overdraft; } } You can use a return type to return a single value from a method

  9. Overloading public class Account{ int balance = 100; public static void main(String[] args){ Account myAccountObject = new Account(); myAccountObject.withdraw(5); myAccountObject.withdraw(10); } public void withdraw(int amount){ balance = balance - amount; } public void withdraw(int amount, String desc){ balance = balance - amount; System.out.print(“Withdrew £”); System.out.print(amount); System.out.print(“ via ”); System.out.println(desc); } } Methods can take multiple parameters Several Methods can have the same name as long as their signatures (types and order of parameters) are different.

  10. Accessor Methods and Encapsulation

  11. Getters and Setters • Programming convention • Puts a method between users of an object and the data inside the object int a = student.age; int a = student.getAge(); student.age = 20; student.setAge(20);

  12. aka • These are also known as Getters and Setters • Or more formally as Accessorsand Mutators. • You’ll find them a lot • The library classes that Java provides follow this convention often.

  13. But Why Do It? • What reason is there to write this extra code, when you can use the class variables directly? public intgetAge(){ return age; }

  14. Encapsulation • This is the idea that a class should be responsible for managing itself • And should present a clean interface (set of methods) to the outside world • An interface that does not reveal the inner workings of the class

  15. Encapsulation • This is the idea that a class should be responsible for managing itself • And should present a clean interface (set of methods) to the outside world • An interface that does not reveal the inner workings of the class This means that you can change the way that the class works, without changing any other parts of the program Results in cleaner, more portable code, that is more maintainable and reusable.

  16. For example Take this example class where age is modelled as an int public class Student { int age = 20; //code omitted public static void main(String[] args){ Student s1 = new Student(); System.out.println(s1.getAge()); } public intgetAge(){ return age; } }

  17. For example Take this example class where age is modelled as an int public class Student { //intage = 20; Calendar dateOfBirth; //code omitted public static void main(String[] args){ Student s1 = new Student(); System.out.println(s1.getAge()); } //public intgetAge(){ // return age; //} public intgetAge(){ Calendar rightNow = Calendar.getInstance(); int a = calculateAge(rightNow, dateofBirth); return a; } } We might change the way that age is implemented – e.g. to make it based on the current date. Because we used an Accessor we do not need to alter main

  18. Enforcing Good Behaviour • So we have used methods to hide the way that our class is implemented • But what happens if we forgot and accidently access the variable directly? • Or if someone else uses our class in their program and ignores the accessor methods?

  19. Protected The protected keyword tells Java that only methods in this class* can access this variable. *and its sub-classes, but we’ll come to that later in the course… public class Student { //intage = 20; protected Calendar dateOfBirth; //code omitted public static void main(String[] args){ Student s1 = new Student(); System.out.println(s1.getAge()); } //public intgetAge(){ // return age; //} public intgetAge(){ Calendar rightNow = Calendar.getInstance(); int a = calculateAge(rightNow, dateofBirth); return a; } }

  20. Protected The protected keyword tells Java that only methods in this class* can access this variable. *and its sub-classes, but we’ll come to that later in the course… public class Student { //intage = 20; protected Calendar dateOfBirth; //code omitted publicstatic void main(String[] args){ Student s1 = new Student(); System.out.println(s1.getAge()); } //public intgetAge(){ // return age; //} publicintgetAge(){ Calendar rightNow = Calendar.getInstance(); int a = calculateAge(rightNow, dateofBirth); return a; } } And yes, public means the opposite – that all other methods can access it!

  21. Encapsulation • The idea that classes look after themselves and hide their internal workings • Is a key concept in Object Oriented Programming • And is enforced using the public or protectedkeywords* • Which can be applied to both member variables and methods *There is also a private keyword (we come to that later too)

  22. A Hint • Good OO programmers are paranoid • If you want to make good encapsulated classes treat everything as protected • Only open up methods or member variables as public if you really want them to be accessed outside of the class.

  23. Constructors

  24. Back at our simple Student Example We have a problem – all our students will be age 20 public class Student { protected int age = 20; //code omitted public static void main(String[] args){ Student s1 = new Student(); System.out.println(s1.getAge()); } public intgetAge(){ return age; } }

  25. Back at our simple Student Example We have a problem – all our students will be age 20 public class Student { protected int age = 20; //code omitted public static void main(String[] args){ Student s1 = new Student(); s1.setAge(19); System.out.println(s1.getAge()); } public intgetAge(){ return age; } public void setAge(int a){ age = a; } } One solution is to use a Setter method. But Is this good encapsulation?

  26. Back at our simple Student Example We have a problem – all our students will be age 20 public class Student { protected int age = 20; //code omitted public static void main(String[] args){ Student s1 = new Student(); s1.setAge(19); System.out.println(s1.getAge()); } public intgetAge(){ return age; } public void setAge(int a){ age = a; } } One solution is to use a Setter method. But Is this good encapsulation? No – object creation is in two steps. Someone could forget to set it before using the object. We need a way to force a program to set the age at the point of object creation

  27. Constructors • Look a bit like methods • Contain code that is called during the creation of objects • Is used to initialise objects and set critical member variables • This maintains Encapsulation

  28. Constructors public class Student { protected age; public Student() { age = 20; } //code omitted } Constructor Rules: • Must have the same name as the class • Do not need a return type

  29. Constructors public class Student { protected age; public Student() { age = 20; } public Student(int a) { age = a; } //code omitted } Constructor Rules: • Must have the same name as the class • Does not need a return type • Can take parameters • Can be overloaded

  30. Constructors public class Student { protected age; public Student() { age = 20; } public Student(int a) { age = a; } public static void main(String[] args){ Student s1 = new Student(19); System.out.println(s1.getAge()); } //code omitted } Constructor Rules: • Must have the same name as the class • Does not need a return type • Can take parameters • Can be overloaded • Are invoked at the point of creation using the new keyword

  31. The Default Constructor • What happens if you do not declare a constructor? • In these cases Java creates an invisible default constructor for you • The default constructor takes no parameters and contains no behavior. But allows you to create Object instances • We’ve been using them from day one • Dog d = new Dog();

  32. Summary • Recap • Variables, Scope and Methods • AccessorMethods • Getters and Setters • Encapsulation • public and protected • Constructors

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