Java Part I

Week 1

1. The program and the source code

1.1 Source code
A computer program is composed of commands written in the source code.
A computer generally runs commands in the source code from top to bottom
and from left to right. Source code is saved in a textual format and will be
executed somehow.

1.2 Commands
Computers execute different operations, or actions, based on the commands.
For example, when printing the text "Hello world!" on the screen, it is done
by the command System.out.println.
System.out.println("Hello world!");

The System.out.println command prints the string given inside the brackets
on the screen. The suffix ln is short for the word line. Therefore, this
command prints out a line. This means that after the given string has been
printed, the command will also print a line break.

1.3 Compiler and interpreter

Computers do not directly understand the programming language we are
using. We need a compiler between the source code and the computer.
When we are programming using the command line interface, the command
javac Hello.java will compile the Hello.java file into bytecode, which can be
executed using the Java interpreter. To run the compiled program, you can
use the command java Hello where Hello is the name of the original source
code file.
When using a modern development environment (more on this later), it will
take care of compiling the source code. When we choose to run the
program, the development environment will compile and execute the
program. All development environments compile source code while it is
being written by the programmer, which means that simple errors will be
noticed before executing the program.

1.4 Components of commands

1.4.1 Semicolon
A semicolon ; is used to separate different commands. The compiler and the
interpreter both ignore line breaks in the source code, so we could write the
entire program on a single line.
In the example below we will use the System.out.print command, which is
similar to the System.out.println command except that it will not print a line
break after printing the text.
Example of how the semicolons are used
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System.out.print("Hello "); System.out.print("world");

System.out.print("!");
Hello world!

Even though neither the compiler nor the interpreter need line breaks in
the source code, they are very important when considering human readers
of the source code. Line breaks are required to divide source code in a clear
manner. Readability of source code will be emphasized throughout this
course.
1.4.2 Parameters (information passed to commands)
The information processed by a command are the parameters of a
command. They are passed to the command by placing them between ()
brackets that follow the command name. For example, the System.out.print
command is given the text hello as a parameter as follows:
System.out.print("hello").
1.4.3 Comments
Comments are a useful way to make notes in the source code for yourself
and others. Everything on a line after two forward slashes // is treated as a
comment.
1.4.4 Example of using comments
// We will print the text "Hello world"

System.out.print("Hello world");
System.out.print(" and all the people of the world."); // We print more text
to the same line.
// System.out.print("this line will not be executed, because it is commented
out");

The last line of the example introduces a particularly handy use for
comments: you can comment out code instead of completely deleting it if
you want to temporarily try out something.

1.5 More about printing

As we can see from the examples above, there are two commands for
printing.
System.out.print prints the text without the line break at the end
System.out.println prints the text and the line break
The printed text can contain both traditional characters and special
characters. The most important special character is \n, which stands for a
line break. There are also other special characters.
System.out.println("First\nSecond\nThird");

When executed, the example above prints:

First
Second
Third

2. Main program body

The body for a program named "Example" is as follows:
public class Example {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// program code
}
}

The program is stored in a text file named after the program with the .java
extension. For a program named Example, the file should be named
Example.java.
The execution of the program begins at the part marked with the //
program code comment above. During our first week of programming, we
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will limit ourselves to this part. When we are talking about commands such
as printing, we need to write the commands into the program body. For
example: System.out.print("Text to be printed");
public class Example {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.print("Text to be printed");
}
}

From this point on, the main program body will be omitted from the
examples.

3. Getting to know your development environment

Programming these days takes place in development environments almost
without exceptions. The development environment provides several tools
and features to assist the programmer. Although the development
environment does not write the program on behalf of the programmer, it
contains several handy features such as hinting about mistakes in code and
assisting the programmer to visualize the structure of the program.
In this course, we will use the NetBeans development environment. A
guide for using NetBeans is available here.

Until you become familiar with NetBeans, follow the guides and steps
precisely. Most of the following exercises show what needs to be printed to
the screen for the program to function correctly.
Note: Do not do the exercises by writing code and then clicking the test
button. You should also execute the code manually (green arrow) and
observe the result on the screen. This is especially useful if an exercise fails
to pass the tests.
In the following exercises, we will practice the use of NetBeans and
printing of text on the screen.
Remember to read the guide on using NetBeans before you continue!
Please answer to our survey: here. It will take less than five minutes.
Exercise 1: Name
Create a program that prints your name to the screen.
The program output should resemble the following:
Jane Doe

Exercise 2: Hello world! (And all the people of the world)

Create a program that prints out the following:
Hello world!

(And all the people of the world)

Exercise 3: Spruce
Create a program that prints the following:

*
***
*****
*******
*********
*

Note: You probably wrote System.out.println("...") quite a few times. Try

typing only sout on an empty line in NetBeans and then press the tab key.
What happened? This tip will save a lot of your time in the future!

4. Variables and assignment

4.1 Variables and data types
A variable is one of the most important concepts in computer programming.
A variable should be imagined as a box in which you can store information.
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The information stored in a variable always has a type. These types include
text (String), whole numbers (int), decimal numbers (double), and truth
values (boolean). A value can be assigned to a variable using the equals sign
(=).
int months = 12;

In the statement above, we assign the value 12 to the variable named

months whose data type is integer (int). The statement is read as "the
variable months is assigned the value 12".
The value of the variable can be appended to a string with the plus + sign as
shown in the following example.
String text = "includes text";
int wholeNumber = 123;
double decimalNumber = 3.141592653;
boolean isTrue = true;
System.out.println("The variable's type is text. Its value is " + text);
System.out.println("The variable's type is integer. Its value is " +
wholeNumber);
System.out.println("The variable's type is decimal number. Its value is " +
decimalNumber);

System.out.println("The variable's type is truth value. Its value is " +

isTrue);

Printing:
The variable's type is text. Its value is includes text
The variable's type is integer. Its value is 123
The variable's type is decimal number. Its value is 3.141592653
The variable's type is truth value. Its value is true

A variable holds its value until it is assigned a new one. Note that the
variable type is written only when the variable is first declared in the
program. After that we can use the variable by its name.
int wholeNumber = 123;
System.out.println("The variable's type is integer. Its value is " +
wholeNumber);
wholeNumber = 42;
System.out.println("The variable's type is integer. Its value is " +
wholeNumber);

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The output is:

The variable's type is integer. Its value is 123
The variable's type is integer. Its value is 42

4.2 Variable data types are immutable

When a variable is declared with a data type, it cannot be changed later. For
example, a text variable cannot be changed into an integer variable and it
cannot be assigned integer values.
String text = "yabbadabbadoo!";
text = 42; // Does not work! :(

Integer values can be assigned to decimal number variables, because whole

numbers are also decimal numbers.
double decimalNumber = 0.42;
decimalNumber = 1; // Works! :)

Exercise 4: Varying variables

The exercise file initially contains a program which prints:

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Chickens:
3
Bacon (kg):
5.5
A tractor:
There is none!
In a nutshell:
3
5.5
There is none!

Change the program in the specified places so that it will print:

Chickens:
9000
Bacon (kg):
0.1
A tractor:
Zetor
In a nutshell:
9000
0.1
Zetor
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4.3 Allowed and descriptive variable names

There are certain limitations on the naming of our variables. Even though
umlauts, for example, can be used, it is better to avoid them, because
problems might arise with character encoding. For example, it is
recommended to use A instead of .
Variable names must not contain certain special characters like exclamation
marks (!). Space characters cannot be used, either, as it is used to separate
commands into multiple parts. It is a good idea to replace the space
character using a camelCase notation. Note: The first character is always
written in lower case when using the camel case notation.
int camelCaseVariable = 7;

Variable names can contain numbers as long it does not start with one.
Variable names cannot be composed solely of numbers, either.
int 7variable = 4; // Not allowed!
int variable7 = 4; // A valid, but not descriptive variable name

Variable names that have been defined before cannot be used. Command
names such as System.out.print cannot be used, either.
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int camelCase = 2;
int camelCase = 5; // Not allowed, the variable camelCase is already
defined!

It is strongly recommended to name variables so that their purpose can be

understood without comments and without thinking. Variable names used
in this course must be descriptive.
4.3.1 Valid variable names
lastDay = 20
firstYear = 1952
name = "Matti"
4.3.2 Invalid variable names
last day of the month = 20
1day = 1952
watchout! = 1910
1920 = 1

5. Calculation

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The calculation operations are pretty straightforward: +, -, * and /. A more

peculiar operation is the modulo operation %, which calculates the
remainder of a division. The order of operations is also pretty
straightforward: the operations are calculated from left to right taking the
parentheses into account.
int first = 2; // variable of whole number type is assigned the value 2
int second = 4; // variable of whole number type is assigned the value 4
int sum = first + second; // variable of whole number type is assigned the
value of first + second
//

(which means 2 + 4)

System.out.println(sum); // the value of the sum of variables is printed

int calcWithParens = (1 + 1) + 3 * (2 + 5); // 23
int calcWithoutParens = 1 + 1 + 3 * 2 + 5; // 13

The parentheses example above can also be done step by step.

int calcWithParens = (1 + 1);
calcWithParens = calcWithParens + 3 * (2 + 5); // 23
int calcWithoutParens = 1 + 1;
calcWithoutParens = calcWithoutParens + 3 * 2;
calcWithoutParens = calcWithoutParens + 5;
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// 13

Calculation operations can be used almost anywhere in the program code.

int first = 2;
int second = 4;
System.out.println(first + second);
System.out.println(2 + second - first - second);

5.1 Floating point numbers (decimal numbers)

Calculating the division and remainder of whole numbers is a little trickier.
A floating point number (decimal number) and integer (whole number)
often get mixed up. If all the variables in a calculation operation are
integers, the end result will also be an integer.
int result = 3 / 2; // result is 1 (integer) because 3 and 2 are integers as
well
int first = 3:
int second = 2;
double result = first / second; // the result is again 1 because first and
second are integers

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The remainder can be calculated using the remainder operation (%). For
example, the calculation 7 % 2 yields 1.
int remainder = 7 % 2; // remainder is 1 (integer)

If either the dividend or the divisor (or both!) is a floating point number
(decimal number) the end result will also be a floating point number.
double whenDividendIsFloat = 3.0 / 2; // result is: 1.5
double whenDivisorIsFloat = 3 / 2.0; // result is: 1.5

If needed, integers can be converted to floating point using the type cast
operation (double) as follows:
int first = 3;
int second = 2;
double result1 = (double)first / second; // result is: 1.5
double result2 = first / (double)second; // result is: 1.5
double result3 = (double)(first / second); // result is: 1

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In the last example calculation, the result is rounded incorrectly because the
calculation between the integers is done before the type cast to a floating
point number.
If the quotient is assigned to a variable of integer type, the result will be an
integer as well.
int integerResultBecauseTypeIsInteger = 3.0 / 2; // quotient is
automatically integer: 1

The next example will print "1.5" because the dividend is transformed into a
floating point number by multiplying it with a floating point number (1.0 * 3
= 3.0) before the division.
int dividend = 3;
int divisor = 2;
double quotient = 1.0 * dividend / divisor;
System.out.println(quotient);

What does the following code print?

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int dividend = 3;
int divisor = 2;
double quotient = dividend / divisor * 1.0;
System.out.println(quotient);

From now on, make sure that you name your variables that follow good
conventions like the variables in the examples above.
Exercise 5: Seconds in a year

6. Concatenation or combining strings

Let us take a closer look on combining strings with the + operator.
If the + operator is used between two strings, a new string is created with
the two strings combined. Note the clever use of space characters in the
values of the variables below!
String greeting = "Hi ";
String name = "John";
String goodbye = ", and goodbye!";
String sentence = greeting + name + goodbye;
System.out.println(sentence);
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Hi John, and goodbye!

If a string is on either side of the + operator, the other side is converted to a

string and a new string is created. For example, the integer 2 will be
converted into the string "2" and then combined with the other string.
System.out.println("there is an integer --> " + 2);
System.out.println(2 + " <-- there is an integer");

What we learned earlier about the order of operations is still valid:

System.out.println("Four: " + (2 + 2));
System.out.println("But! Twenty-two: " + 2 + 2);
Four: 4
But! Twenty-two: 22

Using this information, we can print a mix of strings and values of variables:
int x = 10;
System.out.println("variable x has the following value: " + x);
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int y = 5;
int z = 6;
System.out.println("y has the value " + y + " and z has the value " + z);

This program obviously prints:

variable x has the following value: 10
y has the value 5 and z has the value 6

Exercise 6: Addition
Create a program to calculate the sum of two numbers. At the beginning
of the program two variables are introduced and those variables hold the
numbers to be summed. Feel free to use other variables if you need to.
For example, if the variables hold numbers 5 and 4, the program should
output:
5+4=9

If the variables hold numbers 73457 and 12888, the program output
should be:
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73457 + 12888 = 86345

Exercise 7: Multiplication
Create a program similar to the previous one except that it multiplies the
two numbers instead of adding them.
For example, if the variables hold numbers 2 and 8, the program output
should be:
2 * 8 = 16

If the variables hold numbers 277 and 111, the program output should be:
277 * 111 = 30747

What is the biggest multiplication that your program is able to calculate?

7. Reading user input

So far our programs have been rather one-sided. Next we will learn how to
read input from the user. We will use a special Scanner tool to read the user
input.

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Let us add the Scanner to our existing main program body. Do not worry if
the main program body seems obscure as we will continue to write our
code in the part marked // program code.
import java.util.Scanner;
public class ProgramBody {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);
// program code
}
}

7.1 Reading a string

The following code reads the user's name and prints a greeting:
System.out.print("What is your name? ");
String name = reader.nextLine(); // Reads a line of input from the user and
assigns it
//

to the variable called name

System.out.println("Hi, " + name);

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What is your name? John

Hi, John

The program above combined along with the main program body is shown
below. The name of the program is Greeting, which means that it must be
located in a file named Greeting.java.
import java.util.Scanner;
public class Greeting {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.print("Who is greeted: ");
String name = reader.nextLine(); // Reads a line of input from the user
and assigns it
//

to the variable called name

System.out.print("Hi " + name);

}
}

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When the program above is executed, you can type the input. The output
tab in NetBeans (at the bottom) looks as follows when the program has
finished (the user inputs the name "John").
run:
Who is greeted: John
Hi John
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 6 seconds)

7.2 Reading integers

Our Scanner tool is not good for reading integers, so we will use another
special tool to read an integer. The command Integer.parseInt converts the
string given to it into an integer. The command's parameter is given
between brackets and it returns an integer that can be assigned to an
integer variable.
Basically, we are joining two commands together. First we read the input as
a string from the user and immediately give it to the command
Integer.parseInt.
System.out.print("Type an integer: ");
int number = Integer.parseInt(reader.nextLine());
System.out.println("You typed " + number);

25

Next we will ask the user to give us his name and age. The program body is
included this time.
import java.util.Scanner;
public class NameAndAgeGreeting {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.print("Your name: ");
String name = reader.nextLine(); // Reads a line from the users
keyboard
System.out.print("How old are you: ");
int age = Integer.parseInt(reader.nextLine()); // Reads a string variable
from the keyboard and transfers it to an integer
System.out.println("Your name is: " + name + ", and you are " + age + "
years old, nice to meet you!");
}
}

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7.3 Summary
The program body for interaction with the user is as follows:
import java.util.Scanner;
public class ProgramName {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);
// code here
}
}

Reading a string:
String text = reader.nextLine();

Reading an integer:
int number = Integer.parseInt(reader.nextLine());

Exercise 8: Adder

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Create a program that asks the user for two integers and then prints their
sum.
Type a number: 6
Type another number: 2
Sum of the numbers: 8

In this example the user input is marked in red color. From now on the
red color will indicate user input in examples.
Exercise 9: Divider
Create a program that asks the user for two integers and prints their
quotient. Make sure that 3 / 2 = 1.5. If the decimal part is missing, take
another look at 6.1 Floating point numbers (decimal numbers) to find the
solution.
Type a number: 3
Type another number: 2
Division: 3 / 2 = 1.5

Exercise 10: Calculating the circumference

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The circumference of a circle is calculated using the formula 2 * pi *

radius. Create a program that asks the user for the radius and then
calculates the circumference using the given radius. Java already contains
the value of pi in the Math.PI variable, which you can use in your
calculation.
Type the radius: 20
Circumference of the circle: 125.66370614359172

Exercise 11: Bigger number

Create a program that asks the user for two integers and then prints the
larger of the two.
Tip: When you write Math. (that is, Math followed by a dot) in NetBeans,
it shows you a bunch of available mathematical calculations. For example,
Math.cos(10) calculates the cosine of the number 10. Try to find a suitable
tool in Math to complete this exercise! If you cannot find anything suitable
or do not know how to complete the exercise, skip the exercise for now.
We will return to the matter later on.
Type a number: 20
Type another number: 14
The bigger number of the two numbers given was: 20
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Exercise 12: Sum of the ages

Create a program that asks for the names and ages of two users. After that
the program prints the sum of their ages.
Type your name: Matti
Type your age: 14
Type your name: Arto
Type your age: 12
Matti and Arto are 26 years old in total.

Exercise 13: NHL statistics, part 1

A ready-made component NHLStatistics is included along with the
exercise files for this excercise. It can be used to fetch and see NHL
players' score data, including their number of played games, goals, assists,
points, and penalty amount.
The main program imports (i.e. enables the use of) the component by
adding the following line to the beginning of the file: import
nhlstats.NHLStatistics;. The next example prints the top 10 players based
on points:
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import java.util.Scanner;
import nhlstats.NHLStatistics;
public class Mainprogram {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.println("Top ten by points");
NHLStatistics.sortByPoints();
NHLStatistics.top(10);
}
}

It will print (this was the situation on the 9th of January 2012):
Top ten by points
Henrik Sedin
Phil Kessel
Claude Giroux

VAN
TOR

43 11 + 38= 49 36
41 24 + 24= 48 10

PHI

36 18 + 30= 48 16

Joffrey Lupul

TOR

41 19 + 28= 47 36

Daniel Sedin

VAN

42 18 + 29= 47 32

Steven Stamkos

TBL

40 28 + 17= 45 34

Marian Hossa

CHI

41 17 + 27= 44 14

Evgeni Malkin

PIT

33 16 + 28= 44 30

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Jordan Eberle
Jason Pominville

EDM

41 17 + 26= 43 6

BUF

41 14 + 29= 43 8

The name, abbreviation of the club, matches played, assists, points and
penalties of players are printed.
The first command NHLStatistics.sortByPoints() sorts the list of NHL
players by the points they have gathered. The second command
NHLStatistics.top(10); prints the ten first players from the list. Any
integer can be given as a parameter.
Similarly the players can be printed ordered by the goals or assists they
have made, or by penalty minutes they have been given. First, we call the
command to sort the players:
NHLStatistics.sortByPoints();

// orders the players by points

NHLStatistics.sortByGoals();

// orders the players by goals

NHLStatistics.sortByAssists(); // orders the players by assists

NHLStatistics.sortByPenalties(); // orders the players by penalty
minutes

After that the players are printed with the command top using the
number of players to be printed as its parameter.

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It is also possible to use the component to request the statistics of a

certain player:
NHLStatistics.searchByPlayer("Jaromir Jagr"); // prints stats of Jaromir
Jagr
NHLStatistics.searchByPlayer("Koivu");

// prints stats of Mikko

Koivu and Saku Koivu

NHLStatistics.searchByPlayer("Teemu");

// prints stats of all players

named Teemu

The component can also print the statistics of all players in a club:
NHLStatistics.teamStatistics("NYR"); // Statistics of New York Rangers

The order of the printed club statistics can be changed using a sortBy...()
first.
The name of the club must be given using the official three letter
abbreviation. You can check the abbreviations here . The statistics
component prints a list of the available abbreviations if you request the
statistics of an invalid club.
Create a program that does the following tasks into the main program
body. The tasks must be done in exactly the same order as listed below.
Do the tasks in the program body one after another without deleting
tasks you have already done.
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Note: When you first run the program, the execution might take a while
because the information is downloaded from the web. Execution should
be quick after the first run.
The program must do the following:
Print the top ten players based on goals
Print the top 25 players based on penalty amounts
Print the statistics for Sidney Crosby
Print the statistics for Philadelphia Flyers (abbreviation: PHI). Note in
which order the players are printed in and why that might be!
Print the players in Anaheim Ducks (abbreviation: ANA) ordered by
points
After you have successfully submitted the exercise, you can play with the
code as you wish!

8. Conditional statements and truth values

So far, our programs have progressed from one command to another in a
straightforward manner. In order for the program to branch to different
execution paths based on e.g. user input, we need conditional statements.
int number = 11;

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if (number > 10) {

System.out.println("The number was greater than 10");
}

The condition (number > 10) evaluates into a truth value; either true or
false. The if command only handles truth values. The conditional statement
above is read as "if the number is greater than 10".
Note that the if statement is not followed by semicolon as the condition path
continues after the statement.
After the condition, the opening curly brace { starts a new block, which is
executed if the condition is true. The block ends with a closing curly brace }.
Blocks can be as long as desired.
The comparison operators are:
> Greater than
>= Greater than or equal to
< Less than
<= Less than or equal to
== Equals
!= Not equal

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int number = 55;

if (number != 0) {
System.out.println("The number was not equal to 0");
}
if (number >= 1000) {
System.out.println("The number was greater than or equal to 1000");
}

A block can contain any code including other if statements.

int x = 45;
int number = 55;
if (number > 0) {
System.out.println("The number is positive!");
if (number > x) {
System.out.println(" and greater than the value of variable x");
System.out.println("after all, the value of variable x is " + x);
}
}

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The comparison operators can also be used outside the if statements. In

such case the truth value will be stored in a truth value variable.
int first = 1;
int second = 3;
boolean isGreater = first > second;

In the example above the boolean (i.e. a truth value) variable isGreater now
includes the truth value false.
A boolean variable can be used as a condition in a conditional sentence.
int first = 1;
int second = 3;
boolean isLesser = first < second;
if (isLesser) {
System.out.println(first + " is less than " + second + "!");
}
1 is less than 3!

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8.1 Code indentation

Note that the commands in the block following the if statement (i.e. the lines
after the curly brace, { ) are not written at the same level as the if statement
itself. They should be indented slightly to the right. Indentation happens
when you press the tab key, which is located to the left of q key. When the
block ends with the closing curly brace, indentation ends as well. The
closing curly brace } should be on the same level as the original if statement.
The use of indentation is crucial for the readability of program code. During
this course and generally everywhere, you are expected to indent the code
properly. NetBeans helps with the correct indentation. You can easily indent
your program by pressing shift, alt, and f simultaneously.

8.2 else
If the truth value of the comparison is false, another optional block can be
executed using the else command.
int number = 4;
if (number > 5) {
System.out.println("Your number is greater than five!");
} else {
System.out.println("Your number is equal to or less than five!");
}

38

Your number is equal to or less than five!

Exercise 14: A positive number

Create a program that asks the user for a number and tells if the number
is positive (i.e. greater than zero).
Type a number: 5
The number is positive.
Type a number: -2
The number is not positive.

Are you certain that your code is indented correctly?

Reread the section on code indentation. Observe what happens when you
press shift, alt and f simultaneously! The same automatic indentation
functionality can also be used using the menu bar by selecting Source and
then Format.
Exercise 15: Age of majority
Create a program that asks for the user's age and tells whether the user
has reached the age of majority (i.e. 18 years old or older).
39

How old are you? 12

You have not reached the age of majority yet!
How old are you? 32
You have reached the age of majority!

Exercise 16: Even or odd?

Create a program that asks the user for a number and tells whether the
number is even or odd.
Type a number: 2
Number 2 is even.
Type a number: 7
Number 7 is odd.

Hint: The number's remainder when dividing by 2 tells whether the

number is even or odd. The remainder can be obtained with the %
operator.

8.3 else if
40

If there are more than two conditions for the program to check, it is
recommended to use the else if command. It works like the else command,
but with an additional condition. else if comes after the if command. There
can be multiple else if commands.
int number = 3;
if (number == 1) {
System.out.println("The number is one.");
} else if (number == 2) {
System.out.println("The number is two.");
} else if (number == 3) {
System.out.println("The number is three!");
} else {
System.out.println("Quite a lot!");
}
The number is three!

Let us read out loud the example above: If number is one, print out "The
number is one.". Otherwise if the number is two, print out "The number is
two.". Otherwise if the number is three, print out "The number is three!".
Otherwise print out "Quite a lot!".

8.4 Comparing strings

41

Strings cannot be compared using the equality operator (==). For string
comparison, we use the equals. command, which is always associated with
the string to compare.
String text = "course";
if (text.equals("marzipan")) {
System.out.println("The variable text contains the text marzipan");
} else {
System.out.println("The variable text does not contain the text
marzipan");
}

The equals command is always attached to the string variable with a dot in
between. A string variable can also be compared to another string variable.
String text = "course";
String anotherText = "horse";
if (text.equals(anotherText)) {
System.out.println("The texts are the same!");
} else {
System.out.println("The texts are not the same!");
}

42

When comparing strings, it is crucial to make sure that both string variables
have been assigned some value. If a value has not been assigned, the
program execution terminates with a NullPointerException error, which
means that variable has no value assigned to it (null).
Exercise 17: Greater number
Create a program that asks the user for two numbers and prints the
greater of those two. The program should also handle the case in which
the two numbers are equal.
Example outputs:
Type the first number: 5
Type the second number: 3
Greater number: 5
Type the first number: 5
Type the second number: 8
Greater number: 8
Type the first number: 5
Type the second number: 5
The numbers are equal!

43

Exercise 18: Grades and points

Create a program that gives the course grade based on the following table.
Points

Grade

029

failed

3034

3539

4044

4549

5060

Example outputs:
Type the points [0-60]: 37
Grade: 2
Type the points [0-60]: 51
Grade: 5

44

8.5 Logical operations

The condition statements can be made more complicated using logical
operations. The logical operations are:
condition1 && condition2 is true if both conditions are true.
condition1 || condition2 is true if either of the conditions are true.
!condition is true if the condition is false.
Below we will use the AND operation && to combine two individual
conditions in order to check if the value of the variable is greater than 4 and
less than 11 (i.e. in the range 5 - 10).
System.out.println("Is the number between 5-10?");
int number = 7;
if (number > 4 && number < 11) {
System.out.println("Yes! :)");
} else {
System.out.println("Nope :(")
}
Is the number between 5-10?
Yes! :)

45

Next up is the OR operation ||, which will be used to check if the value is less
than 0 or greater than 100. The condition evaluates to true if the value
fulfills either condition.
System.out.println("Is the number less than 0 or greater than 100?");
int number = 145;
if (number < 0 || number > 100) {
System.out.println("Yes! :)");
} else {
System.out.println("Nope :(")
}
Is the number less than 0 or greater than 100?
Yes! :)

Now we will use the negation operation ! to negate the condition:

System.out.println("Is the string equal to 'milk'?");
String text = "water";
if (!(text.equals("milk"))) { // true if the condition text.equals("milk") is
false
System.out.println("No!");
} else {
46

System.out.println("Yes")
}
Is the text equal to 'milk'?
No!

For complicated conditions, we often need parentheses:

int number = 99;
if ((number > 0 && number < 10) || number > 100 ) {
System.out.println("The number was in the range 1-9 or it was over
100");
} else {
System.out.println("The number was equal to or less than 0 or it was in
the range 10-99");
}
The number was equal to or less than 0 or it was in the range 10-99

Exercise 19: Age check

Create a program that asks for the user's age and checks that it is
reasonable (at least 0 and at most 120).
47

How old are you? 10

OK
How old are you? 55
OK
How old are you? -3
Impossible!
How old are you? 150
Impossible!

Exercise 20: Usernames

Create a program that recognizes the following users:
Username

Password

alex

mightyducks

emily

cat

The program should check for the username and password as follows:
Type your username: alex
Type your password: mightyducks
You are now logged into the system!

48

Type your username: emily

Type your password: cat
You are now logged into the system!
Type your username: emily
Type your password: dog
Your username or password was invalid!

Note: Remember that you cannot compare strings with the == operation!
Exercise 21: Leap year
A year is a leap year if it is divisible by 4. But if the year is divisible by 100,
it is a leap year only when it is also divisible by 400.
Create a program that checks whether the given year is a leap year.
Type a year: 2011
The year is not a leap year.
Type a year: 2012
The year is a leap year.
Type a year: 1800
The year is not a leap year.
49

Type a year: 2000

The year is a leap year.

9. Introduction to loops
Conditional statements allow us to execute different commands based on
the conditions. For example, we can let the user login only if the username
and password are correct.
In addition to conditions we also need repetitions. We may, for example,
need to keep asking the user to input a username and password until a valid
pair is entered.
The most simple repetition is an infinite loop. The following code will print
out the string I can program! forever or "an infinite number of times":
while (true) {
System.out.println("I can program!");
}

In the example above, the while (true) command causes the associated
block (i.e. the code between the curly braces {}) to be looped (or repeated)
infinitely.
50

We generally do not want an infinite loop. The loop can be interrupted using
e.g. the break command.
while (true) {
System.out.println("I can program!");
System.out.print("Continue? ('no' to quit)? ");
String command = reader.nextLine();
if (command.equals("no")) {
break;
}
}
System.out.println("Thank you and see you later!");

Now the loop progresses like this: First, the program prints I can program!.
Then, the program will ask the user if it should continue. If the user types
no, the break command is executed and the loop is interrupted and Thank
you and see you again! is printed.
I can program!
Continue? ('no' to quit)?yeah
I can program!
Continue? ('no' to quit)? jawohl
I can program!
51

Continue? ('no' to quit)? no

Thank you and see you again!

Many different things can be done inside a loop. Next we create a simple
calculator, which performs calculations based on commands that the user
enters. If the command is quit, the break command will be executed to end
the loop. Otherwise two numbers are asked. Then, if the initial command
was sum, the program calculates and prints the sum of the two numbers. If
the command was difference, the program calculates and prints the
difference of the two numbers. If the command was something else, the
program reports that the command was unknown.
System.out.println("welcome to the calculator");
while (true) {
System.out.print("Enter a command (sum, difference, quit): ");
String command = reader.nextLine();
if (command.equals("quit")) {
break;
}
System.out.print("enter the numbers");
int first = Integer.parseInt(reader.nextLine());
int second = Integer.parseInt(reader.nextLine());

52

if (command.equals("sum") ) {
int sum = first + second;
System.out.println( "The sum of the numbers is " + sum );
} else if (command.equals("difference")) {
int difference = first - second;
System.out.println("The difference of the numbers is " + difference);
} else {
System.out.println("Unknown command");
}
}
System.out.println("Thanks, bye!");

Exercise 22: Password

In this exercise we create a program that asks the user for a password. If
the password is right, a secret message is shown to the user.
Type the password: turnip
Wrong!
Type the password: beetroot
Wrong!
Type the password: carrot
53

Right!
The secret is: jryy qbar!

The program will be done in three steps.

Exercise 22.1: Asking for the password
The initial exercise template defines the variable String password with a
value of carrot. Do not change this password! You should make the
program ask the user to enter a password and then compare it with the
value in the variable password. Remember what that there is a special
way to compare strings!
Type the password: turnip
Wrong!
Type the password: carrot
Right!
Type the password: potato
Wrong!

Exercise 22.2: Asking for the password until the user gives the
correct one

54

Modify the program so that it asks the user to type a password until it gets
the correct one. Implement this using a while-true loop statement. The
loop statement can be interrupted if and only if the entered password
matches the value of the password variable.
Type the password: turnip
Wrong!
Type the password: beetroot
Wrong!
Type the password: carrot
Right!

Exercise 22.3: Secret message

Add your own secret message to the program and show it to the user
when the password is correct. Your message can be whatever you want!
Type the password: turnip
Wrong!
Type the password: rutabaga
Wrong!
Type the password: carrot
Right!
The secret is: jryy qbar!

