Objects, Classes, and Interfaces |
Once you've created an object, you will very likely want to use it for something. Suppose, for example, that after creating a new Rectangle, you would like to move it to a different location (say, the rectangle is an object in a drawing program and the user just clicked the mouse over the rectangle and dragged it to a new location).The Rectangle class provides two equivalent ways to move the rectangle:
Option 2 is often considered "more object-oriented" and safer because you manipulate the object's variables indirectly through its protective layer of methods rather than twiddling directly with them. Manipulating an object's variables directly is often considered error-prone; you could potentially put the object into an inconsistent state. However, a class would not (and should not) make its variables available for direct manipulation by other objects if it were possible for those manipulations to put the object in an inconsistent state. Java provides a mechanism whereby classes can restrict or allow access to its variables and methods by objects of another type. This section discusses calling methods and manipulating variables that have been made accessible to a other classes. To learn more about controlling access to members refer to Controlling Access to Members of a Class.
- manipulate the object's
x
,y
variables directly- call the
move()
methodRectangle's
x
andy
are accessible to other classes. So, we can assume that manipulating a Rectangle'sx
andy
variables directly is safe.Referencing an Object's Variables
First, let's focus on how to inspect and modify the Rectangle's position by modifying itsx
andy
variables directly. The next section will show you how to move the rectangle by calling itsmove()
method.To access an object's variables, simply append the variable name to an object reference with an intervening '.' (period).
Suppose you have a rectangle namedobjectReference.variablerect
in your program. You can access itsx
andy
variables withrect.x
andrect.y
, respectively. Now that you have a name forrect
's variables, you can use those names in Java statements and expressions as though they were the names of "regular" variables. Thus to move the rectangle a new location you would write:The Rectangle class has two other variables--rect.x = 15; // change x position rect.y = 37; // change y positionwidth
andheight
--that are accessible to objects outside the Rectangle. You can use the same notation to access them:rect.width
andrect.height
. So you could calculate the rectangle's area using this statement:When you access a variable through an object, you are referencing that particular object's variables. Ifarea = rect.height * rect.width;bob
is also a rectangle with a different height and width thanrect
, this instruction:calculates the area of the rectangle namedarea = bob.height * bob.width;bob
and will give a different result than the previous instruction (which calculates the area of the rectangle namedrect
).Note that the first part of the name of an object's variables (the
objectReference
inobjectReference.variable
) must be a reference to an object. While you can use a variable name here, you can also use any expression that returns an object reference. Recall that thenew
operator returns a reference to an object. So you could use the value returned fromnew
to access a brand new object's variables:height = new Rectangle().height;Calling an Object's Methods
Calling an object's method is similar to getting an object's variable. To call an object's method, simply append the method name to an object reference with an intervening '.' (period), and provide any arguments to the method within enclosing parentheses. If the method does not require any arguments, just use empty parentheses.Let's see what this means in terms of moving the rectangle. To moveobjectReference.methodName(argumentList); or objectReference.methodName();rect
to a new location using itsmove()
method write this:This Java statement callsrect.move(15, 37);rect
'smove()
method with two integer parameters, 15 and 37. This statement has the effect of moving therect
object by modifying itsx
andy
variables and is equivalent to the assignment statments used previously:If you want to move a different rectangle, the one namedrect.x = 15; rect.y = 37;bob
, to a new location you would write:As you see from these examples, method calls are directed at a specific object; the object specified in the method call is the object that responds to the instruction. Method calls are also known as messages. Like real-world messages, object messages must be addressed to a particular recipient. You get different results depending on which object is the recipient of the message. In the example above, when you send the object namedbob.move(244, 47);rect
amove()
message,rect
moves to the new location. When you send the object namedbob
amove()
message,bob
moves. Very different results. To understand messages more fully, please see the page What Are Messages?A method call is an expression (see Expressions for more information) and evaluates to some value. The value of a method call is its return value, if it has one. You will often wish to assign the return value of a method to a variable or use the method call within the scope of another expression or statement. The
move()
method doesn't return a value (it's declaredvoid
). However, Rectangle'sinside()
method does. Theinside()
method takes an x, y coordinate and returnstrue
if that point lies within the rectangle. So you could use theinside()
method to do something special if some point, say the current mouse location, were inside the rectangle:Remember that the method call is a message to the named object. In this case, the object named is the Rectangle namedif (rect.inside(mouse.x, mouse.y)) { . . . // mouse is in the rectangle . . . } else { . . . // mouse is outside of the rectangle . . . }rect
. So:is askingrect.inside(mouse.x, mouse.y)rect
if the mouse cursor location represented bymouse.x
andmouse.y
is in it. You would likely get a different response if you sent the same message tobob
.As stated previously, the
objectReference
in the method callobjectReference.method()
must be an object reference. While you can use a variable name here, you can also use any expression that returns an object reference. Recall that thenew
operator returns a reference to an object. So you could use the value returned fromnew
to call a brand new object's methods:The expressionnew Rectangle(0, 0, 100, 50).equals(anotherRect)new Rectangle(0, 0, 100, 50)
evaluates to an object reference that refers to a Rectangle object. So, as you can see, you can use the dot notation to call the new rectangle'sequals()
method to determine if the new rectangle is equal to the one specified inequals()
's argument list.
Objects, Classes, and Interfaces |