Welcome back! In this course, we delve into Class Attributes and Methods in Java. These define an object's properties and behaviors. Our goal is to master the definition and application of these within a class. Through the construction of a CellPhone
class, we will navigate this exciting journey!
Class attributes
symbolize an object's properties. For instance, the attributes of a CellPhone
might be its brand
and model
:
Java1public class CellPhone { 2 public String brand; // Brand of the phone 3 public String model; // Model of the phone 4}
Sometimes, attributes remain constant after initial set-up. The final
keyword aids in creating such attributes. Let's add a chargerType
attribute, which will be constant:
Java1public class CellPhone { 2 public String brand; 3 public String model; 4 public final String chargerType = "Type-C"; // A constant attribute 5}
Methods
are a class's behaviors, while attributes
are its properties. For our CellPhone
, a callDial
method might be used to start a phone call:
Java1public class CellPhone { 2 public String brand = "iPhone"; 3 public String model = "15 Pro Max"; 4 public final String chargerType = "Type-C"; 5 6 public void callDial(long phoneNumber) { 7 // Calling the given phone number, including class attributes 8 System.out.println("Dialing " + phoneNumber + " from my " + brand + " " + model); 9 } 10}
Just as we humans can perform various tasks, our objects can possess more than one method. For instance, let's add another method, hangUp
:
Java1public void hangUp() { 2 // Call has ended 3 System.out.println("Call ended."); 4}
To run this code, we can instantiate a class and call a method for the created instance:
Java1CellPhone cellPhone = new CellPhone(); 2cellPhone.callDial("+1-212-456-7890"); // Prints: Dialing +1-212-456-7890 from my iPhone 15 Pro Max 3cellPhone.hangUp(); // Prints: Call ended.
Methods can interact with and modify class attributes. This can be illustrated with an updateModel
method that updates the model
:
Java1public void updateModel(String newModel) { 2 // Updating the model attribute 3 this.model = newModel; 4 System.out.println("Model updated to " + newModel); 5}
Here, the this
keyword refers to the current instance of the class object. It means that we are setting the model
field in the current CellPhone
class object to newModel
.
This concludes our lesson on class attributes and methods in Java. We have discussed class attributes
and explored the creation of publicly accessible and constant attributes
. Furthermore, we have studied class methods
and their interaction with class attributes
.
Now, it's time for you to enter the practice arena. Mastering attributes
and methods
will take you one step further in your Java learning adventure. Happy practicing!