55

The secret above has been encrypted using the Rot13 algorithm. During
this course we will implement our own encryption program.
Exercise 23: Temperatures
You will get the Graph component along with the exercise template. Graph
draws graphs based on numbers that are given to it. You can give it
numbers as follows:
Graph.addNumber(13.0);

We will create a program that draws a graph based on daily temperatures

given to it.
Exercise 23.1: Asking for numbers
Create a program that asks the user to input floating point numbers
(double) and then adds the numbers to the graph. Use the while-true
structure again.
Note: To read a double, use: double number =
Double.parseDouble(reader.nextLine());
Exercise 23.2: Checking
Improve your program so that temperatures below -30 degrees or over
+40 degrees are ignored and not added to the graph.
Exercise 24: NHL statistics, part 2

56

We will continue using the NHL component introduced earlier and create
a program that the user can use to query for statistics.
The program is structured similarly to the Calculator example program
above. The program body is as follows:
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.println("NHL statistics service");
while (true) {
System.out.println("");
System.out.print("command (points, goals, assists, penalties, player,
club, quit): ");
String command = reader.nextLine();
if (command.equals("quit")) {
break;
}
if (command.equals("points")) {
// print the top ten playes sorted by points
} else if (command.equals("goals")) {
// print the top ten players sorted by goals
} else if (command.equals("assists")) {
// print the top ten players sorted by assists
} else if (command.equals("penalties")) {
57

// print the top ten players sorted by penalties

} else if (command.equals("player")) {
// ask the user for the player name and print the statistics for that
player
} else if (command.equals("club")) {
// ask the user for the club abbreviation and print the statistics for
the club
// note: the statistics should be sorted by points
//

(players with the most points are first)

}
}
}

The program asks the user to give commands and then executes the
operation that is associated with the given command. The commands are:
points, goals, assists, penalties, player, club, quit.
You should write code in the parts marked with comments.
Here is an example demonstrating the program in action:
NHL statistics service
command (points, goals, assists, penalties, player, club): assists
Henrik Sedin

VAN

43 11 + 38= 49 36

Erik Karlsson

OTT

43 6 + 35= 41 24
58

Claude Giroux

PHI

36 18 + 30= 48 16

Pavel Datsyuk

DET

41 13 + 30= 43 10

Brian Campbell

FLA

42 3 + 30= 33 4

Daniel Sedin

VAN

Jason Pominville

42 18 + 29= 47 32

BUF

Nicklas Backstrom
Joffrey Lupul
Evgeni Malkin

41 14 + 29= 43 8

WSH

38 13 + 29= 42 22

TOR

41 19 + 28= 47 36

PIT

33 16 + 28= 44 30

command (points, goals, assists, penalties, player, club): player

which player: Jokinen
Olli Jokinen
Jussi Jokinen

CGY

43 12 + 21= 33 32

CAR

40 4 + 19= 23 30

command (points, goals, assists, penalties, player, club): club

which club: DET
Pavel Datsyuk

DET

41 13 + 30= 43 10

Johan Franzen

DET

41 16 + 20= 36 34

Valtteri Filppula

DET

40 14 + 21= 35 10

Henrik Zetterberg

DET

41 8 + 24= 32 14

// and more players

command (points, goals, assists, penalties, player, club): quit

59

Note: When you first run the program, the execution might take a while
because the information is downloaded from the internet. Execution
should be quick after the first run.

Week 2

10. Changing variables

We usually want to change the value of an existing variable. This can be
done using the normal assignment statement. In the next example, we
increase the value of the variable age by one:
int age = 1;
System.out.println(age); // prints 1
age = age + 1;

// the new value of age is the old value of age + 1

System.out.println(age); // prints 2

The age = age + 1 statement increments the value of the variable age by one.
It is also possible to increment a variable by one as bellow:

60

int age = 1;
System.out.println(age); // prints 1
age++;

// means the same as age = age + 1

System.out.println(age); // prints 2

Another example:
int length = 100;
System.out.println(length); // prints 100
length = length - 50;
System.out.println(length); // prints 50
length = length * 2;
System.out.println(length); // prints 100
length = length / 4;
System.out.println(length); // prints 25
length--;

// means the same as length = length - 1;

System.out.println(length); // prints 24

Exercise 25: Sum of three numbers

Create a program that asks the user for three numbers and then prints
their sum. Use the following structure in your program:
61

Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);

int sum = 0;
int read;
// WRITE YOUR PROGRAM HERE
// USE ONLY THE VARIABLES sum, reader AND read!
System.out.println("Sum: " + sum);
Type the first number: 3
Type the second number: 6
Type the third number: 12
Sum: 21

Exercise 26: Sum of many numbers

Create a program that reads numbers from the user and prints their sum.
The program should stop asking for numbers when user enters the
number 0. The program should be structured like this:
Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);
int sum = 0;
while (true) {
int read = Integer.parseInt(reader.nextLine());
62

if (read == 0) {
break;
}
// DO SOMETHING HERE
System.out.println("Sum now: " + sum);
}
System.out.println("Sum in the end: " + sum);

The program should work as follows:

3
Sum now: 3
2
Sum now: 5
1
Sum now: 6
1
Sum now: 7
0
Sum in the end: 7

63

11. More loops

we have previously learned to use repetition using the while (true) loop,
which repeats commands until the break command is used.
The break command is not the only way to end a loop. A common structure
for a loop is while (condition), where the condition can be any statement
with a truth value. This means that the condition works exactly like
conditions in an if statements.
In the following example, we print the numbers 1, 2, , 10. When the value
of the variable number increases above 10, the condition of the while
statement is no longer true and the loop ends.
int number = 1;
while (number < 11) {
System.out.println(number);
number++; // number++ means the same as number = number + 1
}

The example above can be read "as long as the variable number is less than
11, print the variable and increment it by one".
Above, the variable number was incremented in each iteration of the loop.
Generally the change can be anything, meaning that the variable used in the
condition does not always need to be incremented. For example:
64

int number = 1024;

while (number >= 1) {
System.out.println(number);
number = number / 2;
}

A few programming-part1 tips

You can find all the NetBeans tips here.
Auto-completion of your code
If you have, for example, the variable String familyName; in your
code, you do not need to always write familyName. Try what happens
when you type in f and then press CTRL and space simultaneously.
You can also use auto-completion with commands like while by
typing in w and then CTRL + space.
sout
Remember that you can get the text System.out.println("") by typing
sout and pressing the tab key (located to the left of the q key)
Complete the following exercises using the while statement:
Exercise 27: From one to a hundred
Create a program that prints the integers (whole numbers) from 1 to 100.
65

The program output should be:

1
2
3
(many rows of numbers here)
98
99
100

Exercise 28: From hundred to one

Create a program that prints the integers (whole numbers) from 100 to 1.
The program output should be:
100
99
98
(many rows of numbers here)
3
2
1

66

Tip: Assign the variable you use in the condition of the loop a initial value
of 100 and then subtract one on each iteration of the loop.
Exercise 29: Even numbers
Create a program that prints all even numbers between 2 and 100.
2
4
6
(many rows of numbers here)
96
98
100

Exercise 30: Up to a certain number

Create a program that prints all whole numbers from 1 to the number the
user enters.
Up to what number? 3
1
2
3
Up to what number? 5

67

1
2
3
4
5

Tip: The number you read from the user now works as the upper limit in
the condition of the while statement. Remember that in Java a <= b means
a is less than or equal to b.
Exercise 31: Lower limit and upper limit
Create a program that asks the user for the first number and the last
number and then prints all numbers between those two.
First: 5
Last: 8
5
6
7
8

If the first number is greater than the last number, the program prints
nothing:

68

First: 16
Last: 12

Note: Remember that the lower and upper limits can also be negative!

11.1 Assignment operations

Because changing the value of a variable is a very common operation, Java
has special assignment operations for it.
int length = 100;
length += 10; // same as length = length + 10;
length -= 50; // same as length = length - 50;

When performing the assignment operation on an existing variable, it is

written as variable operation= change, for example variable += 5. Note that
a variable must be defined before you can assign a value to it. Defining a
variable is done by specifying the variable type and the name of the
variable.
The following example will not work because the type of the variable length
has not been defined.
length = length + 100; // error!
69

length += 100;

// error!

When the type is defined, the operations will also work.

int length = 0;
length = length + 100;
length += 100;
// the variable length now holds the value 200

There are also other assignment operations:

int length = 100;
length *= 10; // same as length = length * 10;
length /= 100; // same as length = length / 100;
length %= 3; // same as length = length % 3;
// the variable length now holds the value 1

Often during a loop, the value of a variable is calculated based on repetition.

The following program calculates 3*4 somewhat clumsily as the sum
3+3+3+3:
70

int result = 0;
int i = 0;
while (i < 4) {
result = result + 3;
i++; // means the same as i = i + 1;
}

In the beginning result = 0. During the loop, the value of the variable is
incremented by 3 on each iteration. Because there are 4 iterations, the value
of the variable is 3*4 in the end.
Using the assignment operator introduced above, we can achieve the same
behavior as follows:
int result = 0;
int i = 0;
while (i < 4) {
result += 3; // this is the same as result = result + 3;
i++;

// means the same as i = i+1;

Exercise 32: The sum of a set of numbers

71

Create a program that calculates the sum 1+2+3++n where n is a

number entered by the user.
Example outputs:
Until what? 3
Sum is 6

The calculation above was: 1+2+3 = 6.

Until what? 7
Sum is 28

The calculation above was: 1+2+3+4+5+6+7 = 28.

Hint: Create the program using the while statement. Use a helper variable
in your program to remember how many times the block has been
executed. Use also another helper variable to store the sum. During each
execution add the value of the helper variable that counts the executions
to the variable in which you should collect the sum.
Exercise 33: The sum between two numbers
Similar to the previous exercise, except that the program should ask for
both the lower and upper bound. You can assume that the users first gives
the smaller number and then the greater number.
72

Example outputs:
First: 3
Last: 5
The sum 12
First: 2
Last: 8
The sum is 35

Exercise 34: Factorial

Create a program that calculates the factorial of the number n. The
factorial n! is calculated using the formula 1*2*3*...*n. For example 4! =
1*2*3*4 = 24. Additionally, it is defined that 0! = 1.
Example outputs:
Type a number: 3
Factorial is 6
Type a number: 10
Factorial is 3628800

Exercise 35: Sum of the powers

73

Create a program that calculates the sum of 20+21+22+...+2n, where n is a

number entered by the user. The notation 2i means raising the number 2
to the power of i, for example 24 = 2*2*2*2 = 16. In Java we cannot write
ab directly, but instead we can calculate the power with the command
Math.pow(number, power). Note that the command returns a number of
double type (i.e. floating point number). A double can be converted into
the int type (i.e. whole number) as follows: int result = (int)Math.pow(2,
3). This assigns the value of 23 to variable result.
Example outputs:
Type a number: 3
The result is 15
Type a number: 7
The result is 255

11.2 Infinite loops

One of the classic errors in programming is to accidentally create an infinite
loop. In the next example we try to print "Never again shall I program an
eternal loop!" 10 times:
int i = 0;

74

while (i < 10) {

System.out.println("Never again shall I program an eternal loop!");
}
The variable i, which determines is supposed to index the loops, is initially
set to 0. The block is looped as long as the condition i < 10 is true. But
something funny happens. Because the value of the variable i is never
changed, the condition stays true forever.

11.3 Ending a while loop

So far, we have used the while loop with a structure similar to this:
int i = 1;
while (i < 10) {
// Some code.
i++;
}
With the structure above, the variable i remembers the number of times the
the loop has been executed. The condition to end the loop is based on
comparing the value of i.
Let us now recall how a while loop is stopped. Ending a while loop does not
always need to be based on the amount of loops. The next example program
asks for the user's age. If the given age is not in the range 5-85, the program
prints a message and asks for the user's age again. As you can see, the
75

condition for the while loop can be any expression that results in a boolean
(truth value).
System.out.println("Type your age: ");
int age = Integer.parseInt(reader.nextLine());
while (age < 5 || age > 85) { // age less than 5 OR greater than 85
System.out.println("You are lying!");
if (age < 5) {
System.out.println("You are so young that you cannot know how to
write!");
} else if (age > 85) {
System.out.println("You are so old that you cannot know how to use a
computer!");
}
System.out.println("Type your age again: ");
age = Integer.parseInt(reader.nextLine();
}
System.out.println("Your age is " + age);
The program could also have been implemented using the good old while
(true) structure:

76

System.out.println("Type your age ");

int age;
while (true) {
age = Integer.parseInt(reader.nextLine());
if (age >= 5 && age <= 85) { // age between 5 AND 85
break; // end the loop
}
System.out.println("You are lying!");
if (age < 5) {
System.out.println("You are so young that you cannot know how to
write!");
} else { // that means age is over 85
System.out.println("You are so old that you cannot know how to use a
computer!");
}
System.out.println("Type your age again: ");
}
System.out.println("Your age is " + age);
Exercise 36: Loops, ending and remembering

77

This set of exercises will form one larger program when put together. We
create the program by adding features exercise by exercise. If you do not
finish all the exercises you can still send them to be reviewed by the
exercise robot. To do that, click the "submit" button, which has a picture
of an arrow and is located on the right of the testing button. Even though
the exercise robot complains about tests in the incomplete exercises, you
will still get points for the parts you have completed.
Note: from now on every sub-exercise of a larger exercise (like 36.1) has
the same value as an exercise without sub-exercises. It means that
exercise 36 as a whole corresponds to five normal exercises.
Exercise 36.1: Reading numbers
Create a program that asks the user to input numbers (integers). The
program prints "Type numbers until the user types the number -1. When
the user types the number -1, the program prints "Thank you and see you
later!" and ends.
Type numbers:
5
2
4
-1
Thank you and see you later!

Exercise 36.2: The sum of the numbers

78

Develop your number reading program by adding the following feature:

the program should print the sum of the numbers entered by the user
(without the number -1).
Type numbers:
5
2
4
-1
Thank you and see you later!
The sum is 11

Exercise 36.3: Summing and counting the numbers

Develop your number reading and summing program by adding the
following feature: the program should print how many numbers the user
typed (without the number -1).
Type numbers:
5
2
4
-1
Thank you and see you later!
The sum is 11
How many numbers: 3

79

Exercise 36.4: Counting the average

Develop your number reading, summing and counting program by adding
the following feature: the program should print the average of the
numbers the user typed (without the number -1).
Type numbers:
5
2
4
-1
Thank you and see you later!
The sum is 11
How many numbers: 3
Average: 3.666666666666

Exercise 36.5: Even and odd numbers

Develop your program by adding the following feature: the program
should print the number of even and odd numbers that the user typed
(without the number -1).
Type numbers:
5
2
80

4
-1
Thank you and see you later!
The sum is 11
How many numbers: 3
Average: 3.666666666666
Even numbers: 2
Odd numbers: 1

Note: creating a program in small steps

In these exercises we actually created one single program, but
programming happened in very small steps. This is ALWAYS the preferred
way to program.
When you are programming something, no matter if it is an exercise or a
project of your own, it is advised to do it in very tiny pieces. Do not ever try
to solve the whole problem in one go. Start with something easy, something
you know that you can do. In this recent set of exercises, for example, we
focused first on stopping the program when the user types -1. When one
part of the program is complete and working, we can move on to work out
the solution for the next sub-problem of the big main problem.
Some of the exercises in this course are sliced into smaller pieces like the
set of exercises we just introduced. Usually the pieces need to be sliced
again into smaller pieces depending on the problem. It is advised that you
81

execute the whole program after almost every new line of code you write.
This enables you to be sure that your solution is going in the right and
working direction.

12. Methods
We have so far used many different commands of Java: assignment,
calculations, comparison, if structures and while structures. We have been
using a "command" System.out.println() to print text. We can also count the
maximum of two numbers with the help of the "command" Math.max(). We
are also familiar with reader.nextLine(), usually seen together with
Integer.parseInt().
If we take a closer look, we notice that those commands differ from if and
while (etc). The first difference is that after the command there are brackets
() and sometimes an input for the command inside those brackets. Actually,
the commands ending with brackets are not called commands, but
methods.
Technically speaking, a method is a piece of code that can be called from
different places of the program code. The line of code System.out.println("I
am a parameter given to the method!") means that we call a method that
actually handles the printing. After the method has been executed we go
back to where we called the method, and continue executing. The input
given to the method inside the brackets is called a method parameter.

82

In addition to a parameter, the method can also have a return value, for
example, a familiar line of code:
int number = Integer.parseInt( reader.nextLine() );
includes two method calls. First the inner method reader.nextLine is called.
That method has the integer typed by the user as a return value. Next the
outer method Integer.parseInt is called. As a parameter for that method
there is the string of characters that was received from the reader.nextLine
method as a return value. The return value for the method Integer.parseInt
is the string of characters transformed into an integer (whole number).
Method names also seem to include a dot, for example reader.nextLine().
Actually the method name starts after the dot, here it is nextLine(). The first
part of the command that comes before the dot shows whose method is in
question. Here the method belongs to the reader, which means that we have
the reader's method nextLine. Later we will learn more precisely about the
owner of the method (or the name on the left side of the dot). An attentive
reader will notice that the method System.out.println() has two dots. Here,
the method name is println and System.out is the owner of the method.
Roughly System.out means the computer monitor.
This far we have been using ready-made methods from Java libraries. Next
we will learn how to create our own methods.

13. Self-written methods

83

This far we have been using a programming style where code is written
(and read and executed) from top to bottom.
It was mentioned before that "a method is a piece of code that can be called
from different places of the program code". Ready-made methods of Java
have been used since our very first program.
In addition to using these ready-made methods programmers can write
their own methods for programs to call. In the real world, it is really
exceptional if the program does not include any self-written methods. From
now on almost every program we create during this course will include selfwritten methods.
The methods are written in the program body outside the main's braces ( {
and } ) but still inside the outermost braces, for example like this: :
import java.util.Scanner;
public class ProgramBody {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);
// program code
}
// self-written methods
}
Let us create a method greet.
84

public static void greet() {

System.out.println("Greetings from the world of methods!");
}
And let us place it in the right spot.
import java.util.Scanner;
public class ProgramBody {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);
// program code
}
// self-written methods
public static void greet() {
System.out.println("Greetings from the world of methods!");
}
}
In order to define a new method we need to write two things. In the first
row of the method definition, you will find the name of the method, in this
case greet. On the left side of the name you will find the definitions public
static void. On the next line, the code block marked by the braces ({ and }).
Inside it, the method's code, or the commands that will be executed when

85

the method is called. Our method greet only writes one line of text to the
screen.
It is easy to call a self-written method. It happens by writing the method
name, brackets () and a semicolon. In the next example main (or the main
program) calls for our method, first once and then several times.
import java.util.Scanner;
public class ProgramBody {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);
// program code
System.out.println("Let us try if we can get to the method world:");
greet();
System.out.println("It seems like we can, let us try again:");
greet();
greet();
greet();
}
// self-written methods
public static void greet() {
System.out.println("Greetings from the world of methods!");

86

}
}
When the program is executed, we see the following output:
Let us try if we can get to the method world:
Greetings from the world of methods!
It seems like we can, let us try again:
Greetings from the world of methods!
Greetings from the world of methods!
Greetings from the world of methods!
What is noteworthy here is the execution order of the program code. The
execution starts with the main program's (or main's) lines of code, from top
to bottom, one by one. When the line of code to be executed happens to be a
method call, the lines of code in the method block are executed again one by
one. When the method block ends, the execution continues from the place
where the method was called. To be exact, the execution continues from the
next line after the original method call.
To be even more exact, the main program is also a method. When the
program starts, the operation system calls for the main method. That means
that the main method is the starting point of the program and the execution
starts from the first code line of main. The program execution ends when it
reaches the end of main.

87

From now on when we introduce methods, we will not point out that they
need to be written in the right place inside the program code. For example,
a method cannot be defined inside another method.
Exercise 37: Printing out text
Create a method printText that prints the following string of characters:
"In the beginning there were the swamp, the hoe and Java." and a line
break.
public static void main(String[] args) {
printText();
}
public static void printText() {
// write your code here
}

The program output:

In the beginning there were the swamp, the hoe and Java.

Exercise 38: Many prints

88

Develop the program by adding the following feature: the main program
should ask the user how many times the text should be printed (meaning
how many times the method is called).
public static void main(String[] args) {
// ask the user how many times the text should be printed
// use the while structure to call the printText method several times
}
public static void printText() {
// write your code here
}

The program output:

How many?
7
In the beginning there were the swamp, the hoe and Java.
In the beginning there were the swamp, the hoe and Java.
In the beginning there were the swamp, the hoe and Java.
In the beginning there were the swamp, the hoe and Java.
In the beginning there were the swamp, the hoe and Java.
In the beginning there were the swamp, the hoe and Java.
In the beginning there were the swamp, the hoe and Java.

89

Note: you should print the assisting question How many? on its own line!

13.1 Method parameters

We can make our methods more useful by giving it parameters! Parameters
are variables that we define inside brackets in the first line, just after the
method name. When the method is called, the parameters are assigned
values.
In the next example we define a method with a parameter, its name will be
greet and its parameter will be a variable of the type String called name.
public static void greet(String name) {
System.out.println("Hi " + name + ", greetings from the world of
methods!");
}
Let us next call the greet method so that on the first try we give its
parameter the value Matt and on the second try Arthur.
public static void main(String[] args) {
greet("Matt");
greet("Arthur");
}
Hi Matt, greetings from the world of methods!
Hi Arthur, greetings from the world of methods!

90

More complicated expressions can also be used as a parameter for our selfwritten methods, the same way we used them together with the readymade System.out.println() method.
public static void main(String[] args) {
String name1 = "Anne";
String name2 = "Green";
greet( name1 + " " + name2 );
int age = 24;
greet("John " + age + " years");
}
Hi Anne Green, greetings from the world of methods!
Hi John 24 years, greetings from the world of methods!
In both cases the method has only one parameter. The value for the
parameter is calculated before calling the method. In the first case the
parameter value comes from the String concatenation (a cool word that
means putting the text together) name1 + " " + name2. The value for the
concatenation is Anne Green. In the second case we get the parameter value
from the String concatenation "John " + age + " years".

13.2 Many parameters

A method can be defined to have more than one parameter. In this case, the
parameters are always listed in the same order.

91

public static void greet(String name, String greetingsFrom) {

System.out.println("Hi " + name + ", greetings from " + greetingsFrom);
}
String who = "Matt";
String greetings = "Alabama";
greet(who, greetings);
greet(who, greetings + " from Nevada");
In the last greet function (or method) call the second parameter is formed
by concatenating (or adding) the text from Nevada to the variable
greetings. This is done before the actual function call.
Hi Matt, greetings from Alabama
Hi Matt, greetings from Alabama from Nevada

13.3 Method calling another method

Methods can also be called outside of main. Methods can call each other! Let
us create a method greetManyTimes that greets the user many times getting
assistance from the method greet:
public static void greet(String name) {
System.out.println("Hi " + name + ", greetings from the world of
methods!");

92

}
public static void greetManyTimes(String name, int times) {
int i = 0;
while ( i < times ) {
greet(name);
i++;
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
greetManyTimes("Anthony", 3);
System.out.println("and");
greetManyTimes("Martin", 2);
}
Output:
Hi Anthony, greetings from the world of methods!
Hi Anthony, greetings from the world of methods!
Hi Anthony, greetings from the world of methods!
and
Hi Martin, greetings from the world of methods!
Hi Martin, greetings from the world of methods!

93

Exercise 39: Printing

Exercise 39.1: Printing stars
Create a method printStars that prints the given amount of stars and a
line break.
Create the method in the following body:
private static void printStars(int amount) {
// you can print one star with the command
// System.out.print("*");
// call this command amount times
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
printStars(5);
printStars(3);
printStars(9);
}

The program output:

*****
***
*********

94

Note: you can return exercises that contain many parts to the exercise
robot even though you are not finished with all parts. In that case, the
robot complains about tests in the unfinished parts of the exercise, but
gives you points for all tests that pass.
Exercise 39.2: Printing a square
Create a method printSquare(int sideSize) that prints a square using our
previous method printStars. The method call printSquare(4), for example,
prints the following:
****
****
****
****

Note: in order to complete the exercise it is not enough that the outprint
looks good. Inside the printSquare method the printing must be done
using the printStars method.
When you are in the middle of making your program, you should verify
the correctness of your methods by writing some test code into your main
method.
Exercise 39.3: Printing a rectangle

95

Create a method printRectangle(int width, int height) that prints a

rectangle using the printStars method. The call printRectangle(17,3), for
example, has the following output:
*****************
*****************
*****************

Exercise 39.4: Printing a left-aligned triangle

Create the method printTriangle(int size) that prints a triangle using the
printStars method. The method call printTriangle(4), for example, has the
following output:
*
**
***
****

Exercise 40: Printing Like A Boss

Exercise 40.1: Printing stars and whitespaces
Create a method printWhitespaces(int size) that prints the given amount
of whitespaces. Them method should not print a line break.

96

Reimplement or copy the method printStars(int size) from the previous

exercise.
Exercise 40.2: Printing a right-aligned triangle
Create the method printTriangle(int size) that prints a triangle using the
mehtods printWhitespaces and printStars. Note: do not print anything in
the method itself, just call the helper methods to do the actual printing.
For example, the method call printTriangle(4) has the following output:
*
**
***
****

Exercise 40.3: Printing a Christmas tree

Create the method xmasTree(int height) that prints a Christmas tree
using the mehtods printWhitespaces and printStars. A Christmas tree
consists of a triangle of given height and a stand. The stand is two stars
tall and three stars wide and it is located in the center of the bottom of the
triangle. Note: do not print anything in the method itself, just call the
helper methods to do the actual printing.
The method call xmasTree(4), for example, has the following output:
*

97

***
*****
*******
***
***

The method call xmasTree(10) has the following output:

*
***
*****
*******
*********
***********
*************
***************
*****************
*******************
***
***

Second note: You don't need to worry about heights below 3!

Exercise 41: Guessing a number game
98

In this exercise the following game is created:

Guess a number: 73
The number is lesser, guesses made: 1
Guess a number: 22
The number is greater, guesses made: 2
Guess a number: 51
The number is greater, guesses made: 3
Guess a number: 62
The number is greater, guesses made: 4
Guess a number: 68
The number is greater, guesses made: 5
Guess a number: 71
The number is lesser, guesses made: 6
Guess a number: 70
Congratulations, your guess is correct!

Exercise 41.1: Guessing a number

The program that comes with the exercise contains a command called
drawNumber. It draws a number, which is in the range 0 to 100 (both 0
and 100 are possible). Create a program that draws a number. Then the
user has the chance to guess once, what the number is. The program
should to print "The number is lesser", "The number is greater" or
"Congratulations, your guess is correct!" depending on the number the
user typed.

99

Guess a number: 12
The number is greater
Guess a number: 66
The number is lesser
Guess a number: 42
Congratulations, your guess is correct!

Exercise 41.2: Repeated guessing

Develop your program by adding the following functionality: the guessing
should be made repeatedly until the user types the right number. Note
that you need to draw the number by using the drawNumber command
before the repetition. Why? What happens if you draw the number inside
the repetition?
In the example below, the command call drawNumber returned the value
83.
Guess a number: 55
The number is greater
Guess a number: 85
The number is lesser
Guess a number: 77
The number is greater
Guess a number: 81
100

The number is greater

Guess a number: 83
Congratulations, your guess is correct!

Exercise 41.3: Counting the guesses

Develop your program by adding the following functionality: the program
needs to include a variable of type int, which is used to count the guesses
the user has made. The program should always print the number of
guesses along with the answer.
Guess a number: 55
The number is greater, guesses made: 1
Guess a number: 85
The number is lesser, guesses made: 2
Guess a number: 77
The number is greater, guesses made: 3
Guess a number: 81
The number is greater, guesses made: 4
Guess a number: 83
Congratulations, your guess is correct!

Exercise 42: A text-based user interface for the Hangman game

Your friend has programmed a Hangman game for you, but the game lacks
the user inferface. The Hangman has the following methods:
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hangman.gameOn()
Shows if the game is on
hangman.printStatus()
Prints the game status. Shows how many guesses have been made and
the letters that have not been used yet.
hangman.printWord()
Prints the word the user tries to guess. The letters that have not been
guessed yet are hidden as question marks, like "v?ri?ble".
hangman.printMan()
Prints the Hangman.
hangman.guess(String letter)
Guesses the letter that is given as a parameter.
You will get a program body from the exercise robot. It already contains
some functionalities:
Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);
Hangman hangman = new Hangman();
System.out.println("************");
System.out.println("* Hangman *");
System.out.println("************");
System.out.println("");
printMenu();
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System.out.println("");
// ADD YOUR IMPLEMENTATION HERE
System.out.println("Thank you for playing!");

In addition to the program body, you will get the method called
printMenu:
public static void printMenu() {
System.out.println(" * menu *");
System.out.println("quit - quits the game");
System.out.println("status - prints the game status");
System.out.println("a single letter uses the letter as a guess");
System.out.println("an empty line prints this menu");
}

The exercise is completed in small steps.

Exercise 42.1: Loops and ending loops
Create a loop in the program that works as a base for the rest of the user
interface. Ask the user to submit the command inside the loop. If the
command is "quit", break the loop.

103

Use the command hangman.gameOn as the condition for the while

structure. The loop should look like:
while (hangman.gameOn()) {
String command = reader.nextLine();
// ...
}

In the next set (week) of exercises, we will find out what this peculiarlooking condition for ending the loop is about.
This far the program should produce the following output:
************
* Hangman *
************
* menu *
quit - quits the game
status - prints the game status
a single letter uses the letter as a guess
an empty line prints this menu
Type a command:
do not quit

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Type a command:
quit
Thank you for playing!

Exercise 42.2: Printing the status

If the user gives the command "status", print the status using the method
hangman.printStatus().
************
* Hangman *
************
* menu *
quit - quits the game
status - prints the game status
a single letter uses the letter as a guess
an empty line prints this menu
Type a command:
status
You have not made any guesses yet.
Unused letters: abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Type a command:
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quit
Thank you for playing!

Exercise 42.3: Making a guess

If the user types in a single letter as a command, use it to make a guess.
Guessing a letter occurs in the method hangman.guess(command). The
guessing command has its own printing functionality, which it uses to
print more information about the guess.
Hint: finding out if the command is a single letter is done as follows:
String command = reader.nextLine();
if(command.length() == 1) { // command has only one letter, so it must
be a guess
hangman.guess(command);
}
...
Type a command:
a
The letter a is not in the word.
Type a command:
b
The letter b is not in the word.
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Type a command:
c
The letter c was found in the word!
Type a command:
quit
Thank you for playing!

Exercise 42.4: Printing out the menu

If the user types an empty string of characters, meaning a string that has
zero length, you need to call the method printMenu. Note that the method
printMenu is not in the Hangman game but in your own program.
Note: checking if the string is empty is done as follows:
String winnie = "the pooh";
if(winnie.isEmpty()) {
System.out.println("String was empty");
} else {
System.out.println("I found something!");
}

Exercise 42.5: Printing the man and the word

107

If the user has not typed the command quit, you should call the Hangman
game commands hangman.printMan() and hangman.printWord() at the
end of the loop.
...
Type a command:
a
The letter a is not in the word.
____
|
|
|
|
/|\
Word to be guessed: ????
Type a command:
m
The letter m was found in the word!
____
|
|
|
|
/|\
Word to be guessed: m???
108

Type a command:
quit
Thank you for playing!

Week 3

14. More about methods

14.1 Methods and visibility of variables
Let us try to change from within a method the value of a variable located in
the main program.
// main program
public static void main(String[] args) {
int number = 1;
addThree();
}
// method
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public static void addThree() {

number = number + 3;
}
Unfortunately this program will not work, because the method cannot "see"
the variable number located in the main program.
This holds generally. Variables defined in the main program are not visible
for other methods. Also, the other way is similar: variables defined in
methods are not visible for other methods or the main program. The only
way to give information to a method from the outside is to use parameters.
// main program
public static void main(String[] args) {
int number = 1;
System.out.println("Main program variable number holds the value: " +
number);
addThree(number);
System.out.println("Main program variable number holds the value: " +
number);
}
// method
public static void addThree(int number) {
System.out.println("Method parameter number holds the value: " +
number);
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number = number + 3;
System.out.println("Method parameter number holds the value: " +
number);
}
In the program above the method addThree has a parameter called number.
This parameter is copied (duplicated) for the method to use. When the
program above is executed we see the following output:
Main program variable number holds the value: 1
Method parameter number holds the value: 1
Method parameter number holds the value: 4
Main program variable number holds the value: 1
The number we gave as a parameter to the method was copied for the
method to use. If we would like the main program to be able to use the new
value generated by the method, the method needs to return that value.

14.2 Return values

A method can return a value. In the examples above, methods have not been
returning anything. This is expressed by writing void in the first line of the
method, just before it's name.
public static void addThree() {
...
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When defining a method that returns a value, we also have to define the
type of the return value. We can define the type of the return value by
writing it just before the name of the method. Next, we have a method that
always returns the number 10 (type int). Returning a value is accomplished
with the command return:
public static int alwaysReturnTen() {
return 10;
}
If we want to use the returned value later, we have to catch the return value
and store it into a variable:
public static void main(String[] args) {
int number = alwaysReturnTen();
System.out.println( "method returned the number " + number );
}
The return value of the method is assigned to a variable of type int just like
any other integer. The return value can also be a part of a sentence:
double number = 4 * alwaysReturnTen() + (alwaysReturnTen() / 2) - 8;
System.out.println( "calculation total " + number );

112

Every variable type we have seen this far can be used as a return value:
public static void methodThatReturnsNothing() {
// method body
}
public static int methodThatReturnsInteger() {
// method body, needs a return statement
}
public static String methodThatReturnsText() {
// method body, needs a return statement
}
public static double methodThatReturnsFloatingpoint() {
// method body, needs a return statement
}
If the method is defined to have a return value, it also has to return a value.
The following method is incorrect:
public static String wrongMethod() {
System.out.println("I tell you that I will return a String but I do not!");
}

113

In the following example, we define a method for calculating a sum. Then,

we use the method to calculate 2 + 7. The return value (returned after the
method call) is assigned to a variable called sumNumbers.
public static int sum(int first, int second) {
return first + second;
}
Method call:
int sumNumbers = sum(2, 7);
// sumNumbers now holds the value 9
Let us expand the example program so that the user types the numbers.
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.print("Type the first number: ");
int first = Integer.parseInt( reader.nextLine() );
System.out.print("Type the second number: ");
int second = Integer.parseInt( reader.nextLine() );
System.out.print("Total: " + sum(first,second) );
}
114

public static int sum(int first, int second) {

return first + second;
}
As we can see, the return value of the method does not always need to be
assigned to a variable. It can also act as a part of the printing command just
like any other integer value.
In the next example, we call the method sum using integers that we get as
return values from the method sum.
int first = 3;
int second = 2;
sum(sum(1, 2), sum(first, second));
// 1) the inner methods are executed:
// sum(1, 2) = 3 and sum(first, second) = 5
// 2) the outer method is executed:
// sum(3, 5) = 8

14.3 The method's own variables

The following method calculates the average of the numbers the method
gets as parameters. The method uses helper variables sum and average. The
method's own variables can be introduced just like any other variables.
115

public static double average(int number1, int number2, int number3) {

int sum = number1 + number2 + number3;
double average = sum / 3.0;
return average;
}
Exercise 43: Sum of numbers
Create the method sum that calculates the sum of numbers the method
receives as parameters.
Place the method in the following program body:
public static int sum(int number1, int number2, int number3, int
number4) {
// write program code here
// remember that the method needs a return in the end
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
int answer = sum(4, 3, 6, 1);
System.out.println("sum: " + answer);
}

116

Example output:
sum: 14

Note: if an exercise involves a method returning something, it means that

the return type needs to be defined for the method, and that the method
needs to return a value of that type using the return command. In this
case, the method does not print (or use the command
System.out.println(..)), the method caller handles printing, here, the main
program..
Exercise 44: Least
Create the method least, which returns the least of the numbers given as
parameters. If the parameters are equal, you can decide which one is
returned.
public static int least(int number1, int number2) {
// write program code here
// do not print anything inside the method
// method needs a return in the end
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
int answer = least(2, 7);
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System.out.println("Least: " + answer);

}

Example output:
Least: 2

Exercise 45: Greatest

Create the method greatest, which gets three integers as parameters and
then returns the greatest of them. If there are several parameters that are
equally great, you can decide which one is returned. Printing should be
done in the main program.
public static int greatest(int number1, int number2, int number3) {
// write your code here
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
int answer = greatest(2, 7, 3);
System.out.println("Greatest: " + answer);
}

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Example output:
Greatest: 7

Exercise 46: Average of given numbers

Create the method average, which calculates the average of the numbers
it gets as parameters. Inside the method you should use the method sum
as a helper!
Place the method in the following program body:
public static double average(int number1, int number2, int number3, int
number4) {
// write your code here
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
double answer = average(4, 3, 6, 1);
System.out.println("average: " + answer);
}

Program output:

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average: 3.5

Make sure you remember how you can transform a whole number (int)
into a decimal number (double)!

15. Strings of characters

In this section, we take a closer look at strings of characters in Java, which
are called Strings. We have already used variables of String type when
printing, and learned how to compare Strings. Comparing two strings is
performed by calling the equals() method of the string.
String animal = "Dog";
if( animal.equals("Dog") ) {
System.out.println(animal + " says bow-wow");
} else if ( animal.equals("Cat") ) {
System.out.println(cat + " says meow meow");
}
It is possible to ask the string how many characters long it is by writing
.length() after it's name. In other words, we are calling its length() method.
String banana = "banana";

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String cucumber = "cucumber";

String together = banana + cucumber;
System.out.println("The length of banana is " + banana.length());
System.out.println("The length of cucumber is " + cucumber.length());
System.out.println("The word " + together + " length is " +
together.length());
In the above code, the method length() is called for three different strings.
The call banana.length() calls only the method that gives the length of the
string banana, while cucumber.length() calls the method that gives the
length of the string cucumber etc. The left part before the dot says whose
method is called.
Java has a special data type, called char, to be used for characters. A char
variable can store only one character. A string variable can return a
character from a specific location in itself with the method charAt() that
uses the index of the location as a parameter. Note that counting the index
of the character starts from zero!
String word = "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious";
char character = word.charAt(3);
System.out.println("The 4th character of the word is " + character);
//prints "e"

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The characters in a string are numbered (indexed) starting from 0. This

means that we can reach the last character in a string with number (or
index) "the length of the word minus one", or word.charAt(word.length()1). The following example will make the program crash, because we are
trying to get a character from an index that does not exist.
char character = word.charAt(word.length());
A tip for using NetBeans
You can find all the NetBeans tips here
Renaming
Variables, methods and classes (we will learn about these in the next
set) need to have descriptive names. Often, a name is not that
describing and needs to be changed. In NetBeans, it is really easy to
rename things. Just select and "paint" the name you want to change
with the mouse. Then press ctrl and r simultaneously, and write the
new name.
Exercise 47: The length of a name
Create a program that asks for the user's name and says how many
characters the name contains.
Type your name: Paul
Number of characters: 4

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Type your name: Catherine

Number of characters: 9

Note!Your program should be structured so that you put the calculating

of the name length in it's own method: public static int
calculateCharacters(String text). The tests will be testing both the method
calculateCharacters and the program overall.
Exercise 48: First character
Create a program that asks for the user's name and gives the first
character.
Type your name: Paul
First character: P
Type your name: Catherine
First character: C

Note! Your program should be structured so that you put the search for
the first character in its own method: public static char
firstCharacter(String text). The tests will be testing both the method
firstCharacter and the program overall
Exercise 49: Last character
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Create a program that asks for the user's name and gives the last
character.
Type your name: Paul
Last character: l
Type your name: Catherine
Last character: e

Note! Your program should be structured so that you put the search for
the last character in its own method: public static char
lastCharacter(String text). The tests will be testing both the method
lastCharacter and the program overall.
Exercise 50: Separating first characters
Create a program that asks for the user's name and gives its first, second
and third characters separately. If the name length is less than three, the
program prints nothing. You do not need to create methods in this
exercise.
Type your name: Paul
1. character: P
2. character: a
3. character: u

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Type your name: me

Note: watch closely at the output in this and the following exercise. The
print needs to contain a space after the dot and the colon!
Exercise 51: Separating characters
Create a program that asks for the user's name and gives its characters
separately. You do not need to create methods in this exercise.
Type your name: Paul
1. character: P
2. character: a
3. character: u
4. character: l

Hint: using a while loop helps in this exercise!

Type your name: Catherine
1. character: C
2. character: a
3. character: t
4. character: h
5. character: e

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6. character: r
7. character: i
8. character: n
9. character: e

Exercise 52: Reversing a name

Create a program that asks for the user's name and prints it in reverse
order. You do not need to create a separate method for this.
Type your name: Paul
In reverse order: luaP
Type your name: Catherine
In reverse order: enirehtaC

Hint: You can print one character using the command

System.out.print()

15.1 Other methods for strings

We often want to read only a specific part of a string. A method in the String
class called substring makes this possible. It can be used in two ways:
String word = "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious";
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System.out.println(word.substring(14)); //prints "listicexpialidocious"

System.out.println(word.substring(9,20)); //prints "fragilistic"
We can store the return value in a variable, because the return value of the
substring method is of type String.
String book = "Mary Poppins";
String endpart = book.substring(5);
System.out.println("Harry " + endpart); // prints "Harry Poppins"
Methods in the String class also make it possible to search for a specific
word in text. For example, the word "or" can be found in the word "Horse".
A method called indexOf() searches for the word given as a parameter in a
string. If the word is found, it returns the starting index (location),
remember that the numbering starts from 0 of the word. If the word is not
found, the method returns the value -1.
String word = "aesthetically";
int index = word.indexOf("tic"); // index value will be 6
System.out.println(word.substring(index)); //prints "tically"
index = word.indexOf("ally"); //index value will be 9
System.out.println(word.substring(index)); //prints "ally"

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index = word.indexOf("book"); // string "aesthetically" does not include

"book"
System.out.println(index); //prints -1
System.out.println(word.substring(index)); //error!
Exercise 53: First part
Create a program that prints the first part of a word. The program asks
the user for the word and the length of the first part. Use the substring
method in your program.
Type a word: example
Length of the first part: 4
Result: exam
Type a word: example
Length of the first part: 6
Result: exampl

Exercise 54: The end part

Create a program that prints the end part of a word. The program asks the
user for the word and the length of the end part. Use the substring
method in your program.
Type a word: example
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Length of the end part: 4

Result: mple
Type a word: example
Length of the end part: 6
Result: xample

Exercise 55: A word inside a word

Create a program that asks the user for two words. Then the program tells
if the second word is included in the first word. Use String method
indexOf in your program.
Type the first word: glitter
Type the second word: litter
The word 'litter' is found in the word 'glitter'.
Type the first word: glitter
Type the second word: clean
The word 'clean' is not found in the word 'glitter'.

Note: Make your program outputs (prints) match exactly the example
above!
Exercise 56: Reversing text
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Create the method reverse that puts the given string in reversed order.
Use the following program body for the method:
public static String reverse(String text) {
// write your code here
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.print("Type in your text: ");
String text = reader.nextLine();
System.out.println("In reverse order: " + reverse(text));
}

Hint: you probably need to build the reversed string character by

character in your method. You can use a String-type variable as a helper
during the building process. In the beginning, the helper variable should
have an empty string of characters as a value. After this, new characters
are added to the string one by one.
String help = "";
// ...
// adding a character to the help variable
help = help + character;

130

Program output:
Type a text: example
elpmaxe

16. Object
Strings and integers have some differences. Integers are "just values", they
can be used in calculations and they can be printed on the screen:
int x = 1;
int y = 2;
y = 3*x;
System.out.println( "value of y now: " + y );
Strings are a bit "cleverer" and for example know how long they are:
String word1 = "Programming";
String word2 = "Java";
System.out.println( "String "+ word1 +" length: " + word1.length() );

131

System.out.println( "String "+ word2 +" length: " + word2.length() );

Program output:
String Programming length: 11
String Java length: 4
We can determine the length by calling the String method length(). Strings
have other methods as well. Integers (or whole numbers, variables of type
int) have no methods at all. They do not "know" anything.
Strings are objects, or "something that has methods and a value". Later we
will see many other objects as well.
As we can see in the previous example, an object's methods are called by
adding a dot and a method call after the name of the object:
word1.length() // String object's name is word1 and its method length()
is called
word2.length() // String object's name is word2 and its method length()
is called
The method call is made explicitly to the object. In the above example, we
have two objects and first we call the length() method of the String object
word1 and then do the same for the object word2.

132

Our old friend reader is also an object:

Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);
Even though readers and strings are both objects, they are not very similar.
For example, readers (Scanners) have the nextLine() method, but Strings do
not. In the Java programming language, objects must be "born", in other words
created with the new command. Strings are objects that make an exception to
this rule! -- There are two ways to create a String object:
String banana = new String("Banana");
String carrot = "carrot";
Both of the commands above create a new String object. Using the new
command when creating a String objects is uncommon.
The object's "type" is called a class. The class of a string of characters is
called String and the class of readers is called Scanner. Later we learn much
more about classes and objects.

17. ArrayList or an "object container"

Often during programming, we would like to keep many different strings in
memory. A very bad idea would be to define a variable for each of them: :
String word1;
String word2;
String word3;
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// ...
String word10;
This would be such a good-for-nothing solution that it does not almost need
an explanation -- think of this approach for a word count of 100 or 1000!
Just like other modern programming languages, Java gives us different tools
to store many objects neatly in our programs. Now, we take a closer look at
ArrayList, which is probably the most used object container in Java.
The following lines of code make use of an ArrayList that holds specifically
objects of type String. A couple of strings are stored into the list.
import java.util.ArrayList;
public class ListProgram {
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<String> wordList = new ArrayList<String>();
wordList.add("First");
wordList.add("Second");
}
}
In the above main program method, the first row creates a new ArrayList
called wordList, which can be used as a container for String variables. The
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type of the ArrayList is ArrayList<String>, which means that the ArrayList is

meant for storing Strings. The list is created using the command new
ArrayList<String>();.
Note: to make the ArrayList work, we must first write an import statement
at the beginning of the program either import java.util.ArrayList; or import
java.util.*;
When the list is created, two strings are added by calling the list method
add. The list will not run out of space, so theoretically the list can contain
any amount of Strings (as long as they fit in the computer's memory).
Internally an ArrayList is -- as its name suggests -- a list. The added strings
automatically go to the end of the ArrayList.

17.1 Methods of ArrayLists

ArrayList provides us with many useful methods:
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<String> teachers = new ArrayList<String>();
teachers.add("Anthony");
teachers.add("Barto");
teachers.add("Paul");
teachers.add("John");
teachers.add("Martin");
teachers.add("Matt");
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System.out.println("the number of teachers " + teachers.size() );

System.out.println("first teacher on the list " + teachers.get(0));
System.out.println("third teacher on the list " + teachers.get(2));
teachers.remove("Barto");
if (teachers.contains("Barto")) {
System.out.println("Barto is on the teachers list");
} else {
System.out.println("Barto is not on the teachers list");
}
}
First a list of strings is created and then 6 names added to it. size tells us the
amount of strings in the list. Note: when the method is called, the call
should have the following format: teachers.size(). First comes the name of
the object, then follows a dot followed by the name of the method.
The strings will be in the list in the order in which they were added to it. By
calling the method get(i), we get the value from the index (location) i in the
list. The indexing of items in the list starts from 0. This means that the first
added string is located at index 0, the second at index 1, and so on.
We can remove strings from lists through the method remove. The method
can be used in two ways. First, remove("characters") removes the string
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given as a parameter. Second, remove(3) removes the 4th String from the
list.
At the end of the example, the method contains is called. This method is
used for asking the list if it contains the string given as a parameter. If it
does, the method returns the value true.
Program output:
the number of teachers 6
first teacher on the list Anthony
third teacher on the list Paul
Barto is not on the teachers list
Note! The methods remove and contains assume that the objects stored in
the ArrayList do have an equals method. We will get back to this later in the
course.

17.2 Going through an ArrayList

In the following example 4 names are added to the list. Then the whole list
is printed:
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<String> teachers = new ArrayList<String>();
teachers.add("Anthony");

137

teachers.add("Paul");
teachers.add("John");
teachers.add("Martin");
System.out.println( teachers.get(0) );
System.out.println( teachers.get(1) );
System.out.println( teachers.get(2) );
System.out.println( teachers.get(3) );
}
This solution works, but is really clumsy. What if there were more items in
the list? Or less? What if we would not know how many items there are?
First, we create a temporary version:
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<String> teachers = new ArrayList<String>();
teachers.add("Anthony");
teachers.add("Paul");
teachers.add("John");
teachers.add("Martin");
teachers.add("Matt");
int place = 0;
System.out.println( teachers.get(place) );
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place++;
System.out.println( teachers.get(place) ); // place = 1
place++;
System.out.println( teachers.get(place) ); // place = 2
place++;
System.out.println( teachers.get(place) ); // place = 3
}
Using our old friend the while command, we can increment the variable
place by one until it gets too big:
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<String> teachers = new ArrayList<String>();
teachers.add("Anthony");
teachers.add("Paul");
teachers.add("John");
teachers.add("Martin");
teachers.add("Matt");
int place = 0;
while ( place < teachers.size() ) // remember why place <=
teachers.size() doesn't work?
System.out.println( teachers.get(place) );
place++;

139

}
}
Now, printing works regardless of the amount of items in the list.
Using a while loop, and "self indexing" the locations in the list, is usually not
the best way to go through a list. A much more recommended way is to use
the for-each loop described below.

17.3 for-each
Even though the command is usually referred to as for-each, the real name
of the command is only for. There are two versions of for, the traditional
and the "for-each". The latter is used now.
Going through items in an ArrayList with for-each is easy:
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<String> teachers = new ArrayList<String>();
teachers.add("Anthony");
teachers.add("Paul");
teachers.add("John");
teachers.add("Martin");
teachers.add("Matt");
for (String teacher : teachers) {
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System.out.println( teacher );
}
}
As we can see, the indexes of the list can be ignored if we go through the
content of the list "automatically".
In the code block of the for command (inside { }) a variable teacher is used.
It is defined in the for row, on the left side of the colon. What happens is that
every item in the list teachers becomes the value of the variable teacher,
one by one. It means that when for is entered, the first teacher is Anthony,
the second execution of for makes the teacher become Paul etc.
Even though the for command might seem a bit strange at first, you should
definitely get used to use it!
Exercise 57: Words
Create a program that asks the user to input words until the user types in
an empty String. Then the program prints the words the user gave. Try the
for repetition sentence here. Use an ArrayList structure in your program.
ArrayList is defined like this:
ArrayList<String> words = new ArrayList<String>();
Type a word: Mozart
Type a word: Schubert
Type a word: Bach
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Type a word: Sibelius

Type a word: Liszt
Type a word:
You typed the following words:
Mozart
Schubert
Bach
Sibelius
Liszt

Note: an empty String can be detected this way:

String word = reader.nextLine();
if ( word.isEmpty() ) { // could also be: word.equals("")
// word was empty, meaning that the user only pressed enter
}

Exercise 58: Recurring word

Create a program that asks the user to input words until the user gives the
same word twice. Use an ArrayList structure in your program. ArrayList is
defined like this:

142

ArrayList<String> words = new ArrayList<String>();

Type a word: carrot
Type a word: celery
Type a word: turnip
Type a word: rutabaga
Type a word: celery
You gave the word celery twice

Hint: Remember that ArrayList has the method .contains()

17.4 Ordering, reversing and shuffling a list

Items in an ArrayList are easy to order by size. Ordering by size means an
alphabetic order when the list items are of type String. Ordering is done as
follows:
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<String> teachers = new ArrayList<String>();
// ...
Collections.sort(teachers);
for (String teacher : teachers) {
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System.out.println( teacher );
}
}
Output:
Anthony
Barto
John
Martin
Matt
Paul
We give the list as a parameter for the method Collections.sort. The import
line import java.util.Collections; or import java.util.*; needs to be at the
beginning of the program in order to get tools of Collections working in our
program.
Collections also includes other useful methods:
shuffle shuffles the list items, can be useful for example in games
reverse reverses the order of list items
Exercise 59: Words in reverse order

144

Create a program that asks the user to input words, until the user gives an
empty string. Then the program prints the words the user gave in
reversed order, the last word is printed first etc.
Type a word: Mozart
Type a word: Schubert
Type a word: Bach
Type a word: Sibelius
Type a word: Liszt
Type a word:
You typed the following words:
Liszt
Sibelius
Bach
Schubert
Mozart

Exercise 60: Words in alphabetical order

Create a similar program as the previous one, but in which the words are
printed in alphabetical order.
Type a word: Mozart
Type a word: Schubert
Type a word: Bach
Type a word: Sibelius
145

Type a word: Liszt

Type a word:
You typed the following words:
Bach
Liszt
Mozart
Schubert
Sibelius

17.5 ArrayList as a parameter for a method

ArrayList can be given to a method as a parameter:
public static void print(ArrayList<String> list) {
for (String word : list) {
System.out.println( word );
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<String> list = new ArrayList<String>();
list.add("Java");
list.add("Python");
list.add("Ruby");
list.add("C++");
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print(list);
}
The type of the parameter is defined as an ArrayList of String variables the
same way a String ArrayList is defined:
Note that the name of the parameter can be anything:
public static void print(ArrayList<String> printed) {
for (String word : printed) {
System.out.println( word );
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<String> programmingLanguages = new ArrayList<String>();
programmingLanguages.add("Java");
programmingLanguages.add("Python");
programmingLanguages.add("Ruby");
programmingLanguages.add("C++");
ArrayList<String> countries = new ArrayList<String>();
countries.add("Finland");
countries.add("Sweden");
countries.add("Norway");
147

print(programmingLanguages); // method is given the list

programmingLanguages
as a parameter
print(countries);

// method is given the list countries as a

parameter
}
The program now includes two lists, programmingLanguages and countries.
First the printing method is given the list programmingLanguages. The
method print internally refers to the list given as a parameter with the
name printed! Next, the printing method is given the list countries. Now, the
method uses again the name printed referring to the parameter list.
Exercise 61: Amount of items in a list
Create the method public static int countItems(ArrayList<String> list)
that returns the number of the items in the list. Your method should not
print anything. Use a return statement to return the number as shown in
the following example:
ArrayList<String> list = new ArrayList<String>();
list.add("Hallo");
list.add("Ciao");
list.add("Hello");
System.out.println("There are this many items in the list:");
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System.out.println(countItems(list));

There are this many items in the list:

3

Inside the method, it is possible to influence the items in the parameter

list. In the following example, the method removeFirst --as the name
suggests-- removes the first string from the list. What would happen if the
list was empty?
public static void print(ArrayList<String> printed) {
for (String word : printed) {
System.out.println( word );
}
}
public static void removeFirst(ArrayList<String> list) {
list.remove(0); // removes the first item (indexed 0)
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<String> programmingLanguages = new ArrayList<String>();
programmingLanguages.add("Pascal");
programmingLanguages.add("Java");
149

programmingLanguages.add("Python");
programmingLanguages.add("Ruby");
programmingLanguages.add("C++");
print(programmingLanguages);
removeFirst(programmingLanguages);
System.out.println(); // prints an empty line
print(programmingLanguages);
}

Output:
Pascal
Java
Python
Ruby
C++
Java
Python
Ruby

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C++

Similarly a method could, for example, add more strings to the list it
received as a parameter.
Exercise 62: Remove last
Create the method public static void removeLast(ArrayList<String> list),
which removes the last item from the list. Example code:
ArrayList<String> brothers = new ArrayList<String>();
brothers.add("Dick");
brothers.add("Henry");
brothers.add("Michael");
brothers.add("Bob");
System.out.println("brothers:");
System.out.println(brothers);
// sorting brothers
brothers.sort();
// removing the last item
removeLast(brothers);

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System.out.println(brothers);

Example output:
brothers:
[Dick, Henry, Michael, Bob]
[Bob, Dick, Henry]

As we notice from the example above, an ArrayList can be printed as it is.

The print formatting is not usually what is sought after, so we are forced to
handle the printing ourself. For example, with the help of the for command.

17.6 Numbers in an ArrayList

ArrayLists can be used to store any type of values. If the stored variables are
of integer type, there are a couple of details to remember. An integer
ArrayList is defined like this: ArrayList<Integer>, instead of writing int you
must write Integer.
The method remove does not work like expected when the list consists of
int numbers::
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<Integer> numbers = new ArrayList<Integer>();

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numbers.add(4);
numbers.add(8);
// tries to remove the number from the index 4, does not work as
expected!
numbers.remove(4);
// this removes the number 4 from the list
numbers.remove(Integer.valueOf(4));
}
numbers.remove(4) tries to remove the item in the index 4 from the list.
There are only 2 items in the list, so the command generates an error. We
must use a slightly more complicated command if the number 4 needs to be
removed: numbers.remove( Integer.valueOf(4) );
ArrayLists can also be used to store doubles (decimal numbers) and
characters (char variables). The lists can be defined as follows:

ArrayList<Double> doubles = new ArrayList<Double>();

ArrayList<Character> characters = new ArrayList<Character>();
Exercise 63: Sum of the numbers

153

Create the method sum, which receives a list of numbers

(ArrayList<Integer>) as a parameter and then calculates the sum of the
items in that list.
Create the method using the following program body:
public static int sum(ArrayList<Integer> list) {
// write your code here
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<Integer> list = new ArrayList<Integer>();
list.add(3);
list.add(2);
list.add(7);
list.add(2);
System.out.println("The sum: " + sum(list));
list.add(10);
System.out.println("the sum: " + sum(list));
}

Program output:

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The sum: 14
The sum: 24

Exercise 64: Average of numbers

Create the method average, which receives a list of numbers
(ArrayList<Integer>) as a parameter and then calculates the average of
the items in that list.
Note: the method should use the method sum from the previous exercise
to calculate the sum of the parameters.
Create the method using the following program body:
public static double average(ArrayList<Integer> list) {
// write your code here
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<Integer> list = new ArrayList<Integer>();
list.add(3);
list.add(2);
list.add(7);
list.add(2);

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System.out.println("The average is: " + average(list));

}

Program output:

The average is: 3.5

17.7 ArrayList as return value of a method

ArrayList can also be returned from a method as a return value. In the next
example, a method creates an ArrayList, adds three integers into the list and
then returns the list. Pay attention to how the main program assigns the list
returned by the method as a value into a variable that has the same type as
the return value:
public class Main {
public static ArrayList<Integer> addNumbersToList(int num1, int num2,
int num3){
ArrayList<Integer> list = new ArrayList<Integer>();
list.add(num1);
list.add(num2);
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list.add(num3);
return list;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<Integer> numbers = addNumbersToList(3, 5, 2);
for (int number : numbers) {
System.out.println( number );
}
}
}
Exercise 65: The lengths of the Strings
Create the method lengths that gets a list of String variables as a
parameter and returns an ArrayList that contains the lengths of the
Strings in the same order as the original list.
public static ArrayList<Integer> lengths(ArrayList<String> list) {
// write your code here
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<String> list = new ArrayList<String>();
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list.add("Hallo");
list.add("Moi");
list.add("Benvenuto!");
list.add("badger badger badger badger");
ArrayList<Integer> lengths = lengths(list);
System.out.println("The lengths of the Strings: " + lengths);
}

Program output:

The lengths of the Strings: [5, 3, 10, 27]

Exercise 66: The Greatest

Create the method greatest, which receives a list of numbers
(ArrayList<Integer>) as a parameter and then returns the greatest
number in the list as a return value.
public static int greatest(ArrayList<Integer> list) {
// write your code here
}

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public static void main(String[] args) {

ArrayList<Integer> list = new ArrayList<Integer>();
list.add(3);
list.add(2);
list.add(7);
list.add(2);
System.out.println("The greatest number is: " + greatest(list));
}

Program output:

The greatest number is: 7

Exercise 67: Variance

Create the method variance, which receives a list of integers as a
parameter and then returns the sample variance of that list. You can
check how a sample variance is calculated in Wikipedia, under
"Population variance and sample variance".
Note: the method should use the method average of exercise 64 to
calculate the average of the parameters. The method should be called only
once!
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public static double variance(ArrayList<Integer> list) {

// write your code here
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<Integer> list = new ArrayList<Integer>();
list.add(3);
list.add(2);
list.add(7);
list.add(2);
System.out.println("The variance is: " + variance(list));
}

Program output:

The variance is: 5.666667

(The average of the numbers is 3.5, so the sample variance is ((3 - 3.5) +
(2 - 3.5) + (7 - 3.5) + (2 - 3.5))/(4 - 1) ? 5,666667.)
Note while testing your program! Sample variance for a list that
contains only one item is not defined! It causes a division by zero in the
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formula. Java considers the result of division by zero as a Not a Number

(NaN).

18. Using truth values

A variable of type truth value (boolean) can only have two values: either
true or false). Here is an example on how to use boolean variables:
int num1 = 1;
int num2 = 5;
boolean firstGreater = true;
if (num1 <= num2) {
firstGreater = false;
}
if (firstGreater==true) {
System.out.println("num1 is greater");
} else {
System.out.println("num1 was not greater");
}
First, we assign the truth value variable firstGreater the value true. The first
if sentence checks whether num1 is less or equal to num2. If it is, we change

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the value of firstGreater to false. The later if sentence selects which string to
print based on the truth value.
As a matter of fact, using a truth value in a conditional sentence is easier
than the description in the previous example. We can write the second if
sentence as follows:
if (firstGreater) { // means the same as firstGreater==true
System.out.println("num1 was greater");
} else {
System.out.println("num1 was not greater");
}
If we want to check if the boolean variable holds the value true, we do not
need to write ==true, just writing the name of the variable is enough!
If we want to check if the boolean variable holds the value false, we can
check that using the negation operation ! (exclamation mark):
if (!firstGreater) { // means the same as firstGreater==false
System.out.println("num1 was not greater");
} else {
System.out.println("num1 was greater");
}

18.1 Methods that return a truth value

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Truth values come in especially handy when we want to write methods that
check for validity. Let us create a method that checks if the list it gets as a
parameter includes only positive numbers (here 0 is considered positive).
The method returns the information as a boolean (i.e. truth value).
public static boolean allPositive(ArrayList<Integer> numbers) {
boolean noNegative = true;
for (int number : numbers) {
if (number < 0) {
noNegative = false;
}
}
// if one of the numbers on the list had a value that is below zero,
noNegatives becomes false.
return noNegative;
}
The method has a boolean helper variable called noNegative. First we assign
the helper variable the value true. The method checks all numbers on the
list one by one. If at least one number is less than 0, we assign the helper
variable the value false. In the end the method returns the value of the
helper variable. If no negative numbers were found, it has the value true,
otherwise it has the value false.
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The method is used as follows:

public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<Integer> numbers = new ArrayList<Integer>();
numbers.add(3);
numbers.add(1);
numbers.add(-1);
boolean result = allPositive(numbers);
if (result) { // means the same as result == true
System.out.println("all numbers are positive");
} else {
System.out.println("there is at least one negative number");
}
}
Usually it is not necessary to store the answer into a variable. We can write
the method call directly as the condition:
ArrayList<Integer> numbers = new ArrayList<Integer>();
numbers.add(4);
numbers.add(7);
numbers.add(12);
numbers.add(9);
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if (allPositive(numbers)) {
System.out.println("all numbers are positive");
} else {
System.out.println("there is at least one negative number");
}

18.2 The return command and ending a method

The execution of a method is stopped immediately when a command called
return is executed. Using this information to our advantage, we write the
allPositive method easier to understand.
public static boolean allPositive(ArrayList<Integer> numbers) {
for (int number : numbers) {
if (number < 0) {
return false;
}
}
// if the execution reached this far, no negative numbers were found
// so we return true
return true;
}

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When we are going through the list of numbers and we find a negative
number, we can exit the method by returning false. If there are no negative
numbers on the list, we get to the end and therefore can return the value
true. We now got rid of the helper variable inside the method!
Exercise 68: Is the number more than once in the list?
Create the method moreThanOnce that gets a list of integers and an
integer (i.e. number) as parameter. If the number appears on the list more
than once the method returns true and otherwise false.
The program body is the following:
public static boolean moreThanOnce(ArrayList<Integer> list, int number)
{
// write your code here
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);
ArrayList<Integer> list = new ArrayList<Integer>();
list.add(3);
list.add(2);
list.add(7);
list.add(2);
System.out.println("Type a number: ");
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int number = Integer.parseInt(reader.nextLine());

if (moreThanOnce(list, number)) {
System.out.println(number + " appears more than once.");
} else {
System.out.println(number + " does not appear more than once.");
}
}

Type a number: 2
2 appears more than once

Type a number: 3
3 does not appear more than once.

Exercise 69: Palindrome

Create the method palindrome that checks if a string is a palindrome
(reads the same forward and backward).
The method can use the method reverse (from assignment number 56.
Reversing text) as a helper. The method type is boolean, so it returns
either true (the string is a palindrome) or false (the string is not a
palindrome).

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public static boolean palindrome(String text) {

// write your code here
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.println("Type a text: ");
String text = reader.nextLine();
if (palindrome(text)) {
System.out.println("The text is a palindrome!");
} else {
System.out.println("The text is not a palindrome!");
}
}

Example outputs:

Type a text: madam

The text is a palindrome!

Type a word: example

The text is not a palindrome!
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Week 4

19. Methods and copying parameters

Let us focus on a couple of details concerning methods.
In section 15 was an example, in which we tried to change the value of a
main program variable inside a method.
public static void main(String[] args) {
int number = 1;
addThree();
System.out.println("Main program variable number holds the value: " +
number);
}
public static void addThree() {
number = number + 3;
}

This program of ours does not work. The reason is that the method cannot
access the main program variable number.

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This is because main program variables are not visible to methods. More
generally: no method variable is visible to other methods. As the main
program main is also a method, this constraint holds for the main program
as well. The only way to give information to a method is through
parameters.
Let us try to fix the above example by passing the main program variable
number to the method as a parameter.
public static void main(String[] args) {
int number = 1;
addThree(number);
System.out.println(number); // prints 1, the value did not change
}
public static addThree(int number) {
number = number + 3;
}

Still, the program does not function the way we want. The method
parameters are different variables than the ones introduced in the main
program. In the previous example, the method increments a variable with
the same name as the main program variable. The parameter has the same
name, but is not the same as the main program variable number.

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When a parameter is given to a method, the value of the parameter is copied

into a new variable and that new variable is the one the method uses. In the
example above, the variable number that was given to the method addThree
as a parameter, will be copied and then the copy is actually handed out for
the method to use. The method uses a copy of the variable from the main
program, not the original variable. The main program variable number
stays unchanged.
We can imagine that the main program method main and the method
addThree both work in their own parts of the computer memory. In the
picture below, there is a "box" for the value of the variable number of the
main method. When the method is called, a new "box" named number will
be created and the main value of the method variable number will be copied
into it. In this example, the number is 1. Both variables that are called
number are separate, therefore when the method addThree changes the
value of its own variable called number it does not affect the variable
number in the main program.
The picture below will demonstrate what happens.

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The method can still naturally pass information to the caller, which happens
by using a return value (i.e. using a return command to return a variable
with a value). We can get the previous example to work by changing the
code a little bit:
public static void main(String[] args) {
int number = 1;
number = addThreeAndReturn(number);
System.out.println(number); // prints 4, because number has the
method return value as its value
}
public static int addThreeAndReturn(int number) {
number = number + 3;
return number;
}

The method still uses the copy of the main program variable number. In the
main program, we assign the variable number the method return value as a
new value, so that we can get the change to take effect in the main program.
Note that the name of the method variable plays no role here. The code
works exactly the same regardless of the variable names. Here follows an
example:
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public static void main(String[] args) {

int number = 1;
number = addThreeAndReturn(number);
System.out.println(number);
}
public static int addThreeAndReturn(int incremented) {
incremented = incremented + 3;
return incremented;
}

We have now found out that the parameters in methods are different
variables than the variables introduced in the method call. Only the
parameter value gets copied from the caller to the method.
Unfortunately this is not the whole story. If a method gets an ArrayList as a
parameter, the method sees the original list and all the changes the method
makes will take effect everywhere.
public static void removeFirst(ArrayList<Integer> list) {
list.remove(0); // removes the number from index 0
}

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public static void main(String[] args) {

ArrayList<Integer> numbers = new ArrayList<Integer>();
numbers.add(4);
numbers.add(3);
numbers.add(7);
numbers.add(3);
System.out.println(numbers); // prints [4,3,7,3]
removeFirst(numbers);
System.out.println(numbers); // prints [3,7,3]
}

Unlike a parameter of int type, a list will not be copied and therefore the
method makes changes to the original list given as a parameter.
The picture below will clarify the example. ArrayList does not live in an
imagined "box" like an int. The variable name in the example numbers is
only a reference that refers to the place where the ArrayList is. One way to
visualize this is that an ArrayList is connected with a wire. The name of the
ArrayList is a "wire", and the list itself is located "at the other end of the
wire". When we give the ArrayList to a method as a parameter, we actually
give the method a wire. When the method uses its parameter, it finds the
original list at the other end of this wire. Actually the main program and the
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method do have separate wires, but both wires have the same original list at
the end of them and all the changes will be made directly to the original list.
During and after this week we will find out that many things in Java are
"connected with a wire".

Note that again the parameter name inside the method can be anything. It
does not need to be the same as the name in the main program (or other
method that calls it). In the example above, the method uses the name list
but the method caller sees the same list with a different name: numbers.
Now, you probably start to wonder why does the value of the parameter get
copied and the original variable stay intact when the parameter is of int
type, but the original list is given to the method when the parameter is of
ArrayList type? In Java only the values of primitive data types (which are
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int, double, char, boolean and a couple of others that we have not yet
discussed) get copied to the method. When the method parameters are of
other types only the references are copied to the method. A reference is like
a "wire", therefore the method can access the list using it directly. The
variables that are not of primitive data types are of reference data types
and are "wired" just like the ArrayList in the previous example. The method
is given the wire and the method can access the parameter directly.
Exercise 70: Combining ArrayLists
Create the method public static void combine(ArrayList<Integer> first,
ArrayList<Integer> second) that inserts the items in a list called second to
a list called first. The order of the items can be anything and the same
item can appear in the list more than once. An example on using the
method:
ArrayList<Integer> list1 = new ArrayList<Integer>();
ArrayList<Integer> list2 = new ArrayList<Integer>();
list1.add(4);
list1.add(3);
list2.add(5);
list2.add(10);
list2.add(7);
combine(list1, list2);
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System.out.println(list1); // prints [4, 3, 5, 10, 7]

System.out.println(list2); // prints [5, 10, 7]

We can use the method addAll provided by the ArrayList class to add one
list in another list. The list gets the other list, whose items are to be added,
as a parameter.
Exercise 71: Smart combining
Create the method smartCombine that works like the previous combine
method except that numbers can be on the list only once. This means that
the method adds a new number to the list only if the list does not already
contain that number. You might find the method contains from the
ArrayList class useful. You can use that method to check if a number is in
the list.

20. Instructions on code-writing and problem solving

Two of the leading software developers, Martin Fowler and Kent Beck have
said in the book Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code that:
Fowler: "Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good
programmers write code that humans can understand."

177

Beck: "I'm not a great programmer, I'm just good a programmer with great
habits."
[Update: previously both quotes were credited to Kent Beck. Our thanks go
to Esko Luontola for pointing out this mistake]:
We are now taking the first steps towards becoming good programmers.

20.1 Well indented and "breathing" code

Let us take a look at a code that first adds numbers to a list and then prints
the items fo the list. Then all instances of a certain number are removed
from the list and the list gets printed.
First, we write the code badly and without indentations:

public static void main(String[] args) {

ArrayList<Integer> numbers = new ArrayList<Integer>();
numbers.add(4);
numbers.add(3);
numbers.add(7);
numbers.add(3);
System.out.println("The numbers in the beginning:");
for (int number : numbers) {
System.out.println(number);
}
while (numbers.contains(Integer.valueOf(3))) {
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numbers.remove(Integer.valueOf(3));
}
System.out.println("The numbers after removal:");
for (int number : numbers) {
System.out.println(number);
}
Even though the unindented code works, it is unpleasant to read. Let us
indent the code (you can get NetBeans to auto-indent your code by pressing
Alt+Shift+F) and separate logical parts with line breaks:
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<Integer> numbers = new ArrayList<Integer>();
numbers.add(4);
numbers.add(3);
numbers.add(7);
numbers.add(3);
System.out.println("The numbers in the beginning:");
// here we print numbers
for (int number : numbers) {
System.out.println(number);
}
// checks if the list contains the number 3
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while (numbers.contains(Integer.valueOf(3))) {
numbers.remove(Integer.valueOf(3)); // if yes, it is removed
}
// we use a while structure to get all the threes removed!
System.out.println("The numbers after removal:");
// here we print numbers
for (int number : numbers) {
System.out.println(number);
}
}
Now, the code starts to make sense. For example, the printing and the
number removal are two logical parts, therefore they are separated with
line breaks. The code is airy and reading the code is much more pleasant.
There are even comments in the code to help the reader understand what
happens and where!

20.2 Getting rid of copy-paste with methods

What could be called the Original sin of a programmer is to create copypaste code. This means using the same code in multiple places by copypasting it around the source code. In our example, the printing of the list is
done twice. The code that handles the printing part should be separated as

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its own method. Then the printing method should be called from the main
program:
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<Integer> numbers = new ArrayList<Integer>();
numbers.add(4);
numbers.add(3);
numbers.add(7);
numbers.add(3);
System.out.println("The numbers in the beginning:");
// here we print numbers
print(numbers);
while (numbers.contains(Integer.valueOf(3))) {
numbers.remove(Integer.valueOf(3));
}
System.out.println("The numbers after removal:");
// here we print numbers
print(numbers);
}
public static void print(ArrayList<Integer> numbers) {
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for (int number : numbers) {

System.out.println( number );
}
}

20.3 Slicing separate tasks into methods with descriptive names

Now, the code has become even more easy to read. A distinctively separate
entity, the printing of the list is now a method that is easy to understand. By
defining a new method the readability of the main program has improved.
Pay attention to the descriptive name of the method: the name describes
exactly what the method does. Next, we can remove the advising comments
here we print numbers , because the name of the method speaks for itself.
There is still room for improvements in writing the program. The main
program still looks a bit messy, since there is an "unaesthetic" code line that
directly manipulates the list, in between the neat method calls. Let us turn
that unaesthetic piece of code into a method:
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<Integer> numbers = new ArrayList<Integer>();
numbers.add(4);
numbers.add(3);
numbers.add(7);
numbers.add(3);

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System.out.println("The numbers in the beginning:");

print(numbers);
remove(numbers, 3);
System.out.println("The numbers after removal:");
print(numbers);
}
public static void print(ArrayList<Integer> numbers) {
for (int number : numbers) {
System.out.println( number );
}
}
public static void remove(ArrayList<Integer> numbers, int removed) {
while (numbers.contains(Integer.valueOf(removed))) {
numbers.remove(Integer.valueOf(removed));
}
}
In the example above, we created a new descriptively named method out of
a separate logical entity, i.e. removing all the instances of a certain number.
The resulting main program is now very understandable - almost like
natural language. Both methods are very simple and easy to understand as
well.
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Kent Beck might be proud of what we have accomplished! The code is easy
to understand, easy to modify and does not include any copy-paste.

21. Object-oriented programming

Before we begin, here is a small introduction to object-oriented
programming.
In procedural programming - which is the way of programming we have
been studying so far - a program is divided in to smaller parts, methods. A
method works as a separate part of a program and it can be called from
anywhere in the program. When a method is called, execution of the
program moves to the beginning of the called method. After the execution of
the method is done, the program will continue from where the method was
called.
In object oriented programming, just like in procedural programming, we
attempt to divide a program into smaller parts. In object-oriented
programming the small parts are objects. Each separate object has its own
individual responsibility; an object contains a related group of information
and functionality. Object-oriented programs consist of multiple objects
which together define how the program works.

21.1 Object
We have already used many of the ready-made objects in Java. For example,
ArrayLists are objects. Each separate list consists of information related to
it; that is, the state of the object. Functionality is also contained in the
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ArrayList objects: the methods by which the state of the object can be
altered. As an example, there are two ArrayList objects in the following
piece of code, cities and countries :
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<String> cities = new ArrayList<String>();
ArrayList<String> countries = new ArrayList<String>();
countries.add("Finland");
countries.add("Germany");
countries.add("Netherlands");
cities.add("Berliini");
cities.add("Nijmegen");
cities.add("Turku");
cities.add("Helsinki");
System.out.println("number of countries " + countries.size() );
System.out.println("number of cities " + cities.size() );
}
Both the countries object and the cities object live a life of their own. The
state of each is not related to the state of the other. For example, the state of
the countries object consists of the Strings "Finland", "Germany" and
"Netherlands" that are in the list, probably also the information of how
many countries are in the list.
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When doing a method call related to an object (for example,

countries.add("Finland");), the name of the object whose method is being
called goes to the left side of the period sign (dot), and to the right side goes
the name of the method itself. When asking how many Strings the countries
list contains, we call countries.size(). We are calling the method size of the
object countries. What the method returns depends on the state of the
object in question, other objects do not affect the execution of the method in
any way.
We have used the command new many times already. For example, creation
of a list (ArrayList) and creation of a reader (Scanner) have been done using
the command new. The reason is that both of these are classes from which
the object is created. In Java, objects are always created with new, except in
a few cases.
One of the cases where you do not always need to use new is in the
construction of Strings. The familiar way to create a String is actually an
abbreviated way of using new. A String can also be created with new just
like any other object:
String text = "some text";

// abbreviated way of creating a String

String anotherText = new String("more text");

Cases in which ready-made parts of Java call new out of sight of the
programmer also exist.

21.2 Class
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It is clear that all objects are not similar to one another. For example,
ArrayList objects differ drastically from String objects. All ArrayLists have
the same methods add, contains, remove, size, ... and respectively all String
objects have the same methods (substring, length, charAt, ...). Arraylist and
String objects do not have the same methods because they are different
types of objects.
The type of a certain group of objects is called a class. ArrayList is a class, as
are String, Scanner, and so forth. Objects, on the other hand, are instances of
classes.
Objects of the same class all have the same methods and a similar state. For
example, the state of an ArrayList object consists of elements inserted to the
list while the state of a String object consists of a string of characters.

21.3 A class and its objects

A class defines what kind of objects it has:
what methods the objects have
what the state of the objects are, or in other words, what kind of
attributes the objects have
A class describes the "blueprint" of the objects that are made out of it (are
instances of it).
Lets take an analogy from the world outside of computers: the blueprints of
a house. The blueprints define how the building is to be built and in that

187

way dictate the shape and size of it. The blueprints are the class, they define
the general characteristics of the objects created out of that class:

Individual objects, the houses in our analogy, are made from that same
blueprint. They are instances of the same class. The state of individual
objects, the attributes, can vary (color of walls, building material of the roof,
doors, windowsills, etc...). Here is one instance of a House object:

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An object is always created from its class by calling the method - the
constructor - that creates the object with the command new. For example, a
new instance is created from the class Scanner by calling new Scanner(..):
Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);
Constructors take parameters the way any other method does.
Exercise 72: Accounts
You are handed a ready-made class Account along with your exercise files.
The object of the class Account represents a bank account that has a
balance (meaning some amount of money). The accounts are used as
follows:
Account bartosAccount = new Account("Barto's account",100.00);
Account bartosSwissAccount = new Account("Barto's account in
Switzerland",1000000.00);
System.out.println("Initial state");
System.out.println(bartosAccount);
System.out.println(bartosSwissAccount);
bartosAccount.withdrawal(20);
System.out.println("Barto's account balance is now:
"+bartosAccount.balance());
bartosSwissAccount.deposit(200);
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System.out.println("Barto's Swiss account balance is now:

"+bartosSwissAccount.balance());
System.out.println("Final state");
System.out.println(bartosAccount);
System.out.println(bartosSwissAccount);

Exercise 72.1: Your first account

Note: there is a different exercise template for each of the sub-exercises.
For this exercise use the template 072.1
Create a program that creates an account with the balance of 100.0,
deposits 20.0 and prints the account. Note! do all the steps described in
the exercise exactly in the described order!
Exercise 72.2: Your first money transfer
Note: there is a different exercise template for each of the sub-exercises.
For this exercise use the template 072.2
Create a program that:
Creates an account named "Matt's account" with the balance of 1000
Creates an account named "My account" with the balance of 0
Withdraws 100.0 from Matt's account
Deposits 100.0 to My account
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Prints both accounts

Exercise 72.3: Money transfers
Note: there is a different exercise template for each of the sub-exercises.
For this exercise use the template 072.3
In the above program, you made a money transfer from one person to
another. Let us next create a method that does the same!
Create the method public static void transfer(Account from, Account to,
double howMuch) in the given program body. The method transfers
money from one account to another. You do not need to check that the
from account has enough balance.
After completing the above, make sure that your main method does the
following:
Creates an account "A" with the balance of 100.0
Creates an account "B" with the balance of 0.0
Creates an account "C" with the balance of 0.0
Transfers 50.0 from account A to account B
Transfers 25.0 from account B to account C

21.4 Defining your own class - object variables

A class is defined to serve some meaningful whole. Often a "meaningful
whole" represents something from the real world. If a computer program
191

needs to handle personal data it could be sensible to define a separate class

Person which then holds methods and attributes related to an individual.
Let us go ahead and assume that we have a project frame with an empty
main program:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
}
}
We will create a new class in our project. In NetBeans, this can be done in
projects on the left, from the right click menu select new, java class. We will
name the class in the dialog that pops up.
Just as with variables and methods, the name of the class should always be
as descriptive as possible. Sometimes as a project progresses a class might
transform into something different in order meet the programmer's needs.
In situations like this, it is possible to rename your class with ease (see the
NetBeans guide).
Let us create a class named Person. The class will exist in its own
Person.java file. Since the main program is in its own file the program now
consists of two files in total. At first the class will be empty:

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public class Person {

}
The class has to define what methods and attributes the objects created
from the class will have. Let us decide that each person has a name and an
age. It feels natural to represent the name as a String and the age as an
integer. Let us add this to our schematics:
public class Person {
private String name;
private int age;
}
Above, we defined that all instances created from the Person class have a
name and an age. Defining attributes is done in a quite similar fashion as
with normal variables. In this case though, there is the keyword private in
front. This keyword means that name and age will not show outside of the
object, but are instead hidden within it. Hiding things within an object is
called encapsulation.
Variables defined within a class are called object variables, object fields or
object attributes. A beloved child has many names.
So, we have defined the schematics -- the class -- for the person object. All
person objects have the variables name and age. The 'state' of the objects is
determined by the values that have been set to its variables.
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21.5 Defining your own class - constructor, or "formatting the state"

When an object is created its starting state is defined at the same time. Selfdefined objects are created for the most part in the same way as readymade objects (ArrayList objects for example) are created. Objects are
created with the new command. When creating an object it would be handy
to be able to set the values of some of the variables of that object.
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person bob = new Person("Bob");
// ...
}
This can be achieved by defining the method that creates the object, the
constructor. The constructor for the Person class that creates a new Person
object has been defined in the following example. In the constructor, the
person that is being created gets 0 as her age and her name is received from
the parameter of the constructor.
public class Person {
private String name;
private int age;
public Person(String initialName) {
this.age = 0;
this.name = initialName;

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}
}
The constructor always has the same name as the class. In the code above,
the class is Person and the constructor is public Person(String initialName).
The value the constructor receives as a parameter is in parentheses after
the name of the constructor. You can imagine the constructor as a method
that Java runs when an object is created with the command new
Person("Bob"); Whenever an object is created from a class, the constructor
of that class is called.
A few notes: within the constructor there is a command this.age = 0.
Through it, we set a value for this particular object; we define the internal
variable age of "this" object. Another command we use is this.name =
initialName;. Again, we give the internal variable called name the String that
is defined in the constructor. The variables age and name are automatically
visible in the constructor and elsewhere in the object. They are referred to
with the this prefix. Due to the private modifier, the variables cannot be
seen from outside the object.
One more thing: if the programmer does not create a constructor for her
class, Java will automatically create a default constructor for it. A default
constructor is a constructor that does nothing. So, if you for some reason do
not need a constructor you do not need to write one.

21.6 Class definition - methods

195

We already know how to create and initialize objects. However, objects are
useless if they cannot do anything. Therefore, objects should have methods.
Let us add to the Person class a method that prints the object on the screen:
public class Person {
private String name;
private int age;
public Person(String nameAtStart) {
this.age = 0;
this.name = nameAtStart;
}
public void printPerson() {
System.out.println(this.name + ", age " + this.age + " years");
}
}
As seen above, the method is written within the class. The method name is
prefixed with public void since it is assumed that users of the object should
be capable of using the method and the method should not return anything.
With objects the keyword static is not used in method definitions. Next
week, we will clarify the reason behind that.
Inside the method printPerson, there is a single line of code that uses the
object variables name and age. The prefix this is used to emphasize that we

196

are referring to the name and age of this object. All the object variables are
visible from all the methods of the object.
Let us create three persons and ask them to print themselves:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka");
Person brian = new Person("Brian");
Person martin = new Person("Martin");
pekka.printPerson();
brian.printPerson();
martin.printPerson();
}
}
The output is:
Pekka, age 0 years
Brian, age 0 years
Martin, age 0 years
Exercise 73: Product

197

Create a class Product that represents a product sold in a webshop. A

product has a price, amount and name.
A new class can be created as follows: Point at the project 073.Product in
the projects tab and click the right mouse button. Then select new and java
class. When a dialog opens, give the class the name Product.
The class should have:
A constructor public Product(String nameAtStart, double priceAtStart,
int amountAtStart)
A method public void printProduct() that prints a product in the
following form:
Banana, price 1.1, amount 13

21.7 More methods

Let us create a method that can be used to increase the age of a person by
one:
public class Person {
// ...

198

public void becomeOlder() {

this.age++;; // same as this.age = this.age + 1;
}
}
As expected, the method is written inside the class Person. The method
increases the value of object variable age by one.
Let us call the method and see what happens:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka");
Person andrew = new Person("Andrew");
pekka.printPerson();
andrew.printPerson();
System.out.println("");
pekka.becomeOlder();
pekka.becomeOlder();
pekka.printPerson();
andrew.printPerson();
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}
}
Output:
Pekka, age 0 years
Andrew, age 0 years
Pekka, age 2 years
Andrew, age 0 years
When born, both objects have age 0 due to the line this.age = 0; in the
constructor. The method becomeOlder of object pekka is called twice. As the
output shows, this causes the age of pekka to increase by two. It should be
noted that when the method becomeOlder is called in the object pekka, the
other object andrew is not touched at all and he remains at age 0. The state
of an object is independent of the other objects!
Also, the object methods can return a value to the caller of the method. Let
us define a method that can be used to ask for the age of a person:
public class Person {
// ...
public int getAge() {
return this.age;
200

}
}
Now the void in the method definition is replaced with int since the value
the method returns has the type integer. The following example
demonstrates, how the value returned by a method can be used:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka");
Person andrew = new Person("Andrew");
pekka.becomeOlder();
pekka.becomeOlder();
andrew.becomeOlder();
System.out.println( "Age of Pekka: "+pekka.getAge() );
System.out.println( "Age of Andrew: "+andrew.getAge() );
int total = pekka.getAge() + andrew.getAge();
System.out.println( "Pekka and Andrew total of "+total+ " years old" );
}

201

}
Output:
Age of Pekka: 2
Age of Andrew: 1
Pekka and Andrew total of 3 years old
Exercise 74: Multiplier
Implement the class Multiplier that has:
a constructor public Multiplier(int number).
a method public int multiply(int otherNumber) that returns
otherNumber multiplied by number (i.e., the constructor parameter).
Example of usage:
Multiplier threeMultiplier = new Multiplier(3);
System.out.println("threeMultiplier.multiply(2): " +
threeMultiplier.multiply(2));
Multiplier fourMultiplier = new Multiplier(4);
System.out.println("fourMultiplier.multiply(2): " +
fourMultiplier.multiply(2));
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System.out.println("threeMultiplier.multiply(1): " +
threeMultiplier.multiply(1));
System.out.println("fourMultiplier.multiply(1): " +
fourMultiplier.multiply(1));

Output
threeMultiplier.multiply(2): 6
fourMultiplier.multiply(2): 8
threeMultiplier.multiply(1): 3
fourMultiplier.multiply(1): 4

Exercise 75: Decreasing counter

The starting point of this exercise is a partially implemented class
DecreasingCounter:
public class DecreasingCounter {
private int value; // object variable that remembers the value of the
counter
public DecreasingCounter(int valueAtStart) {
this.value = valueAtStart;
}
203

public void printValue() {

System.out.println("value: " + this.value);
}
public void decrease() {
// write here the code that decrements the value of counter by one
}
// and here the rest of the methods
}

The counter can be used as follows:

public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
DecreasingCounter counter = new DecreasingCounter(10);
counter.printValue();
counter.decrease();
counter.printValue();
counter.decrease();
counter.printValue();
204

}
}

Output should be:

value: 10
value: 9
value: 8

The constructor of DecreasingCounter receives as parameter the initial

value of the counter. In the example, the constructor parameter is 10,
which is then set to the object variable this.value. The value of the counter
can be printed with the method printValue(). The method decrease()
should decrease the value of the counter by one.
Exercise 75.1: Implementing method decrease()
Implement the method decrease() so that when called, the object variable
this.value is decreased by one. When this is done, your program should
work as the example above.
Exercise 75.2: Value remains positive
Change your implementation of the method decrease() so that the value
of the counter will not drop below zero. If the method is called when the
value is zero, nothing should happen:
205

public class Main {

public static void main(String[] args) {
DecreasingCounter counter = new DecreasingCounter(2);
counter.printValue();
counter.decrease();
counter.printValue();
counter.decrease();
counter.printValue();
counter.decrease();
counter.printValue();
}
}

Output should be:

value: 2
value: 1
value: 0
value: 0

206

Exercise 75.3: Counter reset

Implement the method public void reset() that sets the value of the
counter to zero. Example of usage:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
DecreasingCounter counter = new DecreasingCounter(100);
counter.printValue();
counter.reset();
counter.printValue();
counter.decrease();
counter.printValue();
}
}

Output:
value: 100
value: 0
value: 0

Exercise 75.4: Back to initial value

207

Implement the method public void setInitial(), which returns the counter
to its initial value:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
DecreasingCounter counter = new DecreasingCounter(100);
counter.printValue();
counter.decrease();
counter.printValue();
counter.decrease();
counter.printValue();
counter.reset();
counter.printValue();
counter.setInitial();
counter.printValue();
}
}

Output:

208

value: 100
value: 99
value: 98
value: 0
value: 100

Hint: add to the class a new object variable that remembers the initial
value of the counter
Exercise 76: Menu
In this assignment, we will implement a class Menu that holds
information about meals that are available in a cafeteria.
Our starting point is the following class skeleton:
import java.util.ArrayList;
public class Menu {
private ArrayList<String> meals;
public Menu() {
this.meals = new ArrayList<String>();
}

209

// Implement the methods here

}

Menu objects store the information of meals using an object variable of

type ArrayList<String>
Exercise 76.1: Adding a meal to menu
Implement the method public void addMeal(String meal) that adds a new
meal to the list this.meals of a Menu object. If the meal is already in the
list, it should not be added.
Exercise 76.2: Printing the menu
Implement the method public void printMeals() that prints the meals in a
menu. As an example, the output after three additions could be:
Hamburger
Fish'n'Chips
Sauerkraut

Exercise 76.3: Clearing a menu

Implement the method public void clearMenu() that clears a menu. After
calling this method, the menu should be empty. Class ArrayList has a
method that is useful here. Within your method body write meals. and see
how NetBeans helps you by showing the available methods.

210

21.8 The Person class grows

Let us get back to work on the Person class. The current version of the class
looks like this:
public class Person {
private String name;
private int age;
public Person(String initialName) {
this.age = 0;
this.name = initialName;
}
public void printPerson() {
System.out.println(this.name + ", age " + this.age + " years");
}
public void becomeOlder() {
this.age = this.age + 1;
}
}
Let us create a method for person that can figure out if a person is an adult.
The method returns a boolean -- either true or false:

211

public class Person {

// ...
public boolean isAdult(){
if ( this.age < 18 ) {
return false;
}
return true;
}
/*
note that the method could also be written like this:
public boolean isAdult(){
return this.age >= 18;
}
*/
}
Let us test it:
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person bob = new Person("Bob");
Person andy = new Person("Andy");

212

int i = 0;
while ( i < 30 ) {
bob.becomeOlder();
i++;
}
andy.becomeOlder();
System.out.println("");
if ( andy.isAdult() ) {
System.out.print("adult: ");
andy.printPerson();
} else {
System.out.print("minor: ");
andy.printPerson();
}
if ( bob.isAdult() ) {
System.out.print("adult: ");
bob.printPerson();
} else {
System.out.print("minor: ");
bob.printPerson();
}
}
213

minor: Andy, age 1 years

adult: bob, age 30 years
Let us tune up the solution a little further. Now, a person can only be
printed in a manner where in addition to the name, the age also gets
printed. In some cases, we might only want to print the name of the object.
Let us tailor a method for this purpose:
public class Person {
// ...
public String getName() {
return this.name;
}
}
The method getName returns the object variable name to its caller. The
name of the method might seem a little odd (or not). In Java, it is considered
the 'correct' way to name an object-variable-returning method in this
manner; as getVariableName. Methods like these are often called 'getters'.
Let us edit the main program to use the new 'getter':
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person bob = new Person("bob");
Person andy = new Person("andy");
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int i = 0;
while ( i < 30 ) {
bob.becomeOlder();
i++;
}
andy.becomeOlder();
System.out.println("");
if ( andy.isAdult() ) {
System.out.println( andy.getName() + " is an adult" );
} else {
System.out.println( andy.getName() + " is a minor" );
}
if ( bob.isAdult() ) {
System.out.println( bob.getName() + " is an adult" );
} else {
System.out.println( bob.getName() + " is a minor" );
}
}
The print is starting to look pretty clean:

215

andy is a minor
bob is an adult

21.9 toString
We have been guilty of bad programming style; we have created a method
that prints an object, printPerson. The recommended way of doing this is by
defining a method that returns a "character string representation" of the
object. In Java, a method returning a String representation is called toString.
Let us define this method for person:
public class Person {
// ...
public String toString() {
return this.name + ", age " + this.age + " years";
}
}
The method toString works just like printPerson, but instead of printing it
the method returns the string representation. The call to the method can be
used for printing it if necessary.
The method is used in a slightly surprising way:
public static void main(String[] args) {
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Person bob = new Person("Bob");

Person andy = new Person("Andy");
int i = 0;
while ( i < 30 ) {
bob.becomeOlder();
i++;
}
andy.becomeOlder();
System.out.println( andy ); // same as System.out.println(
andy.toString() );
System.out.println( bob ); // same as System.out.println( bob.toString()
);
}
The principle is that the System.out.println method requests the string
representation of an object and then prints it. The returned string
representation of the toString method does not have to be written, as Java
adds it automatically. When the programmer writes:
System.out.println( andy );
Java completes the call during runtime to the format:

217

System.out.println( andy.toString() );
What happens is that the object is asked for its string representation. The
string representation the object is returned and is printed normally with
the System.out.println command.
We can get rid of the obsolete printObject method.
Exercise 77: Lyyra-card
The University of Helsinki students use a so-called Lyyra cards to pay for
their meals in student cafeterias. In this assignment, we implement the
class LyyraCard that simulates the Lyyra card.
Exercise 77.1: Class skeleton
Start by adding the class LyyraCard to your project.
Then implement the LyyraCard constructor that gets the starting balance
of the card as parameter. The card saves the balance in the object variable
balance. Implement also the toString method that returns a string of the
form "The card has X euros".
The skeleton of class LyyraCard looks like this:
public class LyyraCard {
private double balance;
public LyyraCard(double balanceAtStart) {

218

// write code here

}
public String toString() {
// write code here
}
}

The following main program can be used to test the program:

public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
LyyraCard card = new LyyraCard(50);
System.out.println(card);
}
}

The output should be:

The card has 50.0 euros

Exercise 77.2: Paying with card

Implement the following methods to LyyraCard:
219

public void payEconomical() {

// write code here
}
public void payGourmet() {
// write code here
}

Method payEconomical should decrease the balance by 2.50 euros and

method payGourmet by 4.00 euros.
The following main program can be used to test the program:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
LyyraCard card = new LyyraCard(50);
System.out.println(card);
card.payEconomical();
System.out.println(card);
card.payGourmet();
card.payEconomical();
System.out.println(card);
}
220

The output should be:

The card has 50.0 euros
The card has 47.5 euros
The card has 41.0 euros

Exercise 77.3: Balance nonnegative

Change methods payEconomical and payGourmet so that if there is not
enought money, the balance does not change.
The following main program can be used to test the program:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
LyyraCard card = new LyyraCard(5);
System.out.println(card);
card.payGourmet();
System.out.println(card);
card.payGourmet();
System.out.println(card);

221

}
}

The output should be:

The card has 5.0 euros
The card has 1.0 euros
The card has 1.0 euros

Above, the second call payGourmet does not alter the balance since there
is not enough money on the card for a gourmet lunch.
Exercise 77.4: Loading money to card
Add the LyyraCard the following method:
public void loadMoney(double amount) {
// write code here
}

The method should increase the balance of the card by the given amount.
However, the maximum balance on a card is 150 euros. In case the
balance after loading money would be more than that, it should be
truncated to 150 euros.
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The following main program can be used to test the program:

public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
LyyraCard card = new LyyraCard(10);
System.out.println(card);
card.loadMoney(15);
System.out.println(card);
card.loadMoney(10);
System.out.println(card);
card.loadMoney(200);
System.out.println(card);
}
}

The output should be:

The card has 10.0 euros
The card has 25.0 euros
The card has 35.0 euros
The card has 150.0 euros

223

Exercise 77.5: Loading a negative amount

Change the method loadMoney so that the balance of the card does not
change if the amount to load is negative.
The following main program can be used to test the program:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
LyyraCard card = new LyyraCard(10);
System.out.println("Pekka: " + card);
card.loadMoney(-15);
System.out.println("Pekka: " + card);
}
}

The output should be:

Pekka: The card has 10.0 euros
Pekka: The card has 10.0 euros

Exercise 77.6: Multiple cards

Write a main method that does the following:
Creates a LyyraCard for Pekka with initial balance of 20 euros
Creates a LyyraCard for Brian with initial balance of 30 euros
224

Pekka buys gourmet lunch

Brian buys economical lunch
cards are printed (both on their own row, starting with the name of the
card owner)
Pekka loads 20 euros
Brian buys gourmet lunch
cards are printed (both on their own row, starting with the name of the
card owner)
Pekka buys economical lunch
Pekka buys economical lunch
Brian loads 50 euros
cards are printed (both on their own row, starting with the name of the
card owner)
The main skeleton is as follows:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
LyyraCard cardPekka = new LyyraCard(20);
LyyraCard cardBrian = new LyyraCard(30);

225

// write code here

}
}

The output should be:

Pekka: The card has 16.0 euros
Brian: The card has 27.5 euros
Pekka: The card has 36.0 euros
Brian: The card has 23.5 euros
Pekka: The card has 31.0 euros
Brian: The card has 73.5 euros

21.10 More methods

Let us continue with the class Person. We would be interested in knowing
the body mass index of a person. To calculate the index, we need to know
the height and weight of the person. We add for both height and weight
object variables and methods that can be used to assign the variables a
value. When this is in place, we add a method that calculates the body mass
index.
Here is the class Person after the changes (only the parts affected by the
change are shown):
226

public class Person {

private String name;
private int age;
private int weight;
private int height;
public Person(String initialName) {
this.age = 0;
this.name = initialName;
this.weight = 0;
this.height = 0;
}
public void setHeight(int newHeight) {
this.height = newHeight;
}
public void setWeight(int newWeight) {
this.weight = newWeight;
}
public double bodyMassIndex(){
double heightDividedByHundred = this.height / 100.0;
return this.weight / ( heightDividedByHundred *
heightDividedByHundred );

227

}
// ...
}
We added object variables height and weight, and methods setHeight and
setWeight that can be used to give values to the variables. In naming the
methods, we follow the Java convention to call a method that just sets a new
value to a variable setVariableName. This type of methods are usually called
setter methods.
The new methods in use:
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person matti = new Person("Matti");
Person john = new Person("John");
matti.setHeight(180);
matti.setWeight(86);
john.setHeight(175);
john.setWeight(64);
System.out.println(matti.getName() + ", body mass index: " +
matti.bodyMassIndex());

228

System.out.println(john.getName() + ", body mass index: " +

john.bodyMassIndex());
}
The output:
Matti, body mass index: on 26.54320987654321
John, body mass index: on 20.897959183673468

21.11 Object variable and parameter with identical name

Above, the method setHeight assigns the object variable height the value of
the parameter newHeight:
public void setHeight(int newHeight) {
this.height = newHeight;
}
The parameter could also be named identically with the object variable:
public void setHeight(int height) {
this.height = height;
}

229

Now, the name height means the parameter height and the identically
named object variable is referred to as this.height. The following would not
work since the object variable height is not at all referred to in the code:
public void setHeight(int height) {
// DOES NOT WORK!
height = height;
// this just assigns the value of the parameter to the parameter itself
}

21.12 Contolling the number of decimals when printing a float

The number of decimals in the last output was far too high, two decimals
would be enough. One technique to control how a float number is printed is
to use the command String.format.
If value is a float number, the command String.value( "%.2f", value ) returns
a string where the value is rounded to contain 2 decimals. The number
between dot and f defines the amount of decimals shown.
After changing the code, we have the following:
System.out.println(matti.getName() + ", body mass index: " + String.format(
"%.2f", matti.bodyMassIndex()));
System.out.println(john.getName() + ", body mass index: " + String.format(
"%.2f", john.bodyMassIndex()));

230

The output is:

Matti, body mass index: 26,54
John, body mass index: 20,90
The method String.format is not the most flexible way provided by Java for
formatting float values, but it is simple to use and suits our purposes here
well.
Exercise 78: Clock using a counter
We start by implementing a class BoundedCounter and then use counter
objects to implement a clock.
Exercise 78.1: BoundedCounter
Implement class BoundedCounter with the following functionality:
A counter has an object variable that remembers the value of the
counter. The value is within the range 0..upperBound
In the beginning the value is 0.
The upper bound of the value is defined by the constructor parameter.
The method next increments the value of the counter. If the value would
be more that the upper limit, it wraps around and becomes zero.
The method toString returns a string representation of the counter value.
The skeleton of the class is as follows:
231

public class BoundedCounter {

private int value;
private int upperLimit;
public BoundedCounter(int upperLimit) {
// write code here
}
public void next() {
// write code here
}
public String toString() {
// write code here
}
}

Note: you cannot return an integer value directly from the method
toString since the method should return a string. Integer variable value
can be turned into a string by prefixing it with an empty string: "" + value.
A main program that uses the counter:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
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BoundedCounter counter = new BoundedCounter(4);

System.out.println("Value at start: " + counter );
int i = 0;
while ( i < 10) {
counter.next();
System.out.println("Value: " + counter );
i++;
}
}
}

In the constructor, an upper limit of 4 is given to the new counter object.

Now, the value of the counter should be within the range 0...4. Note how
the method next increases the value until it hits the upper limit and
becomes zero again:
Value at start: 0
Value: 1
Value: 2
Value: 3
Value: 4
Value: 0
Value: 1
Value: 2
233

Value: 3
Value: 4
Value: 0

Exercise 78.2: Printing the initial zero

Imrove toString so that if the value of the counter is less than 10, it
prefixes the value with 0. If the value of the counter is e.g. 3, toString
should produce "03". If the value is at least 10, e.g. 12, the returned string
would be "12".
A main program that demonstrates the desired functionality of the
improved toString.
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
BoundedCounter counter = new BoundedCounter(14);
System.out.println("Value at start: " + counter );
int i = 0;
while ( i < 16){
counter.next();
System.out.println("value: " + counter );
i++;
}
}
}
234

value at start: 00
value: 01
value: 02
value: 03
value: 04
value: 05
value: 06
value: 07
value: 08
value: 09
value: 10
value: 11
value: 12
value: 13
value: 14
value: 00
value: 01

Exercise 78.3: The first version of the clock

With two counter objects it possible for us to build a simple clock. Hours
can be represented by a counter with upper bound 23 and minutes by a
counter with upper bound 59. As we all know, when minutes wrap
around from 59 to 0, hours advance by one.

235

First you should implement the method getValue for the counters in the
class:
public int getValue() {
// write here code that returns the value
}

Then implement the clock in your main method in the following style:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
BoundedCounter minutes = new BoundedCounter(59);
BoundedCounter hours = new BoundedCounter(23);
int i = 0;
while ( i < 121 ) {
System.out.println( hours + ":" + minutes); // the current time
printed
// advance minutes
// if minutes become zero, advance hours
i++;
}
}
}

236

The output should be:

00:00
00:01
...
00:59
01:00
01:01
01:02
...
01:59
02:00

Exercise 78.4: The second version of the clock

Firstly implement the method setValue to the class BoundedCounter. The
method should set the value of the parameter to the counter unless the
parameter is less than zero or larger than the upper bound. In those cases,
the method does not have any effect.
Then add a seconds counter to your clock. The clock should now be as
follows:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);
BoundedCounter seconds = new BoundedCounter(59);
237

BoundedCounter minutes = new BoundedCounter(59);

BoundedCounter hours = new BoundedCounter(23);
System.out.print("seconds: ");
int s = // read the initial value of seconds from the user
System.out.print("minutes: ");
int m = // read the initial value of minutes from the user
System.out.print("hours: ");
int h = // read the initial value of hours from the user
seconds.setValue(s);
minutes.setValue(m);
hours.setValue(h);
int i = 0;
while ( i < 121 ) {
// like in previous but seconds taken into account
i++;
}
}
}

Ensure that all works as expected when starting e.g. with time 23:59:50.
238

The output should be:

seconds: 50
minutes: 59
hours: 23
23:59:50
23:59:51
23:59:52
...

Bonus: eternal clock (exercise not assessed with TMC!)

Before you start, submit the exercise for assesment.
Change your main as follows:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
BoundedCounter seconds = new BoundedCounter(59);
BoundedCounter minutes = new BoundedCounter(59);
BoundedCounter hours = new BoundedCounter(23);
seconds.setValue(50);
minutes.setValue(59);
hours.setValue(23);

239

while ( true ) {
System.out.println( hours + ":" + minutes + ":" + seconds );
Thread.sleep(1000);
// put here the logic to advance your clock by one second
}
}
}

Now, the clock goes on forever and the value is updated as it should be,
once in a second. The clock estimates the duration of a second with the
command Thread.sleep(1000); The parameter in the command is the time
to sleep in milliseconds. In order to use the sleep command, you should do
an addition to the definition of main: public static void main(String[] args)
throws Exception {
You can end the eternal clock by pressing the red box in the NetBeans
console (i.e. the area in NB where the output of programs gets printed).
Important notes regarding the use of objects. You should definately
read these.
Object-oriented programming is mostly about turning concepts into their
own entities, or in other words forming abstractions. One might think that it
is pointless to create an object that only holds one number in it, and that the
same could be achieved with simple int variables. This is not the case. If a
clock consists of just 3 int variables that are then increased, the program
240

loses some human readability. It becomes more difficult to "see" what the
program is about. Earlier in the material we mentioned the advice of the
renown programmer Kent Beck: "Any fool can write code that a computer
can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand",
since the hand of a clock is its own clearly definable concept, it is a good
idea to create it an own class - BoundedCounter - for the sake of human
readability.
Turning a concept into a class of its own is a good idea for a lot of reasons.
Firstly, some details (i.e. when the counter makes a full round) can be
hidden inside the class (abstracted). Instead of writing an if-clause and an
assignment operation, it is enough that the user of the counter calls the
descriptively named method next(). In addition to clocks, the created
counter might be good for being used as a building block for other projects
too, so a class made from a clear concept can be very versatile. Another
huge advantage we gain by writing code this way, is that when the details of
the mechanics are hidden, they can be changed if need be.
We established that a clock contains three hands, it consists of three
concepts. Actually the clock itself is a concept too and next week we will
make the class Clock. Then, we can create distinct Clock objects. Clock will
be an object which functionality is based on "simpler" objects, the hands.
This is the grand idea of object-oriented programming: a program is built
out of small, clearly defined co-operating objects.
Now, we will take some careful first steps in the object world. Towards the
end of the course, objects will start to come to you naturally and the idea of
programs being built out of small, well defined, co-operating pieces - which at
241

this point might feel incomprehensible - will become something you will
take for granted.

21.13 Calling other methods within an object

Objects can also call its own methods. Let us assume we would like to
include body mass index in the string representation of the person objects.
Instead of calculating the body mass index in the toString method, a better
idea is to call the method bodyMassIndex from the toString method:
public String toString() {
return this.name + ", age " + this.age + " years, my body mass index is " +
this.bodyMassIndex();
}
As can be seen, an object can call its own method by prefixing the method
name with this and dot. The this is not necessary, so also the following
works:
public String toString() {
return this.name + ", age " + this.age + " years, my body mass index is " +
bodyMassIndex();
}
Now it is time to continue practising programming.
Exercise 79: NumberStatistics
242

Exercise 79.1: Amount of numbers

Implement class NumberStatistics with the following methods:
addNumber adds a new number to the statistics
amountOfNumbers tells us how many numbers have been added to the
statistics
Note that the class should not store the added numbers. At this stage, it is
enough to remember how many added numbers there are, i.e. how many
times the method addNumber has been called.
The class skeleton:
public class NumberStatistics {
private int amountOfNumbers;
public NumberStatistics() {
// initialize here the object variable amountOfNumbers
}
public void addNumber(int number) {
// code here
}
public int amountOfNumbers() {
// code here
}
243

A usage example:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
NumberStatistics stats = new NumberStatistics();
stats.addNumber(3);
stats.addNumber(5);
stats.addNumber(1);
stats.addNumber(2);
System.out.println("Amount: " + stats.amountOfNumbers());
}
}

The output should be:

Amount: 4

Exercise 79.2: sum and average

Add the following methods to the class:

244

sum returns the sum of the added numbers (if no numbers added, the
sum is 0)
average returns the average of the added numbers (if no numbers added,
the average is 0)
The class skeleton now:
public class NumberStatistics {
private int amountOfNumbers;
private int sum;
public NumberStatistics() {
// initialize here the object variable amountOfNumbers
}
public void addNumber(int number) {
// code here
}
public int amountOfNumbers() {
// code here
}
public int sum() {
// code here
}
245

public double average() {

// code here
}
}

A usage example:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
NumberStatistics stats = new NumberStatistics();
stats.addNumber(3);
stats.addNumber(5);
stats.addNumber(1);
stats.addNumber(2);
System.out.println("Amount: " + stats.amountOfNumbers());
System.out.println("sum: " + stats.sum());
System.out.println("average: " + stats.average());
}
}

The output should be:

Amount: 4
246

sum: 11
average: 2.75

Exercise 79.3: Asking for numbers from the user

Create a program that asks the user to input numbers of type integer.
When the user gives -1, the program stops and prints the sum of the given
numbers (excluding the -1).
Note: you should not make any changes to class NumberStatistics!
The program should use a NumberStatistics object to calculate the sum.
Type numbers:
4
2
5
4
-1
sum: 15

Exercise 79.4: Many sums

Change your program so that it also calculates the sum of even and odd
numbers in the user input (again -1 excluded).
NOTE: define in your program three NumberStatistics objects. The first is
used to track the sum of all the numbers. The second takes care of even
247

numbers and the third the odd numbers. Remember also that you should
not make any changes to class NumberStatistics!
The tests does not work if you do not create the objects in the order
mentioned above!!
The program should work as follows:
Type numbers:
4
2
5
2
-1
sum: 13
sum of even: 8
sum of odd: 5

22. Randomness
When programming, you may occasionally need to simulate random events.
Situations such as the unpredictability of weather, or surprising moves on
the AI's part in a computer game can often be simulated with random
number generators, running on a computer. In Java, there is a ready-made
class Random, which you can use in the following way:

248

import java.util.Random;
public class Randomizing {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Random randomizer = new Random(); // creates a random number
generator
int i = 0;
while (i < 10) {
// Generates and prints out a new random number on each round of
the loop
System.out.println(randomizer.nextInt(10));
i++;
}
}
}
In the code above, you first create an instance of the class Random with the
keyword new -- exactly as when creating objects implementing other
classes. An object of type Random has the method nextInt that can be given
an integer value as parameter. The method returns a random integer within
the range 0..(the integer given as parameter- 1).
The printout of this program could be as follows:
2
249

2
4
3
4
5
6
0
7
8
We will need floating point numbers, for example when dealing with
probability calculations. In computing, probabilities are usually calculated
with numbers within the range [0..1]. An object of the class Random can
return random floating point numbers with the method nextDouble. Let us
consider the following probabilities of weather conditions:
Sleet with the probability 0.1 (10%)
Snow with the probability 0.3 (30%)
Sunny with the probability 0.6 (60%)
Using the estimates above, let us create a weather forecaster.
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Random;

250

public class WeatherForecaster {

private Random random;
public WeatherForecaster() {
this.random = new Random();
}
public String forecastWeather() {
double probability = this.random.nextDouble();
if (probability <= 0.1) {
return "Sleet";
} else if (probability <= 0.4) { // 0.1 + 0.3
return "Snow";
} else { // the rest, 1.0 - 0.4 = 0.6
return "Sunny";
}
}
public int forecastTemperature() {
return (int) ( 4 * this.random.nextGaussian() - 3 );
}
}
The method forecastTemperature is interesting in many ways. Within this
method, we are calling the method this.random.nextGaussian(), just like any
251

other time we have called a method in the previous examples. Interestingly,

this method of the class Random returns a value from the normal
distribution (if you have no interest in the different varieties of random
figures, that's okay!).
public int forecastTemperature() {
return (int) ( 4 * this.random.nextGaussian() - 3 );
}
In the expression above, interesting is the section (int). This part of the
expression changes the bracketed floating point number into an integer
value. A corresponding method transforms integer values into floating point
numbers: (double) integer. This is called an explicit type conversion.
Let us create a class with a main method that uses the class
WeatherForecaster.
public class Program {
public static void main(String[] args) {
WeatherForecaster forecaster = new WeatherForecaster();
// Use a list to help you organise things
ArrayList<String> days = new ArrayList<String>();
Collections.addAll(days, "Mon", "Tue", "Wed", "Thu", "Fri", "Sat", "Sun");
System.out.println("Weather forecast for the next week:");
252

for(String day : days) {

String weatherForecast = forecaster.forecastWeather();
int temperatureForecast = forecaster.forecastTemperature();
System.out.println(day + ": " + weatherForecast + " " +
temperatureForecast + " degrees.");
}
}
}
The printout from this program could be as follows:
Weather forecast for the next week:
Mon: Snow 1 degrees.
Tue: Snow 1 degrees.
Wed: Sunny -2 degrees.
Thu: Sunny 0 degrees.
Fri: Snow -3 degrees.
Sat: Snow -3 degrees.
Sun: Sunny -5 degrees.
Exercise 80: Rolling the dice
In the template is class Dice that has the following functionality:
The constructor Dice(int numberOfSides) creates a new dice object that
has the amount of sides defined by the argument.
253

The method roll tells the result of a roll (which depends on the number
of its sides)
The frame of the program is as follows:
import java.util.Random;
public class Dice {
private Random random;
private int numberOfSides;
public Dice(int numberOfSides){
this.numberOfSides = numberofSides;
random = new Random();
}
public int roll() {
// we'll get a random number in the range 1-numberOfSides<
}
}

Expand the class Dice so that with each roll the dice returns a random
number between 1...number of sides. Here is a main program that tests
the dice:

254

public class Program {

public static void main(String[] args) {
Dice dice = new Dice(6);
int i = 0;
while ( i < 10 ) {
System.out.println( dice.roll() );
i++;
}
}
}

The output could look something like this:

1
6
3
5
3
3
2
2
6
1

255

Exercise 81: Password randomizer

Your assignment is to expand the class PasswordRandomizer that has the
following functionality:
The constructor PasswordRandomizer creates a new object, which uses
the given password length.
The method createPassword returns a new password, which consists of
symbols a-z and is of the length given as a parameter to the
constructor
The frame of the class is as follows:
import java.util.Random;
public class PasswordRandomizer {
// Define the variables here
public PasswordRandomizer(int length) {
// Format the variable here
}
public String createPassword() {
// Write the code here which returns the new password
}
256

In the following is a program that uses a PasswordRandomizer object:

public
class Program {
public static void main(String[] args) {
PasswordRandomizer randomizer = new PasswordRandomizer(13);
System.out.println("Password: " + randomizer.createPassword());
System.out.println("Password: " + randomizer.createPassword());
System.out.println("Password: " + randomizer.createPassword());
System.out.println("Password: " + randomizer.createPassword());
}
}

The output could look something like this:

Password: mcllsoompezvs
Password: urcxboisknkme
Password: dzaccatonjcqu
Password: bpqmedlbqaopq

Tip 1: this is how you turn the integer number into a character:
257

int number = 17;

char symbol = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz".charAt(number);

Tip 2: The tip in assignment 58 might be useful in this one too.

Exercise 82: Lottery
Your assignment is to expand the class LotteryNumbers, which draws the
lottery numbers of the week. The numbers of the week consist of 7
different numbers between 1 and 39. The class has the following
functionality:
the constructor LotteryNumbers creates a new LotteryNumbers object,
which contains the new drawn numbers
the method numbers returns the drawn numbers of this draw
the method drawNumbers draws new numbers
the method containsNumber reveals if the number is among the drawn
numbers
The frame of the class is as follows:
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Random;
public class LotteryNumbers {
258

private ArrayList<Integert> numbers;

public LotteryNumbers() {
// We'll format a list for the numbers
this.numbers = new ArrayList<Integert>();
// Draw numbers as LotteryNumbers is created
this.drawNumbers();
}
public ArrayList<Integert> numbers() {
return this.numbers;
}
public void drawNumbers() {
// Write the number drawing here using the method
containsNumber()
}
public boolean containsNumber(int number) {
// Test here if the number is already among the drawn numbers
}
}

The following main program comes with the template:

259

import java.util.ArrayList;
public class Program {
public static void main(String[] args) {
LotteryNumbers lotteryNumbers = new LotteryNumbers();
ArrayList<Integert> numbers = lotteryNumbers.numbers();
System.out.println("Lottery numbers:");
for (int number : numbers) {
System.out.print(number + " ");
}
System.out.println("");
}
}

The program can print lines like these:

Lottery numbers:
3 5 10 14 15 27 37
Lottery numbers:
2 9 11 18 23 32 34

260

Note! a number can be in one set of numbers only once (per draw of
course).
Exercise 83: Game logic for Hangman
Your Finnish friend designed a Hangman game that looks like the
following:

Your friend has programmed the user interface and also a skeleton for the
game logic. Now, she asks you to finish the remaining pieces of the game
logic.
The Finnish words sana, virheit, viesti, hvisit and arvatut (kirjaimet)
translate into word, (number of) faults, message, you lost and guessed
(letters) respectively.

261

Amongst other stuff, with TMC you get the following skeleton for the class
HangmanLogic
public class HangmanLogic {
private String word;
private String guessedLetters;
private int numberOfFaults;
public HangmanLogic(String word) {
this.word = word.toUpperCase();
this.guessedLetters = "";
this.numberOfFaults = 0;
}
public int numberOfFaults() {
return this.numberOfFaults;
}
public String guessedLetters() {
return this.guessedLetters;
}
public int losingFaultAmount() {
return 12;
}
262

public void guessLetter(String letter) {

// program here the functionality for making a guess
// if the letter has already been guessed, nothing happens
// it the word does not contains the guessed letter, the number of
faults increases
// the letter is added among the already guessed letters
}
public String hiddenWord() {
// program here the functionality for building the hidden word
// create the hidden word by iterating through this.word letter by
letter
// if the letter in turn is within the guessed words, put it in the hidden
word
// if the letter is not among the guessed ones, replace it with _ in the
hidden word
// return the hidden word at the end
return "";
}
}
263

In this assignment, you should only touch class HangmanLogic and

implement the functionality of the methods guessLetter(String letter) and
hiddenWord().
Testing the code
The TMC project includes two classes that help you with testing. The class
Main starts the graphical version of the game. The class TestProgram can
be used to test the class HangmanLogic.
Exercise 83.1: Guessing a letter
Touch only the method guessLetter(String letter) in this assignment!
When a user guesses a letter, the user interface calls method guessLetter
which is supposed to take care of action related to guessing a letter. First,
it should check if the letter has already been guessed. In that case, the
method does not do anything.
The method increases the number of faults (this.numberOfFaults) if the
word (this.word) does not contain the guessed letter. Then the letter is
added among the already guessed letters (the object variable
this.guessedLetters).
An example of how the method guessLetter should work:
HangmanLogic l = new HangmanLogic("kissa");
System.out.println("guessing: A, D, S, F, D");
264

l.guessLetter("A"); // correct
l.guessLetter("D"); // wrong
l.guessLetter("S"); // correct
l.guessLetter("F"); // wrong
l.guessLetter("D"); // This should not have any effect on the number of
faults since D was already guessed
System.out.println("guessed letters: "+l.guessedLetters());
System.out.println("number of faults: "+l.numberOfFaults());
guessing: A, D, S, F, D
guessed letters: ADSF
number of faults: 2

Exercise 83.2: Creating the hidden word

The Hangman user interface shows a hidden version of the word to the
user. In the above figure, the hidden word is METO_I. All the letters that
the user has already guessed are shown in the hidden word but the rest of
the letters are replaced with underscores. In this part of the assignment,
you should complete the method hiddenWord of Hangman logic that
takes care of building the hidden word for the user interface.
Commands while, charAt and contains might be useful here. Note that a
single char can be made into a string as follows:
char c = 'a';
String aString = "" + c;
265

An example of how the method works:

HangmanLogic l = new HangmanLogic("kissa");
System.out.println("word is: "+l.hiddenWord());
System.out.println("guessing: A, D, S, F, D");
l.guessLetter("A");
l.guessLetter("D");
l.guessLetter("S");
l.guessLetter("F");
l.guessLetter("D");
System.out.println("guessed letters: "+l.guessedLetters());
System.out.println("number of faults: "+l.numberOfFaults());
System.out.println("word now: "+l.hiddenWord());
word is: _____
guessing: A, D, S, F, D
guessed letters: ADSF
number of faults: 2
word now: __SSA

Now, you can test the game by using class Main. You can change the
guessed word by changing the constructor parameter of the game logic:
266

HangmanLogic logic = new HangmanLogic("parameter");

HangmanUI game = new HangmanUI(logic);
game.start();

The game is played with the keyboard. You can end the game by pressing
x in the upper left corner of the game window.

Week 5

23. More about objects and classes

23.1 Multiple constructors
Let us return to the class that handles Persons again. The class Person
currently looks like this:
public class Person {
private String name;
private int age;
private int height;
private int weight;
public Person(String name) {
267

this.name = name;
this.age = 0;
this.weight = 0;
this.height = 0;
}
public void printPerson() {
System.out.println(this.name + " I am " + this.age + " years old");
}
public void becomeOlder() {
this.age++;
}
public boolean adult(){
if ( this.age < 18 ) {
return false;
}
return true;
}
public double weightIndex(){
double heightInMeters = this.height/100.0;
return this.weight / (heightInMeters*heightInMeters);
268

}
public String toString(){
return this.name + " I am " + this.age + " years old, my weight index is "
+ this.weightindex();
}
public void setHeight(int height){
this.height = height;
}
public int getHeight(){
return this.height;
}
public int getWeight() {
return this.weight;
}
public void setWeight(int weight) {
this.weight = weight;
}
public String getName(){
return this.name;
}
269

}
All person objects are 0 years old at creation, since the constructor sets it to
0:
public Person(String name) {
this.name = name;
this.age = 0;
this.weight = 0;
this.height = 0;
}
We also want to create a person so that in addition to name, can be given an
age as a parameter. This can be achieved easily, since multiple constructors
can exist. Let us make an alternative constructor. You do not need to
remove the old one.
public Person(String name) {
this.name = name;
this.age = 0;
this.weight = 0;
this.height = 0;
}
public Person(String name, int age) {
this.name = name;
270

this.age = age;
this.weight = 0;
this.height = 0;
}
Now, creating objects can be done in two different ways:
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka", 24);
Person esko = new Person("Esko");
System.out.println( pekka );
System.out.println( esko );
}
Pekka, age 24 years
Esko, age 0 years
The technique in which a class has two constructors is called constructor
overloading. A class can have multiple constructors, which are different
from one another according to parameter quanitities and/or types.
However, it is not possible to create two different constructors that have
exactly the same type of parameters. We cannot add a constructor public
Person(String name, int weight) on top of the old ones, since it is impossible
for Java to tell the difference between this one and the one in which the
integer stands for the age.

271

23.2 Calling your own constructor

But wait, in chapter 21 we noted that "copy-paste" code is not too great of
an idea! When we inspect the overloaded constructors above, we notice that
they have the same code repeated in them. We are not ok with this.
The old constructor actually is a special case of the new constructor. What if
the old constructor could 'call' the new constructor? This can be done, since
you can call another constructor from within a constructor with this!
Let us change the old constructor that does nothing, but only calls the new
constructor below it and asks it to set the age to 0:
public Person(String name) {
this(name, 0); // run here the other constructor's code and set the age
parameter to 0
}
public Person(String name, int age) {
this.name = name;
this.age = age;
this.weight = 0;
this.height = 0;
}
Calling the own constructor of a class this(name, 0); might seem a little
peculiar. But we can imagine that during the call it will automatically copy-

272

paste the code from the constructor below and that 0 is entered to the age
parameter.

23.3 Overloading a method

Just like constructors, methods can also be overloaded and multiple
versions of a method can exist. Again, the parameter types of different
versions have to be different. Let us create another version of the
becomeOlder, which enables aging the person the amount of years that is
entered as a parameter:
public void becomeOlder() {
this.age = this.age + 1;
}
public void becomeOlder(int years) {
this.age = this.age + years;
}
In the following, "Pekka" is born as a 24-year old, ages one year, and then
10:
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka", 24);
System.out.println(pekka);
pekka.becomeOlder();
273

System.out.println(pekka);
pekka.becomeOlder(10);
System.out.println(pekka);
}
Prints:
Pekka, age 24 years
Pekka, age 25 years
Pekka, age 35 years
Now, a person has two becomeOlder methods. The method that is chosen to
be run depends on the amount of parameters entered in to the method call.
The method becomeOlder can also be run through the method
becomeOlder(int years):
public void becomeOlder() {
this.becomeOlder(1);
}
public void becomeOlder(int years) {
this.age = this.age + years;
}
Exercise 84: Overloaded counter

274

Exercise 84.1: Multiple constructors

Make a class Counter that holds a number that can be decreased and
increased. The counter also has an optional check that prevents the
counter from going below 0. The class has to have the following
constructors:
public Counter(int startingValue, boolean check) creates a new counter
with the given value. The check is on if the parameter given to check
was true.
public Counter(int startingValue) creates a new counter with the given
value. The check on the new counter should be off.
public Counter(boolean check) creates a new counter with the starting
value 0. The check is on if the parameter given to check was true.
public Counter() creates a new counter with the starting value of 0 and
with checking off.
and the following methods:
public int value() returns the current value of the counter
public void increase() increases the value of the counter by one
public void decrease() decreases the value of the counter by one, but not
below 0 if the check is on
Exercise 84.2: Alternative methods

275

Create also a one parametered versions of the methods increase and

decrease:
public void increase(int increaseAmount) increases the value by the
amount of the parameter. If the value of the parameter is negative, the
value will not change.
public void decrease(int decreaseAmount) decreases the value of the
counter by the amount given by the parameter, but not below 0 if the
check is on. If the value of the parameter is negative, the value of the
counter will not change.

23.4 Object is at the end of a wire

In chapter 20, we noted that ArrayList is at the end of a wire. Also objects
are 'at the end of a wire'. What does this mean? Let us inspect the following
example:
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka", 24);
System.out.println( pekka );
}
When we run the sentence Person pekka = new Person("Pekka", 24); an
object is born. The object can be accessed through the variable pekka.
Technically speaking, the object is not within the variable pekka (in the box
'pekka'), but pekka refers to the object that was born. In other words, the
276

object is 'at the end of a wire' that is attached to a variable named pekka.
The concept could be visualized like this:

Let us add to the program a variable person of the type Person and set its
starting value to pekka. What happens now?
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka", 24);
System.out.println( pekka );
Person person = pekka;
person.becomeOlder(25);
System.out.println( pekka );
}
Prints:
Pekka, age 24 years
Pekka, age 49 years

277

In the beginning, Pekka was 24 years old. Then a Person object at the end of
a wire attached to a Person variable is aged by 25 years and as a
consequence of that Pekka becomes older! What is going on here?
The command Person person = pekka; makes person refer to the same
object that pekka refers to. So, a copy of the object is not born, but instead
both of the variables refer to the same object. With the command Person
person = pekka; a copy of the wire is born. The same thing as a picture
(Note: in the picture p refers to the variable pekka, and h to the variable
person in the main program. The variable names have also been
abbreviated in some of the following pictures.):

In the example, "an unknown person steals Pekka's identity". In the

following, we have expanded the example so that a new object is created
and pekka begins to refer to a new object:
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka", 24);
System.out.println( pekka );
Person person = pekka;
278

person.becomeOlder(25);
System.out.println( pekka );
pekka = new Person("Pekka Mikkola", 24);
System.out.println( pekka );
}
Prints:
Pekka, age 24 years
Pekka, age 49 years
Pekka Mikkola, age 24 years
The variable pekka refers to one object, but then begins to refer to another.
Here is the situation after running the previous line of code:

279

Let's develop the example further by making person to refer to 'nothing', to

null:
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka", 24);
System.out.println( pekka );
Person person = pekka;
person.becomeOlder(25);
System.out.println( pekka );
pekka = new Person("Pekka Mikkola", 24);
System.out.println( pekka );
person = null;
System.out.println( person );
}
After running that, the situation looks like this:

280

Nothing refers to the second object. The object has become 'garbage'. Java's
garbace collector cleans up the garbage every now and then by itself. If this
did not happen, the garbage would pile up in the computer's memory until
the execution of the program is done.
We notice this on the last line whine we try to print 'nothing' (null) on the
last line:
Pekka, age 24 years
Pekka, age 49 years
Pekka Mikkola, age 24 years
null
What happens if we try to call a "nothing's" method, for example the
method weightIndex:
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka", 24);

281

System.out.println( pekka );
Person person = null;
System.out.println( person.weightIndex() );
}
Result:
Pekka, age 24 years
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException
at Main.main(Main.java:20)
Java Result: 1
Not good. This might be the first time in your life that you see the text
NullPointerException. But we can assure you that it will not be the last.
NullPointerException is an exception state, when we try to call methods of
an object with the value null.

23.5 An object as a method parameter

We have seen that a method can have, for example int, double, String or
ArrayList as its parameter. ArrayLists and character strings are objects, so
as one might guess a method can take any type of object as a parameter. Let
us demonstrate this with an example.

282

People whose weight index exceeds a certain limit are accepted into the
Weight Watchers. The limit is not the same in all Weight Watchers
associations. Let us make a class corresponding to the Weight Watchers
association. As the object is being created, the lowest acceptance limit is
passed to the constructor as a parameter.
public class WeightWatchersAssociation {
private double lowestWeightIndex;
public WeightWatchersAssociation(double indexLimit) {
this.lowestWeightIndex = indexLimit;
}
}
Next we will create a method, with which we can check if a person is eligible
to the association, in other words we check if a person's weight index is
large enough. The method returns true if the person that is passed in as a
parameter is eligible and false if not.
public class WeightWatchersAssociation {
// ...
public boolean isAcceptedAsMember(Person person) {
if ( person.weightIndex() < this.lowestWeightIndex ) {
return false;
283

}
return true;
}
}
The method isAcceptedAsMember of the WeightWatchersAssociation object
gets a Person object as its parameter (or more accurately the wire to the
person), and then calls the method weightIndex of the person that it
received as a parameter.
In the following, is a test main program in which a person object matti and a
person object juhana is passed to the weight watchers association's method:
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person matti = new Person("Matti");
matti.setWeight(86);
matti.setHeight(180);
Person juhana = new Person("Juhana");
juhana.setWeight(64);
juhana.setHeight(172);
WeightWatchersAssociation kumpulasWeight = new
WeightWatchersAssociation(25);

284

if ( kumpulasWeight.isAcceptedAsMember(matti) ) {
System.out.println( matti.getName() + " is accepted as a member");
} else {
System.out.println( matti.getName() + " is not accepted as a member");
}
if ( kumpulasWeight.isAcceptedAsMember(juhana) ) {
System.out.println( juhana.getName() + " is accepted as a memberksi");
} else {
System.out.println( juhana.getName() + " is not accepted as a
member");
}
}
The program prints:
Matti is accepted as a member
Juhana is not accepted as a member
A few NetBeans-tips
All NetBeans-tips are found here
The automatic generating of constructors, getters and setters.
Go inside of the code block of the class, but outside of all methods and
simultaneously press Ctrl+Space. If your class, for example, has an
285

object variable balance, NetBeans will offer you the opportunity to

generate the getter and setter methods, and a constructor that sets a
starting value for the object variable.
Exercise 85: Reformatory
In this assignment, we use the already given class Person and are
supposed to build a new class Reformatory. Reformatory objects do
certain things to persons, e.g. measure their weight and feed them.
Note: you should not alter the code in the class Person!
Exercise 85.1: Weight of a person
The reformatory class already has a method skeleton public int
weight(Person person):
public class Reformatory {
public int weight(Person person) {
// returns the weight of the parameter
return -1;
}
}

The method gets a person object as a parameter. The method is supposed

to return the weight of the parameter, so the method should call a suitable
method of person, get the return value and then return it to the caller.
286

In the following a reformatory weight's two persons:

public static void main(String[] args) {
Reformatory eastHelsinkiReformatory = new Reformatory();
Person brian = new Person("Brian", 1, 110, 7);
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka", 33, 176, 85);
System.out.println(brian.getName() + " weight: " +
eastHelsinkiReformatory.weight(brian) + " kilos");
System.out.println(pekka.getName() + " weight: " +
eastHelsinkiReformatory.weight(pekka) + " kilos");
}

The output should be:

Brian weight: 7 kilos
Pekka weight: 85 kilos

Exercise 85.2: Feeding a person

In the previous part of the assignment, the method weight queried some
information from the parameter object by calling its method. It is also
possible to change the state of the parameter. Add to class Reformatory
the method public void feed(Person person) that increases the weight of
its parameter by one.
287

Next, an example where first the weight of Pekka and Brian is measured
and printed. Then Reformatory feeds Brian three times and after that the
weights are measured and printed again.
public static void main(String[] args) {
Reformatory eastHelsinkiReformatory = new Reformatory();
Person brian = new Person("Brian", 1, 110, 7);
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka", 33, 176, 85);
System.out.println(brian.getName() + " weight: " +
eastHelsinkiReformatory.weight(brian) + " kilos");
System.out.println(pekka.getName() + " weight: " +
eastHelsinkiReformatory.weight(pekka) + " kilos");
eastHelsinkiReformatory.feed(brian);
eastHelsinkiReformatory.feed(brian);
eastHelsinkiReformatory.feed(brian);
System.out.println("");
System.out.println(brian.getName() + " weight: " +
eastHelsinkiReformatory.weight(brian) + " kilos");
System.out.println(pekka.getName() + " weight: " +
eastHelsinkiReformatory.weight(pekka) + " kilos");
}
288

The output should reveal that Brian has gained 3 kilos:

Brian weight: 7 kilos
Pekka weight: 85 kilos
Brian weight: 10 kilos
Pekka weight: 85 kilos

Exercise 85.3: Number of times a weight has been measured

Add to class Reformatory the method public int totalWeightsMeasured()
that returns the total number of times a weight has been measured.
With the following main program:
public static void main(String[] args) {
Reformatory eastHelsinkiReformatory = new Reformatory();
Person brian = new Person("Brian", 1, 110, 7);
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka", 33, 176, 85);
System.out.println("total weights measured
"+eastHelsinkiReformatory.totalWeightsMeasured());

289

eastHelsinkiReformatory.weight(brian);
eastHelsinkiReformatory.weight(pekka);
System.out.println("total weights measured
"+eastHelsinkiReformatory.totalWeightsMeasured());
eastHelsinkiReformatory.weight(brian);
eastHelsinkiReformatory.weight(brian);
eastHelsinkiReformatory.weight(brian);
eastHelsinkiReformatory.weight(brian);
System.out.println("total weights measured
"+eastHelsinkiReformatory.totalWeightsMeasured());
}

the output should be:

total weights measured 0
total weights measured 2
total weights measured 6

Exercise 86: Lyyra card and Cash Register

Exercise 86.1: The "stupid" Lyyra card
290

In the last set of exercises, we implemented the class LyyraCard. The card
had methods for paying economical and gourmet lunches and a method
for loading money.
Last week's version of the card is however somehow problematic. The
card knew the lunch prices so that it could take the right price from the
balance if a lunch was paid. What if the lunch prices change? Or what if it
is decided that LyyraCards could also be used to purchase coffee? A
change like these would mean that all the existing LyyraCards should be
replaced with the new ones with the right prices and/or new methods.
This does not sound good at all!
A better solution is to store only the balance on the card and have all the
inteligence in a cash register.
We will soon program the cash register but let us start by completing the
"stupid" version of the Lyyra card. The card holds the balance and has
only two methods, public void loadMoney(double amount) that is already
implemented and public boolean pay(double amount) that you should
complete according to the instructions below:
public class LyyraCard {
private double balance;
public LyyraCard(double balance) {
this.balance = balance;
}

291

public double balance() {

return this.balance;
}
public void loadMoney(double amount) {
this.balance += amount;
}
public boolean pay(double amount){
// the method checks if the balance of the card is at least the amount
given as parameter
// if not, the method returns false meaning that the card could not be
used for the payment
// if the balance is enough, the given amount is taken from the
balance and true is returned
}
}

With the following main:

public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
LyyraCard cardOfPekka = new LyyraCard(10);

292

System.out.println("money on the card " + cardOfPekka.balance() );

boolean succeeded = cardOfPekka.pay(8);
System.out.println("money taken: " + succeeded );
System.out.println("money on the card " + cardOfPekka.balance() );
succeeded = cardOfPekka.pay(4);
System.out.println("money taken: " + succeeded );
System.out.println("money on the card " + cardOfPekka.balance() );
}
}

the output should be

money on the card 10.0
money taken: true
money on the card 2.0
money taken: false
money on the card 2.0

Exercise 86.2: Cash Register and paying with cash

In Unicafe, a client pays either with cash or with a Lyyra Card. The
personnel uses a cash register to charge the client. Let us start by
implementig the part of CashRegister that takes care of cash payments.

293

Below is the skeleton of CashRegister that also has the information on

how the methods should be implemented:
public class CashRegister {
private double cashInRegister; // the amount of cash in the register
private int economicalSold;

// the amount of economical lunches

sold
private int gourmetSold;

// the amount of gourmet lunches sold

public CashRegister() {
// at start the register has 1000 euros
}
public double payEconomical(double cashGiven) {
// the price of the economical lunch is 2.50 euros
// if the given cash is at least the price of the lunch:
// the price of lunch is added to register
// the amount of the sold lunches is incremented by one
// the method returns cashGiven - lunch price
// if not enough money is given, all is returned and nothing else
happens
}
public double payGourmet(double cashGiven) {
// the price of the gourmet lunch is 4.00 euros
// if the given cash is at least the price of the lunch:
294

// the price of lunch is added to the register

// the amount of the sold lunches is incremented by one
// the method returns cashGiven - lunch price
// if not enough money is given, all is returned and nothing else
happens
}
public String toString() {
return "money in register "+cashInRegister+" economical lunches
sold: "+economicalSold+" gourmet lunches sold: "+gourmetSold;
}
}

When correctly implemented, the following main:

public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
CashRegister unicafeExactum = new CashRegister();
double theChange = unicafeExactum.payEconomical(10);
System.out.println("the change was " + theChange );
theChange = unicafeExactum.payEconomical(5);
System.out.println("the change was " + theChange );

295

theChange = unicafeExactum.payGourmet(4);
System.out.println("the change was " + theChange );
System.out.println( unicafeExactum );
}
}

should output:
the change was 7.5
the change was 2.5
the change was 0.0
money in register 1009.0 economical lunches sold: 2 gourmet lunches
sold: 1

Exercise 86.3: Paying with card

Extend the cash register with methods to charge a lunch price from a
Lyyra Card. See below how the methods should appear and behave:
public class CashRegister {
// ...
public boolean payEconomical(LyyraCard card) {
// the price of the economical lunch is 2.50 euros
296

// if the balance of the card is at least the price of the lunch:

// the amount of sold lunches is incremented by one
// the method returns true
// if not, the method returns false
}
public boolean payGourmet(LyyraCard card) {
// the price of the gourmet lunch is 4.00 euros
// if the balance of the card is at least the price of the lunch:
// the amount of sold lunches is incremented by one
// the method returns true
// if not, the method returns false
}
// ...
}

Note: card payments do not affect the amount of money in the register!
Example main and output:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
CashRegister unicafeExactum = new CashRegister();

297

double theChange = unicafeExactum.payEconomical(10);

System.out.println("the change was " + theChange );
LyyraCard cardOfJim = new LyyraCard(7);
boolean succeeded = unicafeExactum.payGourmet(cardOfJim);
System.out.println("payment success: " + succeeded);
succeeded = unicafeExactum.payGourmet(cardOfJim);
System.out.println("payment success: " + succeeded);
succeeded = unicafeExactum.payEconomical(cardOfJim);
System.out.println("payment success: " + succeeded);
System.out.println( unicafeExactum );
}
}
the change was 7.5
payment success: true
payment success: false
payment success: true
money in register 1002.5 economical lunches sold: 2 gourmet lunches
sold: 1

Exercise 86.4: Loading money

298

To complete the assignment, extend the cash register with a method that
can be used to load cash to Lyyra Cards. When a certain amount is loaded
to the card, the amount stored in the register increases correspondingly.
Remember that the amount to be loaded needs to be positive! The method
skeleton:
public void loadMoneyToCard(LyyraCard card, double sum) {
// ...
}

Example main and its output:

public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
CashRegister unicafeExactum = new CashRegister();
System.out.println( unicafeExactum );
LyyraCard cardOfJim = new LyyraCard(2);
System.out.println("the card balance " + cardOfJim.balance() + "
euros");
boolean succeeded = unicafeExactum.payGourmet(cardOfJim);
System.out.println("payment success: " + succeeded);

299

unicafeExactum.loadMoneyToCard(cardOfJim, 100);
succeeded = unicafeExactum.payGourmet(cardOfJim);
System.out.println("payment success: " + succeeded);
System.out.println("the card balance " + cardOfJim.balance() + "
euros");
System.out.println( unicafeExactum );
}
}
money in register 1000.0 economical lunches sold: 0 gourmet lunches
sold: 0
money on the card 2.0 euros
payment success: false
payment success: true
the card balance 98.0 euros
money in register 1100.0 economical lunches sold: 0 gourmet lunches
sold: 1

23.6 Another object of the same type as a parameter to a method

We will keep on working with the Person class. As we recall, persons know
their age:
300

public class Person {

private String name;
private int age;
private int height;
private int weight;
// ...
}
We want to compare ages of two persons. The comparison can be done in a
number of ways. We could define a getter method getAge for a person.
Comparing two persons in that case would be done like this:
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka");
Person juhana = new Person("Juhana")
if ( pekka.getAge() > juhana.getAge() ) {
System.out.println(pekka.getName() + " is older than " +
juhana.getName());
}
We will learn a slightly more object-oriented way to compare the ages of
two people.

301

We will create a method boolean olderThan(Person compared) for the

Person class, with which we can compare a certain person with a person
that is given as a parameter.
The method is meant to be used in the following way:
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka", 24);
Person antti = new Person("Antti", 22);
if (pekka.olderThan(antti)) { // same as pekka.olderThan(antti)==true
System.out.println(pekka.getName() + " is older than " +
antti.getName());
} else {
System.out.println(pekka.getName() + " isn't older than " +
antti.getName());
}
}
Here, we ask Pekka if he is older than Antti, Pekka replies true if he is, and
false if he is not. In practice, we call the method olderThan of the object that
pekka refers to. For this method, we give as a parameter the object that
antti refers to.
The program prints:
Pekka is older than Antti
302

The program gets a person object as its parameter (or more accurately a
reference to a person object, which is at 'the end of a wire') and then
compares its own age this.age to the age of the compared compared.age.
The implementation looks like this:
public class Person {
// ...
public boolean olderThan(Person compared) {
if ( this.age > compared.age ) {
return true;
}
return false;
}
}
Even though age is a private object variable, we can read the value of the
variable by writing compared.age. This is because private variables can be
read in all methods that the class in question contains. Note that the syntax
resembles the call of a method of an object. Unlike calling a method, we
refer to a field of an object, in which case we do not write the parentheses.

23.7 The date as an object

Another example of the same theme. Let us create a class, which can
represent dates.
303

Within an object, the date is represented with three object variables. Let us
also make a method, which can compare whether the date is earlier than a
date that is given as a parameter:
public class MyDate {
private int day;
private int month;
private int year;
public MyDate(int day, int month, int year) {
this.day = day;
this.month = month;
this.year = year;
}
public String toString() {
return this.day + "." + this.month + "." + this.year;
}
public boolean earlier(MyDate compared) {
// first we'll compare years
if ( this.year < compared.year ) {
return true;
}
// if the years are the same, we'll compare the months
304

if ( this.year == compared.year && this.month < compared.month ) {

return true;
}
// years and months the same, we'll compare the days
if ( this.year == compared.year && this.month == compared.month &&
this.day < compared.day ) {
return true;
}
return false;
}
}
Example of usage:
public static void main(String[] args) {
MyDate p1 = new MyDate(14, 2, 2011);
MyDate p2 = new MyDate(21, 2, 2011);
MyDate p3 = new MyDate(1, 3, 2011);
MyDate p4 = new MyDate(31, 12, 2010);
System.out.println( p1 + " earlier than " + p2 + ": " + p1.earlier(p2));
System.out.println( p2 + " earlier than " + p1 + ": " + p2.earlier(p1));

305

System.out.println( p2 + " earlier than " + p3 + ": " + p2.earlier(p3));

System.out.println( p3 + " earlier than " + p2 + ": " + p3.earlier(p2));
System.out.println( p4 + " earlier than " + p1 + ": " + p4.earlier(p1));
System.out.println( p1 + " earlier than " + p4 + ": " + p1.earlier(p4));
}
14.2.2011 earlier than 21.2.2011: true
21.2.2011 earlier than 14.2.2011: false
21.2.2011 earlier than 1.3.2011: true
1.3.2011 earlier than 21.2.2011: false
31.12.2010 earlier than 14.2.2011: true
14.2.2011 earlier than 31.12.2010: false
Exercise 87: Apartment comparison
The information system of a Housing service represents the apartments it
has for sale using objects of the following class:
public class Apartment {
private int rooms;
private int squareMeters;
private int pricePerSquareMeter;
public Apartment(int rooms, int squareMeters, int
pricePerSquareMeter){
this.rooms = rooms;
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this.squareMeters = squareMeters;
this.pricePerSquareMeter = pricePerSquareMeter;
}
}

Next you should implement a couple of methods that help in apartment

comparisons.
Exercise 87.1: Larger
Implement the method public boolean larger(Apartment
otherApartment) that returns true if the Apartment object for which the
method is called (this) is larger than the apartment object given as
parameter (otherApartment).
Example of the usage:
Apartment studioManhattan = new Apartment(1, 16, 5500);
Apartment twoRoomsBrooklyn = new Apartment(2, 38, 4200);
Apartment fourAndKitchenBronx = new Apartment(3, 78, 2500);
System.out.println( studioManhattan.larger(twoRoomsBrooklyn) );

//

false
System.out.println( fourAndKitchenBronx.larger(twoRoomsBrooklyn) );
// true

307

Exercise 87.2: Price difference

Implement the method public int priceDifference(Apartment
otherApartment) that returns the absolute value of the price difference of
the Apartment object for which the method is called (this) and the
apartment object given as parameter (otherApartment). The price of an
apartment is squareMeters * pricePerSquareMeter.
Example of the usage:
Apartment studioManhattan = new Apartment(1, 16, 5500);
Apartment twoRoomsBrooklyn = new Apartment(2, 38, 4200);
Apartment fourAndKitchenBronx = new Apartment(3, 78, 2500);
System.out.println(
studioManhattan.priceDifference(twoRoomsBrooklyn) );

// 71600

System.out.println(
fourAndKitchenBronx.priceDifference(twoRoomsBrooklyn) ); // 35400

Exercise 87.3: more expensive than

Implement the method public boolean moreExpensiveThan(Apartment
otherApartment) that returns true if the Apartment-object for which the
method is called (this) has a higher price than the apartment object given
as parameter (otherApartment).
Example of the usage:

308

Apartment studioManhattan = new Apartment(1, 16, 5500);

Apartment twoRoomsBrooklyn = new Apartment(2, 38, 4200);
Apartment fourAndKitchenBronx = new Apartment(3, 78, 2500);
System.out.println(
studioManhattan.moreExpensiveThan(twoRoomsBrooklyn) );

// false

System.out.println(
fourAndKitchenBronx.moreExpensiveThan(twoRoomsBrooklyn) ); //
true

23.8 Objects on a list

We've used ArrayLists in a lot of examples and assignments already. You
can add character strings, for example, to an ArrayList object and going
through the strings, searching, removing and sorting them and so forth, are
painless actions.
You can put any type of objects in ArrayLists. Let's create a person list, an
ArrayList<Person> and put a few person objects in it:
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<Person> teachers = new ArrayList<Person>();
// first we can take a person into a variable
Person teacher = new Person("Juhana");
309

// and then add it to the list

teachers.add(teacher);
// or we can create the object as we add it:
teachers.add( new Person("Matti") );
teachers.add( new Person("Martin") );
System.out.println("teachers as newborns: ");
for ( Person prs : teachers ) {
System.out.println( prs );
}
for ( Person prs : teachers ) {
prs.becomeOlder( 30 );
}
System.out.println("in 30 years: ");
for ( Person prs : teachers ) {
System.out.println( prs );
}
}
The program prints:
teachers as newborns:
Juhana, age 0 years
310

Matti, age 0 years

Martin, age 0 years
in 30 years:
Juhana, age 30 years
Matti, age 30 years
Martin, age 30 years
Exercise 88: Students
Exercise 88.1: Class Student
Implement class Student that holds the following information about a
student:
name (String)
studentNumber (String)
The class should have the following methods:
A constructor that initializes the name and the student number with the
given parameters.
getName, that returns the student name
getStudentNumber, that returns the student number
toString, that returns a String representation of the form: Pekka Mikkola
(013141590)
With the following code:
311

public class Main {

public static void main(String[] args) {
Student pekka = new Student("Pekka Mikkola", "013141590");
System.out.println("name: " + pekka.getName());
System.out.println("studentnumber: " + pekka.getStudentNumber());
System.out.println(pekka);
}
}

The output should be:

name: Pekka Mikkola
studentnumber: 013141590
Pekka Mikkola (013141590)

Exercise 88.2: List of students

Implement a main program that works as follws:
name: Alan Turing
studentnumber: 017635727
name: Linus Torvalds
studentnumber: 011288989
name: Steve Jobs
studentnumber: 013672548
312

name:
Alan Turing (017635727)
Linus Torvalds (011288989)
Steve Jobs (013672548)

So the program asks for student information from the user until the user
gives a student an empty name. After the student info has been enteres, all
the students are printed. From each inputted name-studentnumber-pair,
the program should create a Student object. The program should store the
students in an ArrayList which is defined as follows:
ArrayList<Student> list = new ArrayList<Student>();

Exercise 88.3: Search

Extend the program of the previous part so that after the student info has
been entered and students printed, the user can search the student list
based on a given search term. The extended program should work in the
following manner:
name: Carl Gustaf Mannerheim
studentnumber: 015696234
name: Steve Jobs
studentnumber: 013672548
313

name: Edsger Dijkstra

studentnumber: 014662803
name:
Carl Gustaf Mannerheim (015696234)
Steve Jobs (013672548)
Edsger Dijkstra (014662803)
Give search term: st
Result:
Carl Gustaf Mannerheim (015696234)
Edsger Dijkstra (014662803)

TIP: in the search you should iterate (using for or while) through the
student list and by using the method contains of String check if a student's
name (obtained with method getName) matches the search term.

23.9 An object within an object

Objects can have objects within them, not only character strings but also
self-defined objects. Let's get back to the Person-class again and add a
birthday for the person. We can use the MyDate-object we created earlier
here:
public class Person {
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private String name;

private int age;
private int weight;
private int height;
private MyDate birthMyDate;
// ...
Let's create a new constructor for persons, which enables setting a
birthday:
public Person(String name, int day, int month, int year) {
this.name = name;
this.weight = 0;
this.height = 0;
this.birthMyDate = new MyDate(day, month, year);
}
So because the parts of the date are given as constructor parameters (day,
month, year), the date object is created out of them and then inserted to the
object variable birthMyDate.
Let's edit toString so that instead of age, it displays the birthdate:
public String toString() {
return this.name + ", born " + this.birthMyDate;
315

}
And then let's test how the renewed Person class works:
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person martin = new Person("Martin", 24, 4, 1983);
Person juhana = new Person("Juhana", 17, 9, 1985);
System.out.println( martin );
System.out.println( juhana );
}
Prints:
Martin, born 24.4.1983
Juhana, born 17.9.1985
In chapter 24.4, we noted that objects are 'at the end of a wire'. Take a look
at that chapter again for good measure.
Person objects have the object variables name, which is a String-object and
birthMyDate, which is a MyDate object. The variables of person are
consequently both objects, so technically speaking they don't actually exist
within a person object, but are 'at the end of a wire'. In other words a

316

person has a reference to the objects stored in its object variables. The
concept as a picture:

The main program now has two person programs at the ends of wires. The
persons have a name and a birthdate. Because both are objects, both are at
the ends of wires the person holds.
Birthday seems like a good expansion to the Person class. We notice,
however, that the object variable age is becoming obsolete and should
probably be removed since the age can be determined easily with the help
of the current date and birthday. In Java, the current day can be figured out,
for example, like this:
int day = Calendar.getInstance().get(Calendar.DATE);
int month = Calendar.getInstance().get(Calendar.MONTH) + 1; // January is
0 so we add 1
317

int year = Calendar.getInstance().get(Calendar.YEAR);

System.out.println("Today is " + day + "." + month + "." + year );
When age is removed, the olderThan method has to be changed so that it
compares birthdates. We'll do this as an excersise assignment.
Exercise 89: Clock object
In assignment 78 we used objects of the class BoundedCounter to
implement a clock in the main method. In this assignment we will
tranform the clock to an object. The skeleton of the class clock looks like
the following:
public class Clock {
private BoundedCounter hours;
private BoundedCounter minutes;
private BoundedCounter seconds;
public Clock(int hoursAtBeginning, int minutesAtBeginning, int
secondsAtBeginning) {
// the counters that represent hours, minutes and seconds are created
and
// set to have the correct initial values
}
public void tick(){
// Clock advances by one second
318

}
public String toString() {
// returns the string representation
}
}

Copy the class BoundedCounter from assignment 78 to the project of this

assignment!
Implement constructor and method tick for the class Clock. Use the
following main to test your clock:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Clock clock = new Clock(23, 59, 50);
int i = 0;
while( i < 20) {
System.out.println( clock );
clock.tick();
i++;
}
}
}
319

The output should be:

23:59:50
23:59:51
23:59:52
23:59:53
23:59:54
23:59:55
23:59:56
23:59:57
23:59:58
23:59:59
00:00:00
00:00:01
...

23.10 A list of objects within an object

Let's expand the WeightWatchersAssociation object so that the association
records all its members into an ArrayList object. So in this case the list will
be filled with Person objects. In the extended version the association is
given a name as a constructor parameter:

320

public class WeightWatchersAssociation {

private double lowestWeightIndex;
private String name;
private ArrayList<Person> members;
public WeightWatchersAssociation(String name, double
lowestWeightIndex) {
this.lowestWeightIndex = lowestWeightIndex;
this.name = name;
this.members = new ArrayList<Person>();
}
//..
}
Let's create a method with which a person is added to the association. The
method won't add anyone to the association but people with a high enough
weight index. Let's also make a toString with which the members' names
are printed:
public class WeightWatchersAssociation {
// ...
public boolean isAccepted(Person person) {
if ( person.weightIndex() < this.lowestWeightIndex ) {
return false;
321

}
return true;
}
public void addAsMember(Person person) {
if ( !isAccepted(person) ) { // same as isAccepted(person) == false
return;
}
this.members.add(person);
}
public String toString() {
String membersAsString = "";
for ( Person member : this.members ) {
membersAsString += " " + member.getName() + "\n";
}
return "Weightwatchers association " + this.name + " members: \n" +
membersAsString;
}
}

322

The method addAsMember uses the method isAccepted that was creater
earlier.
Let's try out the expanded weightwatchers association:
public static void main(String[] args) {
WeightWatchersAssociation weightWatcher = new
WeightWatchersAssociation("Kumpulan paino", 25);
Person matti = new Person("Matti");
matti.setWeight(86);
matti.setHeight(180);
weightWatcher.addAsMember(matti);
Person juhana = new Person("Juhana");
juhana.setWeight(64);
juhana.setHeight(172);
weightWatcher.addAsMember(juhana);
Person harri = new Person("Harri");
harri.setWeight(104);
harri.setHeight(182);
weightWatcher.addAsMember(harri);
Person petri = new Person("Petri");
petri.setWeight(112);
petri.setHeight(173);
323

weightWatcher.addAsMember(petri);
System.out.println( weightWatcher );
}
In the output we can see that Juhana wasn't accepted as a member:
The members of weight watchers association 'kumpulan paino':
Matti
Harri
Petri
Exercise 90: Team and Players
Exercise 90.1: Class Team
Implement a class Team. At this stage team has only a name (String) and
the following functionality:
a constructor that sets the team name
getName, that returns the name
With the code:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Team barcelona = new Team("FC Barcelona");
324

System.out.println("Team: " + barcelona.getName());

}
}

the output should be::

Team: FC Barcelona

Exercise 90.2: Player

Create a class Player with the instance variables for the player name and
the amount of goals. A player should have two constructors: one that
initializes the name and an another that initializes the name and the
amount of goals. Implement also the following methods:
getName, returns the player name
goals, returns the amount of goals
toString, returns a string representation that is formed as in the example
below
Example usage:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Team barcelona = new Team("FC Barcelona");
325

System.out.println("Team: " + barcelona.getName());

Player brian = new Player("Brian");
System.out.println("Player: " + brian);
Player pekka = new Player("Pekka", 39);
System.out.println("Player: " + pekka);
}
}

and the expected output:

Team: FC Barcelona
Player: Brian, goals 0
Player: Pekka, goals 39

Exercise 90.3: Adding players to a team

Add to the class Team the following methods:
addPlayer, adds a player to the team
printPlayers, prints the players in the team
You should store the players to an instance variable of the type
ArrayList<Player> within the class Team.
326

With the code:

public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Team barcelona = new Team("FC Barcelona");
Player brian = new Player("Brian");
Player pekka = new Player("Pekka", 39);
barcelona.addPlayer(brian);
barcelona.addPlayer(pekka);
barcelona.addPlayer(new Player("Mikael", 1)); // works similarly as
the above
barcelona.printPlayers();
}
}

the output should be:

Brian, goals 0
Pekka, goals 39
Mikael, goals 1

Exercise 90.4: The team maximum size and current size

327

Add to the class Team the methods

setMaxSize(int maxSize), sets the maximum number of players that the
team can have
size, returns the number of players in the team
By default the maximum number of players should be set to 16, and that
can be changed with the method setMaxSize. Change the method
addPlayer so that it does not add players to the team if the team already
has the maximum number of players.
With the code:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Team barcelona = new Team("FC Barcelona");
barcelona.setMaxSize(1);
Player brian = new Player("Brian");
Player pekka = new Player("Pekka", 39);
barcelona.addPlayer(brian);
barcelona.addPlayer(pekka);
barcelona.addPlayer(new Player("Mikael", 1)); // works similarly as
the above
System.out.println("Number of players: " + barcelona.size());
}
328

the output should be

Number of players: 1

Exercise 90.5: Goals of a team

Add to the class Team the method
goals, returns the total number of goals for all the players in the team
With the code:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Team barcelona = new Team("FC Barcelona");
Player brian = new Player("Brian");
Player pekka = new Player("Pekka", 39);
barcelona.addPlayer(brian);
barcelona.addPlayer(pekka);
barcelona.addPlayer(new Player("Mikael", 1)); // works similarly as
the above
System.out.println("Total goals: " + barcelona.goals());
329

}
}

the output should be

Total goals: 40

23.11 Method returns an object

We've seen methods that return booleans, numbers, lists and strings. It's
easy to guess that a method can return any type of an object. Let's make a
method for the weight watchers association that returns the person with
the highest weight index.
public class WeightWatchersAssociation {
// ...
public Person personWithHighestWeightIndex() {
// if members list is empty, we'll return null-reference
if ( this.members.isEmpty() ) {
return null;
}
Person heaviestSoFar = this.members.get(0);
330

for ( Person person : this.members) {

if ( person.weightIndex() > heaviestSoFar.weightIndex() ) {
heaviestSoFar = person;
}
}
return heaviestSoFar;
}
}
The logic in this method works in the same way as when finding the largest
number in a list. We use a dummy variable heaviestSoFar which is initially
made to refer to the first person on the list. After that the list is read
through and we see if there's anyone with a greater weight index in it, if so,
we make heaviestSoFar refer to that one instead. At the end we return the
value of the dummy variable, or in other words the reference to a person
object.
Let's make an expansion to the previous main program. The main program
receives the reference returned by the method to its variable heaviest.
public static void main(String[] args) {
WeightWatchersAssociation weightWatcher = new
WeightWatchersAssociation("Kumpluan paino", 25);

331

// ..
Person heaviest = weightWatcher.personWithHighestWeightIndex();
System.out.print("member with the greatest weight index: " +
heaviest.getName() );
System.out.println(" weight index " + String.format( "%.2f",
heaviest.weightIndex() ) );
}
Prints:
member with the greatest weight index: Petri
weight index 37,42

23.12 Method returns an object it creates

In the last example a method returned one Person object that the
WeightWatcers object had in it. It's also possible that a method returns an
entirely new object. In the following is a simple counter that has a method
clone with which a clone - an entirely new counter object - can be made
from the counter, which at creation has the same value as the counter that is
being cloned:
public Counter {
private int value;

332

public Counter(){
this(0);
}
public Counter(int initialValue){
this.value = initialValue;
}
public void grow(){
this.value++;
}
public String toString(){
return "value: "+value;
}
public Counter clone(){
// lets create a new counter object, that gets as its initial value
// the value of the counter that is being cloned
Counter clone = new Counter(this.value);
// return the clone to the caller
return clone;
}
}

333

Here's a usage example:

Counter counter = new Counter();
counter.grow();
counter.grow();
System.out.println(counter);

// prints 2

Counter clone = counter.clone();

System.out.println(counter);
System.out.println(clone);

// prints 2
// prints 2

counter.grow();
counter.grow();
counter.grow();
counter.grow();
System.out.println(counter);
System.out.println(clone);

// prints 6
// prints 2

clone.grow();
System.out.println(counter);
System.out.println(clone);

// prints 6
// prints 3

334

The value of the object being cloned and the value of the clone - after the
cloning has happened - are the same. However they are two different
objects, so in the future as one of the counters grows the value of the other
isn't affected in any way.
Exercise 91: Extending MyDate
In this assignment we will extend the class MyDate, that was developed in
chapter 24.7. The code of the class:
public class MyDate {
private int day;
private int month;
private int year;
public MyDate(int day, int month, int year) {
this.day = day;
this.month = month;
this.year = year;
}
public String toString() {
return this.day + "." + this.month + "." + this.year;
}
public boolean earlier(MyDate compared) {
// first we'll compare years
335

if ( this.year < compared.year ) {

return true;
}
// if the years are the same, we'll compare the months
if ( this.year == compared.year && this.month < compared.month ) {
return true;
}
// years and months the same, we'll compare the days
if ( this.year == compared.year && this.month == compared.month
&&
this.day < compared.day ) {
return true;
}
return false;
}
}

Exercise 91.1: Next day

Add to the class MyDate the method public void advance() that advances
the date by one. Note: In this assignment we assume that all the months
have 30 days!
Exercise 91.2: Advancing many days
336

Add also overloaded version public void advance(int numberOfDays).

This method should advance the day by the number given as parameter.
Implement this method so that it calls the method advance() that was
defined in the previous part of the assignment, e.g. the call advance(5)
should call advance() 5 times. Again assume that all the months have 30
days!
Exercise 91.3: Creation of a new date
Add to the class MyDate the method MyDate afterNumberOfDays(int
days), that returns a new MyDate-object that has the date which equals
the date of the object for which the method was called advance by the
parameter of the method days. Again assume that all the months have 30
days!
Note that the object for which this method is called should not change!
Since the method creates a new object, the skeleton is of the form:
public MyDate afterNumberOfDays(int days){
MyDate newMyDate = new MyDate( ... );
// some code here
return newMyDate;
}

The following code

337

public static void main(String[] args) {

MyDate day = new MyDate(25, 2, 2011);
MyDate newDate = day.afterNumberOfDays(7);
for (int i = 1; i <= 7; ++i) {
System.out.println("Friday after " + i + " weeks is " + newDate);
newDate = newDate.afterNumberOfDays(7);
}
System.out.println("This week's Friday is " + day);
System.out.println("The date 790 days from this week's Friday is " +
day.afterNumberOfDays(790));
}

should print:
Friday after 1 weeks is 2.3.2011
Friday after 2 weeks is 9.3.2011
Friday after 3 weeks is 16.3.2011
Friday after 4 weeks is 23.3.2011
Friday after 5 weeks is 30.3.2011
Friday after 6 weeks is 7.4.2011
Friday after 7 weeks is 14.4.2011
This week's Friday is 25.2.2011
The date 790 days from this week's Friday is 5.5.2013

338

23.13 More assignments

All the new theory for this week has already been covered. However, since
this week's topics are quite challenging, we will practise our routine with a
couple of more exercises.
Exercise 92: Difference of two dates
In this assignment we'll further extend the class MyDate. This assignment
does not depend on the previous one, so the project contains the MyDate
class that does not have the extensions of the previous assignment.
Exercise 92.1: Difference in years, first version
Add to the class MyDate the method public int differenceInYears(MyDate
comparedDate), that calculates the difference in years of the object for
which the method is called and the object given as parameters.
Note the following
the first vesion of the method is not very precise, it only calculates the
difference of the years and does not take into account the day and
month of the dates
The method needs to work only in the case where the date given as
parameter is before the date for which the method is called
With the code
public class Main {

339

public static void main(String[] args) {

MyDate first = new MyDate(24, 12, 2009);
MyDate second = new MyDate(1, 1, 2011);
MyDate third = new MyDate(25, 12, 2010);
System.out.println( second + " and " + first + " difference in years: " +
second.differenceInYears(first) );
System.out.println( third + " and " + first + " difference in years: " +
third.differenceInYears(first) );
System.out.println( second + " and " + third + " difference in years: " +
second.differenceInYears(third) );
}
}

the output should be:

1.1.2011 and 24.12.2009 difference in years: 2

// since 2011-2009 = 2

25.12.2010 and 24.12.2009 difference in years: 1 // since 2010-2009 = 1

1.1.2011 and 25.12.2010 difference in years: 1

Exercise 92.2: More accuracy

340

// since 2011-2010 = 1

Calculation of the previous version was not very exact, e.g. the difference
of dates 1.1.2011 and 25.12.2010 was claimed to be one year. Modify the
method so that it can calculate the difference properly. Only the full
years in difference count. So if the difference of two dates would be 1 year
and 364 days, only the full years are counted and the result is thus one.
The method still needs to work only in the case where the date given as
parameter is before the date for which the method is called
The output for the previous example is now:
1.1.2011 and 24.12.2009 difference in years: 1
25.12.2010 and 24.12.2009 difference in years: 1
1.1.2011 and 25.12.2010 difference in years: 0

Exercise 92.3: And the final version

Modify the method so that it works no matter which date is later, the one
for which the method is called or the parameter. Example code:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
MyDate first = new MyDate(24, 12, 2009);
MyDate second = new MyDate(1, 1, 2011);
MyDate third = new MyDate(25, 12, 2010);
System.out.println( first + " and " + second + " difference in years: " +
second.differenceInYears(first) );
341

System.out.println( second + " and " + first + " difference in years: " +
first.differenceInYears(second) );
System.out.println( first + " and " + third + " difference in years: " +
third.differenceInYears(first) );
System.out.println( third + " and " + first + " difference in years: " +
first.differenceInYears(third) );
System.out.println( third + " and " + second + " difference in years: " +
second.differenceInYears(third) );
System.out.println( second + " and " + third + " difference in years: " +
third.differenceInYears(second) );
}
}

and the output

24.12.2009 and 1.1.2011 difference in years: 1
1.1.2011 and 24.12.2009 difference in years: 1
24.12.2009 and 25.12.2010 difference in years: 1
25.12.2010 and 24.12.2009 difference in years: 1
1.1.2011 and 25.12.2010 difference in years: 0
25.12.2010 and 1.1.2011 difference in years: 0

Exercise 93: Person extended

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Exercise 93.1: Calculating the age based on the birthday

In chapter 24.9. Person was extended by adding to it a birthday
represented as a MyDate object. It was noticed that after the addition the
instance variable age has no role since the age could easily be calculated
based on the current date and the birthday.
Now implement the method age that calucates and returns the age of the
person.
Note: in the previous assignment we added the class MyDate method
public int differenceInYears(MyDate compared). Copy the method here
since it eases this assignment considerably.
import java.util.Calendar;
public class Person {
private String name;
private MyDate birthday;
public Person(String name, int pp, int kk, int vv) {
this.name = name;
this.birthday = new MyDate(pp, kk, vv);
}
public int age() {
// calculate the age based on the birthday and the current day
// you get the current day as follows:
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// Calendar.getInstance().get(Calendar.DATE);
// Calendar.getInstance().get(Calendar.MONTH) + 1; // January is 0
so we add one
// Calendar.getInstance().get(Calendar.YEAR);
}
public String getName() {
return this.name;
}
public String toString() {
return this.name +", born "+ this.birthday;
}
}

You can use the following program to test your method. Add also yourself
to the program and ensure that your age is calculated correctly.
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka", 15, 2, 1993);
Person steve = new Person("Thomas", 1, 3, 1955);

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System.out.println( steve.getName() + " age " + steve.age() + "

years");
System.out.println( pekka.getName() + " age " + pekka.age() + "
years");
}
}

Output:
Thomas age 59 years
Pekka age 21 years

Exercise 93.2: Comparing ages based on birthdate

Add to the class Person the method boolean olderThan(Person compared)
which compares the ages of the object for which the method is called and
the object given as parameter. The method returns true if the object itself
is older than the parameter.
public class Person {
// ...
public boolean olderThan(Person compared) {
// compare the ages based on birthdate
}
345

Test the method with the code:

public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka", 15, 2, 1983);
Person martin = new Person("Martin", 1, 3, 1983);
System.out.println( martin.getName() + " is older than " +
pekka.getName() + ": "+ martin.olderThan(pekka) );
System.out.println( pekka.getName() + " is older than " +
martin.getName() + ": "+ pekka.olderThan(martin) );
}
}

The output should be:

Martin is older than Pekka: false
Pekka is older than Martin: true

Exercise 93.3: New constructors

Add to the class Person two new constructors:
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public Person(String name, MyDate birthday) constructor sets the given

MyDate-object to be the birthday of the person
public Person(String name) constructor sets the current date (i.e., the
date when the program is run) to be the birthday of the person
Example program:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka", new MyDate(15, 2, 1983));
Person steve = new Person("Steve");
System.out.println( pekka );
System.out.println( steve );
}
}

Output:
Pekka, born 15.2.1983
Steve, born 9.2.2012

Note: The last line depends on the day when the code is executed!

347

Week 6

24. A quick recap

Let us start week 6 with two assignments that use the most important
topics of week 5. You might want to read chapter 23.10 before assignment
94 and chapters 23.6 and 23.12 before assignment 95.
Exercise 94: PhoneBook
In this assignment we are implementing a simple phone book.
Exercise 94.1: Person
Start by programing the class Person which works as follows:
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka Mikkola", "040-123123");
System.out.println(pekka.getName());
System.out.println(pekka.getNumber());
System.out.println(pekka);
pekka.changeNumber("050-333444");
System.out.println(pekka);
}

The output is:

348

Pekka Mikkola
040-123123
Pekka Mikkola number: 040-123123
Pekka Mikkola number: 050-333444

So you have to implement the following class:

the method public String toString(), which returns the string
representation formulated as the above example shows
constructor that sets the person name and phone number
public String getName(), that returns the name
public String getNumber(), that returns the phone number
the method public void changeNumber(String newNumber), that can be
used to change the phone number of the person
Exercise 94.2: Adding persons to Phonebook
Program the class Phonebook that stores Person-objects using an
ArrayList. At this stage you'll need the following methods:
public void add(String name, String number) creates a Person-object and
adds it to the ArrayList inside the Phonebook
public void printAll(), prints all the persons inside the Phonebook

349

With the code:

public static void main(String[] args) {
Phonebook phonebook = new Phonebook();
phonebook.add("Pekka Mikkola", "040-123123");
phonebook.add("Edsger Dijkstra", "045-456123");
phonebook.add("Donald Knuth", "050-222333");
phonebook.printAll();
}

the output should be:

Pekka Mikkola number: 040-123123
Edsger Dijkstra number: 045-456123
Donald Knuth number: 050-222333

Exercise 94.3: Searching for numbers from the phonebooks

Extend the class Phonebook with the method public String
searchNumber(String name), that returns the phone number
corresponding to the given name. If the sought person is not known the
string "number not known" is returned.
Example code:
350

public static void main(String[] args) {

Phonebook phonebook = new Phonebook();
phonebook.add("Pekka Mikkola", "040-123123");
phonebook.add("Edsger Dijkstra", "045-456123");
phonebook.add("Donald Knuth", "050-222333");
String number = phonebook.searchNumber("Pekka Mikkola");
System.out.println( number );
number = phonebook.searchNumber("Martti Tienari");
System.out.println( number );
}

output:
040-123123
number not known

Exercise 95: Money

In a previous assignment we stored the balance of a LyyraCard using a
double variable. In reality money should not be represented as a double
since the double arithmetics is not accurate. A better idea would be to

351

implement a class that represents money. We'll start with the following
class skeleton:
public class Money {
private final int euros;
private final int cents;
public Money(int euros, int cents) {
if (cents > 99) {
euros += cents / 100;
cents %= 100;
}
this.euros = euros;
this.cents = cents;
}
public int euros(){
return euros;
}
public int cents(){
return cents;
}
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public String toString() {

String zero = "";
if (cents <= 10) {
zero = "0";
}
return euros + "." + zero + cents + "e";
}
}

Notice that the instance variables euros and cents have been defined as
final meaning that once the variables have been set, the value of those can
not be changed. An object value of which can not be changed is said to be
immutable. If we need to e.g. calculate the sum of two money objects, we
need to create a new money object that represents the sum of the
originals.
In the following we'll create three methods that are needed in operating
with money.
Exercise 95.1: Plus
Let us start by implementing the method public Money plus(Money
added), that returns a new Money object that has a value equal to the sum
of the object for which the method was called and the object given as
parameter.
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Examples of the method usage:

Money a = new Money(10,0);
Money b = new Money(5,0);
Money c = a.plus(b);
System.out.println(a); // 10.00e
System.out.println(b); // 5.00e
System.out.println(c); // 15.00e
a = a.plus(c);

// NOTE: new Money-object is created and reference to

that
//
//

is assigned to variable a.
The Money object 10.00e that variable a used to hold

//

is not referenced anymore

System.out.println(a); // 25.00e
System.out.println(b); // 5.00e
System.out.println(c); // 15.00e

Exercise 95.2: less

Create the method public boolean less(Money compared), that returns
true if the object for which the method was called is less valuable than the
object given as parameter.

354

Money a = new Money(10,0);

Money b = new Money(3,0);
Money c = new Money(5,0);
System.out.println(a.less(b)); // false
System.out.println(b.less(c)); // true

Exercise 95.3: Minus

And finally create the method public Money minus(Money decremented),
that returns a new Money object that has a value equal to the object for
which the method was called minus the object given as parameter. If the
value would be negative, the resulting Money object should have the value
0.
Examples of the method usage:
Money a = new Money(10,0);
Money b = new Money(3,50);
Money c = a.minus(b);
System.out.println(a); // 10.00e
System.out.println(b); // 3.50e
System.out.println(c); // 6.50e

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c = c.minus(a);

// NOTE: new Money-object is created and reference

to that is assigned to variable c

//

the Money object 6.50e that variable c used to hold, is

not referenced anymore

System.out.println(a); // 10.00e
System.out.println(b); // 3.50e
System.out.println(c); // 0.00e

24.1 Character strings are immutable

The String objects of Java, as with the Money class objects, are
unchangeable, immutable. If for example a new object is concatenated to the
end of a character string with the + operator, the original character string
doesn't become longer, but a new character string object is born:
String characterString = "test";
characterString + "tail";
System.out.println( characterString ); // test
We see that the character string cannot be changed, but we can add the
value of the new character string - that was born from concatenation - to
the old variable:
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String characterString = "test";

characterString = characterString + "tail"; // or characterString += "tail";
System.out.println( characterString ); // testtail
Now the variable characterString refers to a new character string object,
which was created by combining the previous character string value the
variable referred to ("test") with the "tail" character string. Nothing refers
to the "test" character string object anymore.

25. Array
During the course, we've used ArrayLists numerous times to store different
kinds of objects. ArrayList is easy to use because it offers a lot of readymade tools that make the programmer's life a little easier: automatic
growing of a list, thanks to the list which doesn't run out of space (unless of
course the list grows so large that it makes the program take up all the
memory that is reserved for it), for example.
Array is an object that can be understood as a series of pigeonholes for
values. The length or size of an array is the number of spots in that array the number of items you can put in the array. The values of an array are
called cells of the array. Unlike with ArrayLists, the size of the array (the
amount of cells in an array) cannot be changed, growing an array always
requires creating a new array and copying the cells of the old array to the
new one.
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An array can be created in two ways. Let's take a look at the way in which
we give content to the array at creation. An array of the integer type that
consists of 3 cells is defined as follows:
int[] numbers = {100, 1, 42};
The type of the Array object is denoted asint[], which stands for an array,
the cells of which are of the type int. In the example the name of the arrayobject is numbers and it holds 3 number values {100, 1, 42}. The array is
formatted with a block, in which the values to be inserted into the array are
separated by commas.
The values of the array can be of any variable type that we've seen earlier.
Below we've first introduced an array containing character strings and then
an array containing floating numbers.
String[] characterStringArray = {"Matti P.", "Matti V."};
double[] floatingNumberArray = {1.20, 3.14, 100.0, 0.6666666667};
The cells of the array are referred to with indexes that are integers. The
index tells the position of the cell in the array. The first item in an array is in
position 0, the next one in position 1, and so forth. When inspecting a
certain value of an array, the index is given after the name of the array
object in brackets.
// index

0 1 2 3 4 5

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int[] numbers = {100, 1, 42, 23, 1, 1, 3200, 3201};

System.out.println(numbers[0]); // prints the number in the array's index
0: the number 100
System.out.println(numbers[2]); // prints the number in the array's index
2, the number 42
The size (length) of the array above is 8.
You'll probably notice that the get-method of ArrayList works pretty much the
same as getting from a certain index of an array. Only the notation - the
syntax - is different when dealing with arrays.
Setting an individual value to a certain position in an array happens the
same way as with regular variables, only with arrays the index also has to
be mentioned. The index is mentioned inside brackets.
int[] numbers = {100,1,42};
numbers[0] = 1; // setting value 1 to index 0
numbers[1] = 101; // setting value 101 to index 1
// the numbers array now looks like {1,101,42}
If an index points past an array, that is, to a cell that doesn't exist, we will
get an error: ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException, which means that the index
that we pointed at doesn't exist. So we cannot refer to a cell that is past the
359

array - to an index that is smaller than 0, or larger or equals the size of the
array.
We'll notice that the array clearly is related to ArrayList. Arrays, as with
lists, have their cells in a certain order!

25.1 Iteration of an array

The size of an array object can be found out by typing array.length into the
code, notice that you don't use parentheses with this one. array.length()
does not work!
Iterating through the cells of an array is easy to implement with the help of
the while-command:
int[] numbers = {1, 8, 10, 3, 5};
int i = 0;
while (i < numbers.length ) {
System.out.println(numbers[i]);
i++;
}
With the help of variable i we go through the indexes 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4, and
print the value of the variable in each cell. First numbers[0] gets printed,
then numbers[1] and so forth. The variable i stops getting increased when
the array has been iterated through, that is when i's value is equal to the
length of the array.
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When iterating through an array it isn't always necessary to list the indexes
of it, the only interesting thing is the values of the array. In this case we can
use the for-each-structure - that we became familiar with earlier - to go
through the values. Now only the name of a variable is given in the frame of
the loop, to which each of the values of the array are set one after the other.
The name of the array is separated with a colon.
int[] numbers = {1,8,10,3,5};
for (int number : numbers) {
System.out.println(number);
}
String[] names = {"Juhana L.", "Matti P.", "Matti L.", "Pekka M."};
for (String name : names) {
System.out.println(name);
}
Notice: when using a for-each-type of loop you cannot set values to the cells
of the array! With the format of the for-sentence we inspect next that can be
done too.

25.2 Another form of the for command

So far when doing loops, we've used while and the for-each form of the for
sentence. Another form of the for-loop exists, which is handy especially

361

when handling arrays. In the following we print the numbers 0, 1 and 2 with
a for loop:
for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++ ) {
System.out.println(i);
}
The for in the example works exactly as the while below:
int i = 0; // formatting the variable that will be used in the loop
while ( i < 3 ) { // condition
System.out.println(i);
i++; // updating the variable that is used in the loop
}
a for command, as shown in for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++ ) above, has three parts
to it: formatting the loop variables; condition; updating the loop variables:
In the first part, the variables that are used in the loop are formatted. In the
example above we formatted the variable i with int i=0. The first part is
run only once, at the beginning of a for run.
In the second part the condition is defined, which defines how long the
code is run in the code block that is related to the for loop. In our
example the condition was i < 3. The validity of the condition is checked
before each round of the loop. The condition works exactly the same as
the a condition of a while loop works.
362

The third part, which in our example is i++ , is always run once at the end
of each round of the loop.
Compared to while, for is a slightly clearer way of implementing loops of
whose amount of runs is based on, for example, growing a counter. When
going through an array the case is usually exactly this. In the following we
print the contents of the numbers array with for:
int[] numbers = {1, 3, 5, 9, 17, 31, 57, 105};
for(int i = 3; i < 7; i++) {
System.out.println(numbers[i]);
}
Naturally with for you don't have to start from 0 and the iteration can be
done 'from top down'. For example, the cells in indexes 6, 5, 4, and 3 can be
printed like this:
int[] numbers = {1, 3, 5, 9, 17, 31, 57, 105};
for(int i = 6; i>2 ; i--) {
System.out.println(numbers[i]);
}

25.3 For and array length

Going through all cells of an array with for happens like this:
363

int[] numbers = {1, 8, 10, 3, 5};

for (int i = 0; i < numbers.length; i++ ) {
System.out.println(numbers[i]);
}
Notice, that in the condition i < numbers.length we compare the value of the
loop variable to the length we get from the array. The condition should not
in any case be "hardcoded" as, for example, i < 5 because often the length of
the array can't be known for sure beforehand.

25.4 Array as a parameter

Arrays can be used - just as any other objects - as a parameters to a method.
Notice that, as with all objects, the method gets a reference to an array, so
all changes done to the content of the array in the method also show up in
the main program.
public static void listCells(int[] integerArray) {
System.out.println("the cells of the array are: ");
for( int number : integerArray) {
System.out.print(number + " ");
}
System.out.println("");
364

}
public static void main(String[] args) {
int[] numbers = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
listCells(numbers);
}
As we already know, the name of the parameter within a method can be
freely chosen. The name does not need to be the same as in the one used in
calling it. Above, the array is called integerArray within the method and the
caller of the method knows the array as numbers.
Exercise 96: Sum of the array
Implement the method public static sum(int[] array), which returns the
sum of the numbers in the array given as parameter.
Program skeleton:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int[] array = {5, 1, 3, 4, 2};
System.out.println(sum(array));
}
public static int sum(int[] array) {
// write code here
365

return 0;
}
}

The output should be:

15

NOTE: in this and some of the following assignments methods are static
as the they used to be in the assignments for weeks 2 and 3. The reason
for this is that the methods are not instance methods, i.e. not operating
with instance variables of objects, instead they are working at "class level"
and operating just with the values and objects given as parameter. In
chapter 31 we'll elaborate more on the question whether a method
should be static or not.
Exercise 97: Elegant printing of an array
Implement the method public static int printElegantly(int[] array), which
prints the numbers in the array on the same row. In the printout all the
numbers should be separated with comma and whitespace and there
should not be a comma trailing the last number.
Program skeleton:

366

public class Main {

public static void main(String[] args) {
int[] array = {5, 1, 3, 4, 2};
printElegantly(array);
}
public static void printElegantly(int[] array) {
// write code here
}
}

The output should be:

5, 1, 3, 4, 2

25.5 Creating a new array

If the size of the array isn't always the same, that is, if its size depends on
user input for example, the previously introduced way of creating arrays
will not do. It is also possible to create a table so that its size is defined with
the help of a variable:
int cells = 99;

367

int[] array = new int[cells];

Above we create an array of the type int, that has 99 cells. With this
alternative way creation of an array happens just like with any other object;
with the command new. Following the new is the type of the array and in
the brackets is the size of the array.
int cells = 99;
int[] array = new int[cells]; //creating an array of the size of the value in the
'cells' variable
if(array.length == cells) {
System.out.println("The length of the array is " + cells);
} else {
System.out.println("Something unreal happened. The length of the array
is something else than " + cells);
}
In the following example there is a program that prompts for the user the
amount of values and subsequently the values. After this the program prints
the values in the same order again. The values given by the user are stored
in the array.
System.out.print("How many values? ");
int amountOfValues = Integer.parseInt(reader.nextLine());

368

int[] values = new int[amountOfValues];

System.out.println("Enter values:");
for(int i = 0; i < amountOfValues; i++) {
values[i] = Integer.parseInt(reader.nextLine());
}
System.out.println("Values again:");
for(int i = 0; i < amountOfValues; i++) {
System.out.println(values[i]);
}
A run of the program could look something like this:
How many values? 4
Enter values:
4
8
2
1
Values again:
4
2
8

369

25.6 An array as the return value

Since methods can return objects, they can also return arrays. This
particular method that returns an array looks like this -- notice that arrays
might as well contain objects.
public static String[] giveStringTable() {
String[] tchrs = new String[3];
tchrs[0] = "Bonus";
tchrs[1] = "Ihq";
tchrs[2] = "Lennon";
return tchrs;
}
public static void main(String[] args){
String[] teachers = giveStringTable();
for ( String teacher : teachers)
System.out.println( teacher );
}
Exercise 98: Reversing and copying of an array
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Exercise 98.1: Copy

Implement the method public static int[] copy(int[] array) that creates a
copy of the parameter. Tip: since you are supposed to create a copy of the
parameter, the method should create a new array where the contents of
the parameter is copied.
In the following an example of the usage (note how code uses a handy
helper method to print arrays):
public static void main(String[] args) {
int[] original = {1, 2, 3, 4};
int[] copied = copy(original);
// change the copied
copied[0] = 99;
// print both
System.out.println( "original: " + Arrays.toString(original));
System.out.println( "copied: " + Arrays.toString(copied));
}

As seen in the output, the change made to the copy does not affect the
original:
original: [1, 2, 3, 4]

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copied: [99, 2, 3, 4]

Exercise 98.2: Reverse copy

Implement the method public static int[] reverseCopy(int[] array) that
creates an array which contains the elements of the parameter but in
reversed order. The parameter array must remain the same.
E.g. if the parameter contains values 5, 6, 7 the method returns a new
array that contains the values 7, 6, 5.
In the following an example of the usage:
public static void main(String[] args) {
int[] original = {1, 2, 3, 4};
int[] reverse = reverseCopy(original);
// print both
System.out.println( "original: " +Arrays.toString(original));
System.out.println( "reversed: " +Arrays.toString(reverse));
}

The output should reveal that the parameter remains intact:

original: [1, 2, 3, 4]
reversed: [4, 3, 2, 1]
372

26. About blocks and nested loops

A piece of code that begins with a curly bracket { and ends with a curly
bracket } is called a block. As we've already seen, blocks are used - among
other things - to denote the code of conditional and loop sentences. An
important feature of a block is that variables defined within it only exist
within it..
In the following example we define the string variable
stringDefinedWithinBlock within the block of a conditional sentence, which
therefor will only exist within the block. The variable introduced within the
block cannot be printed outside of it!
int number = 5;
if( number == 5 ){
String stringDefinedWithinBlock = "Yeah!";
}
System.out.println(stringDefinedWithinBlock); // does not work!
However, you can use and manipulate variables defined outside of the block
in the block.

373

int number = 5;
if( number == 5 ) {
number = 6;
}
System.out.println(number); // prints 6
You can have any kind of code within a block. For example, a for loop can
have another for loop within it or say, a while loop. Let's inspect the
following program:
for(int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
System.out.print(i + ": ");
for(int j = 0; j < 3; j++) {
System.out.print(j + " ");
}
System.out.println();
}
The program prints the following:
0: 0 1 2
1: 0 1 2
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2: 0 1 2
So what happens in the program? If we only think about the outer for loop,
its functionality is easy to understand:
for(int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
System.out.print(i + ": ");
// the inner for-loop
System.out.println();
}
So first i=0 prints 0: and a carriage return. After this i grows and 1 is printed
and so forth, so the outer for makes this happen:
0:
1:
2:
The inner for loop is also easy to understand separately. It prints out 0 1 2.
When we combine these two, we'll notice that the inner for loop carries out
its print just before the outer for loop's carriage return.

26.1 variables defined outside of a for loop as its condition

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Let's inspect the following alteration to the previous example:

for(int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
System.out.print(i + ": ");
for(int j = 0; j <= i; j++) {
System.out.print(j + " ");
}
System.out.println();
}
The amount of runs the inner for loop does now depends on the value of the
variable i of the outer loop. So when i=0 the inner loop prints 0, when i=1
the inner loop prints 0 1. The entire output of the program is as follows:
0: 0
1: 0 1
2: 0 1 2
The following program prints out the multiplication tables of the numbers 1
.. 10.
for(int i = 1; i <= 10; i++) {
for(int j = 1; j <= 10; j++) {
376

System.out.print(i * j + " ");

}
System.out.println();
}
The output looks like this:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30
4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60
7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 70
8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64 72 80
9 18 27 36 45 54 63 72 81 90
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
The topmost row has the multiplication table of 1. At the beginning i=1 and
the inner loop's variable j gets the values 1...10. For each i, j value pair their
product is printed. So at the beginning i=1, j=1, then i=1, j=2, ..., i=1, j=10
next i=2, j=1, and so forth.
Of course the multiplication table program can be cut in to smaller pieces,
too. We can define the methods public void
377

printMultiplicationTableRow(int multiplier, int howManyTimes) and public

void printMultiplicationTable(int upTo), in this case the structure of our
program could be as follows:
public class MultiplicationTable {
public void print(int upTo) {
for(int i = 1; i <= upTo; i++) {
printMultiplicationTableRow(i, upTo);
System.out.println();
}
}
public void printMultiplicationTableRow(int multiplier, int
howManyTimes) {
for(int i = 1; j <= howManyTimes; i++) {
System.out.print(i * multiplier + " ");
}
}
}
Now calling new MultiplicationTable().print(5); prints the tables below.
12345
2 4 6 8 10
378

3 6 9 12 15
4 8 12 16 20
5 10 15 20 25
Exercise 99: Array to stars
Implement the method public static printArrayAsStars(int[] array), which
prints a line with stars for each number in the array. The line length is
determined by the number.
The program skeleton:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int[] array = {5, 1, 3, 4, 2};
printArrayAsStars(array);
}
public static void printArrayAsStars(int[] array) {
// code here
}
}

The above example should cause the following output:

*****
379

*
***
****
**

As seen the first line has 5 stars and the reason for that is that is that the
first element of the array is 5. The next line has one star since the second
element of the array is 1, etc.
Exercise 100: Night sky
Let us implement a program that prints the Night sky. The sky has a star
density. If the density is e.g. 0.1, roughly 10% of the sky is covered with
stars.
Stars print out as *-characters. Below an example that demonstrates how
the NightSky could be used when all the steps of the assignment are done.
NightSky NightSky = new NightSky(0.1, 40, 10);
NightSky.print();
System.out.println("Number of stars: " + NightSky.starsInLastPrint());
System.out.println("");
NightSky = new NightSky(0.2, 15, 6);
NightSky.print();
System.out.println("Number of stars: " + NightSky.starsInLastPrint());
380

**

**
*

*
*

* *

**

* **

*
*

* * **
* *

Number of stars: 36
***

** *
*

*
* *

*
* **

* ** **

Number of stars: 22

Note! in the assignment use the for-clause. Despite that the previous
chapter described nested loops, in this assignment we "hide" the nested
loop within a method.
381

Exercise 100.1: Class NightSky and a star line

Create the class NightSky, that has three object variables: density
(double), width (int), and height (int). The class should have 3
constructors:
public NightSky(double density) creates a NightSky object with the given
star density. Width gets the value 20 and height the value 10.
public NightSky(int width, int height) creates a NightSky object with the
given width and height. Density gets the value 0.1.
public NightSky(double density, int width, int height) creates a NightSkyobject with the given density, width and height
Add to the class NightSky the method printLine, that prints one line of
starts. The line length is determined by the value of the instance variable
width and the instance variable density determines the star probability.
For each printed character you should use a Random object to decide if it
prints out as a white space or a star. The method nextDouble will
probably be of use now.
In the following example:
NightSky NightSky = new NightSky(0.1, 40, 10);
NightSky.printLine();
* *

382

Exercise 100.2: Printing the night sky

Add the class NightSky the method print, that prints the night sky of the
given size. Use the method printLine to print each separate line of the
night sky. An example in the following:
NightSky NightSky = new NightSky(8, 4);
NightSky.print();
*
*
*

Exercise 100.3: Counting the number of stars

Add the class NightSky an instance variable starsInLastPrint (int) and the
method starsInLastPrint(), that returns the number of stars printed in the
previous night sky. Example in the below:
NightSky NightSky = new NightSky(8, 4);
NightSky.print();
System.out.println("Number of stars: " + NightSky.starsInLastPrint());
System.out.println("");
NightSky.print();
System.out.println("Number of stars: " + NightSky.starsInLastPrint());
383

*
Number of stars: 1
*
*
*
Number of stars: 3

27. To static or not to static?

When we started using objects, the material advised to leave out the
keyword 'static' when defining their methods. However, up until week 3 all
of the methods included that keyword. So what is it all about?
The following example has a method resetArray, that works as its name
implies; it sets all of the cells of an array that it receives as a parameter to 0.
public class Program {
public static void resetArray(int[] table) {
for ( int i=0; i < table.length; i++ )
384

table[i] = 0;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
int[] values = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
for ( int number : values ) {
System.out.print( number + " " ); // prints 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
}
System.out.println();
resetArray(values);
for ( int number : values ) {
System.out.print( number + " " ); // prints 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
}
}
}
We notice that the method definition now has the keyword static. The
reason for that is that the method does not operate on any object, instead it
is a class method or in other words static methods. In contrast to instance
methods, static methods are not connected to any particular object and thus
the reference this is not valid within static methods. A static method can

385

operate only with data that is given it as parameter. The parameter of a

static method can naturally be an object.
Since static methods are not connected to any object, those can not be called
through the object name: objectName.methodName() but should be called
as in the above example by using only the method name.
If the static method is called from a different class, the call is of the form
ClassName.staticMethodName(). The below example demonstrates that:
public class Program {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int[] values = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };
for ( int value : values ) {
System.out.print( value + " " ); // prints: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
}
System.out.println();
ArrayHandling.resetArray(values);
for ( int value : values ) {
System.out.print( value + " " ); // prints: 0, 0, 0, 0, 0
}
}
}
386

public class ArrayHandling {

public static void resetArray(int[] array) {
for ( int i=0; i < array.length; i++ ) {
array[i] = 0;
}
}
}
The static method that has been defined within another class will now be
called with ArrayHandling.resetArray(parameter);.

27.1 When static methods should be used

All object state-handling methods should be defined as normal object
methods. For example, all of the methods of the Person, MyDate, Clock,
Team, ... classes we defined during the previous weeks should be defined as
normal object methods, not as statics.
Lets get back to the Person class yet again. In the following is a part of the
class definition. All of the object variables are referred to with the this
keyword because we emphasize that we are handling the object variables
'within' the said object..
public class Person {
private String name;
private int age;

387

public Person(String name) {

this.age = 0;
this.name = name;
}
public boolean isAdult(){
if ( this.age < 18 ) {
return false;
}
return true;
}
public void becomeOlder() {
this.age++;
}
public String getName() {
return this.name;
}
}
Because the methods manipulate the object, they do not need to be defined
as static, or in other words "not belonging to the object". If we try to do this,
the program won't work:

388

public class Person {

//...
public static void becomeOlder() {
this.age++;
}
}
As a result we'll get an error non-static variable age can not be referenced
from static context, which means that a static method cannot handle an
object method.
So when should a static method be used then? Let us inspect the Person
object handling an example familiar from chapter 23:
public class Program {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka");
Person antti = new Person("Antti");
Person juhana = new Person("Juhana");
for ( int i=0; i < 30; i++ ) {
pekka.becomeOlder();
juhana.becomeOlder();
}

389

antti.becomeOlder();
if ( antti.isAdult() ) {
System.out.println( antti.getName() + " is an adult" );
} else {
System.out.println( antti.getName() + " is a minor" );
}
if ( pekka.isAdult() ) {
System.out.println( pekka.getName() + " is an adult" );
} else {
System.out.println( pekka.getName() + " is a minor" );
}
if ( juhana.isAdult() ) {
System.out.println( juhana.getName() + " is an adult" );
} else {
System.out.println( juhana.getName() + " is a minor" );
}
}
}
We'll notice that the piece of code that reports the matureness of persons is
copy-pasted twice in the program. It looks really bad!

390

Reporting the maturity of a person is an excellent candidate for a static

method. Let's rewrite the Program using that method:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person pekka = new Person("Pekka");
Person antti = new Person("Antti");
Person juhana = new Person("Juhana");
for ( int i=0; i < 30; i++ ) {
pekka.becomeOlder();
juhana.becomeOlder();
}
antti.becomeOlder();
reportMaturity(antti);
reportMaturity(pekka);
reportMaturity(juhana);
}
private static void reportMaturity(Person person) {
if ( person.isAdult() ) {
391

System.out.println(person.getName() + " is an adult");

} else {
System.out.println(person.getName() + " is a minor");
}
}
}
The method reportMaturity is defined as static so it doesn't belong to any
object, but the method receives a Person object as a parameter. The method
is not defined within the Person-class since even though it handles a Person
object that it receives as a parameter, it is an assistance method of the main
program we just wrote. With the method we've made main more readable.
Exercise 101: The library information system
In this assignment we are implementing a simple information system
prototype for a library. The prototype will have functionality for
searching books by the title, publisher or publishing year.
The main building blocks of the system are the classes Book and Library.
Objects of the class Book represent the information of a single book.
Object of the class Library holds a set of books and provides various ways
to search for the books within the library.
Exercise 101.1: Book
Let us start with the class Book. The class has instance variables title for
the book title, publisher for the name of the publisher, and year for the

392

publishing year. The title and the publisher are of the type String and the
publishing year is represented as an integer.
Now implement the class Book. The class should have the constructor
public Book(String title, String publisher, int year) and methods public
String title(), public String publisher(), public int year() and public String
toString().
Example usage:
Book cheese = new Book("Cheese Problems Solved", "Woodhead
Publishing", 2007);
System.out.println(cheese.title());
System.out.println(cheese.publisher());
System.out.println(cheese.year());
System.out.println(cheese);

The output should be:

Cheese Problems Solved
Woodhead Publishing
2007
Cheese Problems Solved, Woodhead Publishing, 2007

Exercise 101.2: Library

393

Implement the class Library, with constructor public Library() and

methods public void addBook(Book newBook) and public void
printBooks()
Example usage below.
Library Library = new Library();
Book cheese = new Book("Cheese Problems Solved", "Woodhead
Publishing", 2007);
Library.addBook(cheese);
Book nhl = new Book("NHL Hockey", "Stanley Kupp", 1952);
Library.addBook(nhl);
Library.addBook(new Book("Battle Axes", "Tom A. Hawk", 1851));
Library.printBooks();

The output should be:

Cheese Problems Solved, Woodhead Publishing, 2007
NHL Hockey, Stanley Kupp, 1952
Battle Axes, Tom A. Hawk, 1851

394

Exercise 101.3: Search functionality

Add to the class Library the methods public ArrayList<Book>
searchByTitle(String title), public ArrayList<Book>
searchByPublisher(String publisher) and public ArrayList<Book>
searchByYear(int year). The methods return the list of books that match
the given title, publisher or year.
Note: you are supposed to do a method that returns an ArrayList. Use the
following skeleton as starting point:
public class Library {
// ...
public ArrayList<Book> searchByTitle(String title) {
ArrayList<Book> found = new ArrayList<Book>();
// iterate the list of books and add all the matching books to the list
found
return found;
}

Note: when you do the search by a string (title or publisher), do not look
for exact matches (with the method equals) instead use the method
contains of the class String.

395

Example usage:
Library Library = new Library();
Library.addBook(new Book("Cheese Problems Solved", "Woodhead
Publishing", 2007));
Library.addBook(new Book("The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly
Stupid Tales", "Penguin Group", 1992));
Library.addBook(new Book("NHL Hockey", "Stanley Kupp", 1952));
Library.addBook(new Book("Battle Axes", "Tom A. Hawk", 1851));
ArrayList<Book> result = Library.searchByTitle("Cheese");
for (Book book: result) {
System.out.println(book);
}
System.out.println("---");
for (Book book: Library.searchByPublisher("Penguin Group ")) {
System.out.println(book);
}
System.out.println("---");
for (Book book: Library.searchByYear(1851)) {
System.out.println(book);
}

396

The output should be:

Cheese Problems Solved, Woodhead Publishing, 2007
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, Penguin Group,
1992
----Battle Axes, Tom A. Hawk, 1851

Exercise 101.4: Improved search

There are some minor problems with the implemented search
functionality. One particular problem is that the search differentiates
upper and lower case letters. In the above example the search by title
with the search term "cheese" produced an empty list as answer. The
example where the search term contained extra white spaces did not give
the expected answer, either. We'd like the search functionality to be case
insensitive and not disturbed by the extra white spaces at the start or at
the end of the search terms. We will implement a small helper library
StringUtils that will then be used in the Library for the more flexible
search functionality.
Implement the class StringUtils with a static method public static boolean
included(String word, String searched), which checks if the string
searched is contained within the string word. As described in the previous
paragraph, the method should be case insensitive and should not care

397

about trailing and ending white spaces in the string searched. If either of
the strings is null, the method should return false.
Tip: The methods trim and toUpperCase() of the class String might be
helpful.
When you have completed the method, use it in the search functionality of
the class Library.
Use the method as follows:
if(StringUtils.included(book.title(), searchedTitle)) {
// Book found!
}

The improved library with the example:

Library Library = new Library();
Library.addBook(new Book("Cheese Problems Solved", "Woodhead
Publishing", 2007));
Library.addBook(new Book("The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly
Stupid Tales", "Penguin Group", 1992));
Library.addBook(new Book("NHL Hockey", "Stanley Kupp", 1952));
Library.addBook(new Book("Battle Axes", "Tom A. Hawk", 1851));
for (Book book: Library.searchByTitle("CHEESE")) {
398

System.out.println(book);
}
System.out.println("---");
for (Book book: Library.searchByPublisher("PENGUIN ")) {
System.out.println(book);
}

should output the following:

Cheese Problems Solved, Woodhead Publishing, 2007
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, Penguin Group,
1992
--The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, Penguin Group,
1992

28. Assignments where you are free to decide how to structure the
program.
Exercise 102: Grade distribution
This assignment corresponds to three assignment points.
399

Note1: Your program should use only one Scanner object, i.e., it is allowed
to call new Scanner only once. If you need scanner in multiple places, you
can pass it as parameter:
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in);
// ...
doSomething(scanner);
}
public static void doSomething(Scanner scanner) {
String riw = scanner.nextLine();
// ...
}

If another object needs a scanner, you can pass it as constructor

parameter and save in instance variable.
Note2: Do not save anything in static variables. The main method is
executed by the tests multiple times so the use of static variables might
cause problems.
The input of the program is a set of exam scores of a course. Each score is
an integer. When -1 is entered, the program stops asking for further input.
400

Inputting the exam scores should work as follows:

Type exam scores, -1 completes:
34
41
53
36
55
27
43
40
-1

After the scores have been read, the program prints the grade distribution
and acceptance percentage of the course in the following form:
Grade distribution:
5: **
4:
3: ***
2: *
1: *
0: *
Acceptance percentage: 87.5

401

Grade distribution is formed as follows:

Each exam score is mapped to a grade using the same formula as in
exercise 18. If the score is not within the range 0-60 it is not taken
into account.
The number of grades are printed as stars, e.g. if there are 2 scores that
correspond to grade 5, the line 5: ** is printed. If there are no scores
that correspond to a particular grade, as is the case with grade 4 in
the above example, the printed line is 4:
All the grades besides zeros are accepted, so in the above 7 out of 8
participants were accepted. Acceptance percentage is calculated with the
formula 100*accepted/allScores.
Exercise 103: Birdwatchers database
Note1: Your program should use only one Scanner object, i.e., it is allowed
to call new Scanner only once.
Note2: Do not save anything in static variables. The main method is
executed by the tests multiple times so the use of static variables might
cause problems.
This assignment corresponds to three assignment points.
In this assignment you are supposed to design and implement an
observation database for a bird watcher. The database contains birds,
each of which have a name and a Latin name, both Strings. Database also
tracks how many times each bird has been observed.
402

The program should implement the following commands:

Add - adds a bird
Observation - adds an observation
Statistics - prints all the birds
Show - prints one bird
Quit - terminates the program
The program should also handle the invalid inputs (see Turing below).
The following is an example how the program is supposed to work:
? Add
Name: Raven
Latin Name: Corvus Corvus
? Add
Name: Seagull
Latin Name: Dorkus Dorkus
? Observation
What was observed:? Seagull
? Observation
What was observed:? Turing
Is not a bird!
? Observation
What was observed:? Seagull
403

? Statistics
Seagull (Dorkus Dorkus): 2 observations
Raven (Corvus Corvus): 0 observations
? Show
What? Seagull
Seagull (Dorkus Dorkus): 2 observations
? Quit

Note you may structure your program freely, it is only required that the
output of the program is as in the above example.

29. Sorting an array

We'll get back to arrays again.

29.1 Sorting an array with the ready-made tools of Java.

As we've seen, there's all kinds of useful things already in Java. For example
for handling ArrayLists you can find many useful help methods in the class
Collections. For arrays you can find helpful methods in the class Arrays.
Sorting a table can be done with Arrays.sort(array).
Note: To be able to use the command you must have the following definition
at the top of the program file:

404

import java.util.Arrays;
If you forget to write the import line, NetBeans will offer help with writing it.
Try clicking the picture of the "bulp" that appears to the left from the line of
code that is underlined with red.
The following program creates arrays and sorts the values in the array with
the Arrays.sort -command.
int[] values = {-3, -111, 7, 42};
Arrays.sort(values);
for(int value: values) {
System.out.println(value);
}
-111
-3
7
42

29.2 Implementation of a sorting algorithm

It's easy to sort an array with the ready-made tools of Java. The general
knowledge of a program requires knowing at least one sorting algorithm (or
in other words, a way to sort an array). Let's get familiar with the "classic"
sorting algorithm, choice sorting. Let's do this with a few excercise.
Exercise 104: Sorting
405

Note: in this assignment you're supposed to sort the array yourself. You
can't use the help of the Arrays.sort()-method or ArrayLists!
Exercise 104.1: Smallest
Implement a method smallest, which returns the smallest value in the
array.
The frame of the method is as follows:
public static int smallest(int[] array) {
// write the code here
}

NOTE: You can't change the array that gets passed into the method!
The following code demonstrates the functionality of the method:
int[] values = {6, 5, 8, 7, 11};
System.out.println("smallest: " + smallest(values));
smallest: 5

Exercise 104.2: The index of the smallest

Implement a method indexOfTheSmallest, which returns the index of the
smallest value in the array (the position of the value in the array, that is).

406

The frame of the method looks like this:

public static int indexOfTheSmallest(int[] array) {
// code goes here
}

NOTE: You can't change the array that gets passed into the method as a
parameter!
The following code demonstrates the functionality of the method:
// indexes: 0 1 2 3 4
int[] values = {6, 5, 8, 7, 11};
System.out.println("Index of the smallest: " +
indexOfTheSmallest(values));
Index of the smallest: 1

The smallest value of the table is 2 and its index (its location) in the array
is 1. Remember that the numbering of an array begins from 0.
Exercise 104.3: Index of the smallest at the end of an array
Implement a method indexOfTheSmallestStartingFrom, which works just
like the method of the previous assignment, but only takes into
consideration the end of an array starting from a certain index. In
407

addition to the array the method gets as parameter an index, from which
the search for the smallest will be started.
The frame of the method is as follows:
public static int indexOfTheSmallestStartingFrom(int[] array, int index) {
// write the code here
}

NOTE: You can't change the array that gets passed into the method as a
parameter!
The following code demonstrates the functionality of the method:
// indexes: 0 1 2 3 4
int[] values = {-1, 6, 9, 8, 12};
System.out.println(indexOfTheSmallestStartingFrom(values, 1));
System.out.println(indexOfTheSmallestStartingFrom(values, 2));
System.out.println(indexOfTheSmallestStartingFrom(values, 4));
1
3
4

408

In the example, the first method call finds the index of the smallest value
starting from index 1. Starting from index 1 the smallest value is 6, and its
index is 1. Respectively the second method call looks for the index of the
smallest value starting from index 2. In this case the smallest value is 8
and its index is 3. The last call starts from the last cell of the array, in this
case there is no other cells so the smallets value is in index 4.
Exercise 104.4: Swapping values
Create a method swap, to which will be passed an array and two of its
indexes. The method swaps the values in the indexes around.
The frame of the method looks like this:
public static void swap(int[] array, int index1, int index2) {
// code goes here
}

The following showcases the functionality of the method. In printing the

array we'll use the Arrays.toString-method which formats the array into a
string:
int[] values = {3, 2, 5, 4, 8};
System.out.println( Arrays.toString(values) );
swap(values, 1, 0);
409

System.out.println( Arrays.toString(values) );
swap(values, 0, 3);
System.out.println( Arrays.toString(values) );
[3, 2, 5, 4, 8]
[2, 3, 5, 4, 8]
[4, 3, 5, 2, 8]

Exercise 104.5: Sorting

Now we've got a set of useful methods, with which we can implement a
sorting algorithm known as selection sorting.
The idea of selection sorting is this:
Move the smallest number of the array to index 0.
Move the second smallest number to the index 1.
Move the third smallest number to the index 2.
and so forth
In other words:
Inspect the array starting from index 0. Swap the value in index 0 and the
smallest value in the array starting from index 0.

410

Inspect the array starting from index 1. Swap the value in index 1 and the
smallest value in the array starting from index 1.
Inspect the array starting from index 2. Swap the value in index 2 and the
smallest value in the array starting from index 2.
and so forth
Implement the method sort, which is based on the idea above. The
method ought to have a loop that goes through the indexes of the array.
The methods smallestIndexStartingFrom and swap are surely useful. Also
print the contents of the array before sorting and after each round to be
able to make sure that the algorithm works correctly.
Body of the method:
public static void sort(int[] array) {
}

Test the functionality of the method at least with this example:

int[] values = {8, 3, 7, 9, 1, 2, 4};
sort(values);

The program should print the following. Notice that you're to print the
content of the array after each swap!
411

[8, 3, 7, 9, 1, 2, 4]
[1, 3, 7, 9, 8, 2, 4]
[1, 2, 7, 9, 8, 3, 4]
[1, 2, 3, 9, 8, 7, 4]
[1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 7, 9]
[1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9]
[1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9]

You'll notice how the array little by little gets sorted out starting from the
beginning and advances towards the end.

30. Searching
In addition to sorting, another very typical problem that a programmer runs
into is finding a certain value in an array. Earlier, we've implemented
methods that search for values in lists and arrays. In the case of arrays,
values and strings can be searched for in the following way:
public static boolean isInArray(int[] array, int searchingFor) {
for ( int value : array ) {
if ( value == searchingFor ) {
return true;
}
}

412

return false;
}
public static boolean isWordInArray(String[] array, String searchingFor) {
for ( String word: array ) {
if ( word.equals(searchingFor) ) {
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
An implementation like this is the best we've been able to do so far. The
downside of the method is that, if the array has a very large amount of
values in it, the search will take a lot of time. In the worst case scenario the
method goes through every single cell in the array. This means that going
through an array that has 16777216 cells does 16777216 cell inspections.
On the other hand, if the values in an array are ordered by size, the search
can be done in a notably faster way by applying a technique called binary
search. Let's investigate the idea of binary search with this array:
// indexes 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
// values

-7 -3 3 7 11 15 17 21 24 28 30
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Let's assume that we want to find the value 17. Let's utilize the information
that the values of the array are in order instead of going through the array
from the beginning. Let's inspect the middle cell of the array. The middle
cell is 5 (the largest index 10 divided by two). The middle cell is marked
with the asterisk:
*
// indexes 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
// values

-7 -3 3 7 11 15 17 21 24 28 30

At the middle is the value 15, which was not the value we were looking for.
We're looking for the value 17, so since the cells of the array are ordered by
size, the value cannot be on the left side of the 15. So we can determine that
all indexes that are smaller or equal to 5 do not have the value we are
looking for.
The area where we are searching for the value we want to find can now be
limited to values that are on the right side of the index 5, or in other words,
in the indexes [6, 10] (6, 7, 8, 9, 10). In the following, the searched value
cannot be in the part of the array which is grey:
// indexes 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
// values

7 8 9 10

-7 -3 3 7 11 15 17 21 24 28 30

Next, let's inspect the middle index of the area that we have left; the middle
index of indexes 6-10. The middle index can be found by getting the sum of

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the smallest and largest index and dividing it by two: (6+10)/2 = 16/2 = 8.
The index 8 is marked with the asterisk below.
*
// indexes 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
// values

-7 -3 3 7 11 15 17 21 24 28 30

In index 8, we have the value 24, which was not the value we were looking
for. Because the values in the array are ordered by size, the value we are
searching for can not, in any case, be on the right side of the value 24. We
can deduce that all indexes that are larger or equal to 8 can not contain the
value we are looking for. The search area gets narrowed down again, the
grey areas have been dealt with:
// indexes 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
// values

-7 -3 3 7 11 15 17 21 24 28 30

The search continues. Let's inspect the middle index of the area that we
have left to search, that is, the middle index of indexes 6-7. The middle
index can again be found out by getting the sum of the smallest and largest
index of the search area and then dividing it by two: (6+7)/2 = 6.5, which is
rounded down to 6. The spot has been marked with the asterisk.
*
// indexes 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
// values

-7 -3 3 7 11 15 17 21 24 28 30
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In the index 6 we have the value 17, which is the same as the value we've
been looking for. We can stop the search and report that the value we
searched for is in the array. If the value wouldn't have been in the array - for
example if the searched-for value would've been 16 - the search area would
have eventually been reduced to nothing.
*
// indexes 0 1 2 3 4 56 7 8 9 10
// values

-7 -3 3 7 11 1517 21 24 28 30

So for the idea of binary search to become clear to you, simulate with pen
and paper how the binary search works when the array is the one below
and first you're searching for value 33 and then value 1.
// indexes 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
// values

-5 -2 3 5 8 11 14 20 22 26 29 33 38 41

With the help of binary search we look for cells by always halving the
inspected area. This enables us to search in a very efficient way. For
example, an array of size 16 can be divided in half up to 4 times, so 16 -> 8 > 4 -> 2 -> 1. On the other hand, an array that has 16777216 cells can be
halved up to 24 times. This means that with binary search we only need to
inspect up to 24 cells in an array that has 16777216 cells in order to find
our desired cell.
The efficiency of binary search can be inspected with logarithms. A base two
logarithm (log2) of the number 16777216 is 24 -- with the base two logarithm
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we can calculate how many times a number can be halved. Respectively the
base two logarithm of the number 4294967296 (log2 4294967296) is 32. This
means that searching from a sorted array of 4294967296 different values
would only take up to 32 cell inspections. Efficiency is an essential part of
computer science.
Exercise 105: Guessing game
In this assignment we'll make an AI, which guesses the number the player
is thinking about. The AI assumes that the number is between
lowerLimit...upperLimit. The start of the game provides these limits to the
method as parameters that makes the game happen. The AI asks the
player questions in the format "Is your number greater than X?" and
deduce the correct answer from the answers the player gives.
The AI keeps track of the search area with the help of the variables
lowerLimit and upperLimit. The AI always asks if the player's number is
greater than the average of these two numbers, and based on the answers
the search area gets halved each time. In the end the lowerLimit and
upperLimit are the same and the number the user is thinking of has been
revealed.
In the following example the user chooses the number 44:
Think of a number between 1...100.
I promise you that I can guess the number you are thinking of with 7
questions.

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Next I'll present you a series of questions. Answer them honestly.

Is your number greater than 50? (y/n)
n
Is your number greater than 25? (y/n)
y
Is your number greater than 38? (y/n)
y
Is your number greater than 44? (y/n)
n
Is your number greater than 41? (y/n)
y
Is your number greater than 43? (y/n)
y
The number you're thinking of is 44.

In the above example the possible value range is first 1...100. When the
user tells the program that the number is not greater than 50 the possible
range is 1...50. When the user says that the number is greater than 25, the
range is 26...50. The deduction proceeds in the same fashion until the
number 44 is reached.
In accordance to the principles of halving, or binary search, the possible
search area is halved after each question in which case the number of

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required questions is small. Even between the numbers 1...100000 it

shouldn't take more than 20 questions.
The program skeleton of the class GuessingGame that implements this is
the following:
public class GuessingGame {
private Scanner reader;
public GuessingGame() {
this.reader = new Scanner(System.in);
}
public void play(int lowerLimit, int upperLimit) {
instructions(upperLimit, lowerlimit);
// write the game logic here
}
// implement here the methods isGreaterThan and average
public void instructions(int lowerLimit, int upperLimit) {
int maxQuestions = howManyTimesHalvable(upperLimit lowerLimit);

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System.out.println("Think of a number between " + lowerLimit + "..."

+ upperLimit + ".");
System.out.println("I promise you that I can guess the number you
are thinking of with " + maxQuestions + " questions.");
System.out.println("");
System.out.println("Next I'll present you with a series of questions.
Answer them honestly.");
System.out.println("");
}
// a helper method:
public static int howManyTimesHalvable(int number) {
// we create a base two logarithm of the given value
// Below we swap the base number to base two logarithms!
return (int) (Math.log(number) / Math.log(2)) + 1;
}
}

The game is started the in following manner:

GuessingGame game = new GuessingGame();
// we play two rounds

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game.play(1,10); // value to be guessed now within range 1-10

game.play(10,99); // value to be guessed now within range 10-99

We'll implement this assignment in steps.

Exercise 105.1: Is greater than
Implement the method public boolean isGreaterThan(int value), which
presents the user with a question:
"Is your number greater than given value? (y/n)"

The method returns the value true if the user replies "y", otherwise false.
Test your method
GuessingGame game = new GuessingGame();
System.out.println(game.isGreaterThan(32));
Is your number greater than 32? (y/n)
y
true

Exercise 105.2: Average

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Implement the method public int average(int firstNumber, int

secondNumber), which calculates the average of the given values. Notice
that Java rounds floating numbers down automatically, in our case this is
perfectly fine.
GuessingGame game = new GuessingGame();
System.out.println(game.average(3, 4));
3
GuessingGame game = new GuessingGame();
System.out.println(game.average(6, 12));
9

Exercise 105.3: Guessing logic

Write the actual guessing logic in the method play of the class
GuessingGame. You'll need at least one loop and a query in which you ask
the user if their number is greater than the average of the lowerLimit and
upperLimit. Change the upperLimit or lowerLimit depending on the user's
reply.
Keep doing the loop until lowerLimit and upperLimit are the same! You
can also test the game with smaller lower- and upperLimit values:
Think of a number between 1...4.
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I promise you that I can guess the number you are thinking of with 2
questions.
Next I'll present you with a series of questions. Answer them honestly.
Is your number greater than 2? (y/n)
k
Is your number greater than 3? (y/n)
k
The number you're thinking of is 4.

Exercise 106: Implementation of binary search

The template you get from the test automaton has a start for an
implementation of binary search. The class BinarySearch holds a method
public static boolean search(int[] array, int searchedValue), the job of
which is to figure out, by using binary search, if the value given as a
parameter is in the sorted array that is also given as parameter.
The method search does not work yet, however. Finish the method's
implementation into a real binary search.
For testing, a separate main program can be found in the class Main,
which has a frame like this:
import java.util.Arrays;
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import java.util.Scanner;
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Here you can test binary search
int[] array = { -3, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 12 };
Scanner reader = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.print("Values of the array: " + Arrays.toString(array));
System.out.println();
System.out.print("Enter searched number: ");
String searchedValue = reader.nextLine();
System.out.println();
boolean result = BinarySearch.search(array,
Integer.parseInt(searchedValue));
// Print the binary search result here
}
}

The execution of the program looks like this:

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Values of the array: [-3, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 12]

Enter searcher number: 8
Value 8 is in the array
Values of the array: [-3, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 12]
Enter searcher number: 99
Value 99 is not in the array

31. About arrays and objects

If need be, any type of object can be put into an array. In the following, an
example of an array into which will be put Person objects:
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person[] persons = new Person[3];
persons[0] = new Person("Pekka");
persons[1] = new Person("Antti");
persons[2] = new Person("Juhana");

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for ( int i=0; i < 30; i++ ) {

persons[0].becomeOlder();
persons[1].becomeOlder();
persons[2].becomeOlder();
}
for ( Person person : persons ) {
reportMaturity(person);
}
}
First we create an array that can hold 3 Person objects. We put Pekka in slot
0, Antti in 1 and Juhana in 2. We age all by 30 years and check all of their
matureness with the help of the method from the previous chapter.
The same example with ArrayLists:
public static void main(String[] args) {
ArrayList<Person> persons = new ArrayList<Person>();
persons.add( new Person("Pekka") );
persons.add( new Person("Antti") );
persons.add( new Person("Juhana") );
for ( int i=0; i < 30; i++ ) {
for ( Person person : persons ) {
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person.becomeOlder();
}
// or persons.get(0).becomeOlder();
//

persons.get(1).becomeOlder();

//

...

}
for ( Person person : persons ) {
reportMaturity(person);
}
}
In most situations it's better to use ArrayList instead of an array. However
there can be cases where an array is adequate and is simpler to use.
A week always consists of seven days. It would be meaningful to form it out
of exactly 7 Day objects. Since there's always 7 Day objects, an array will
suit the situation very well:
public class Day {
private String name;
// ...
}
public class Week {
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private Day[] days;

public Week(){
days = new Day[7];
days[0] = new Day("Monday");
days[1] = new Day("Tuesday");
// ...
}
}

428