In this class, we will cover: Overriding a method Overloading a method Constructors Mutator and accessor methods The import statement and using prewritten classes Packages and the protected access modifier The finalize() method

Overriding a Method Overriding: If you declare a variable within a class, and use the same variable name within a method of the class, then the variable used inside the method takes precedence, or overrides, the first variable

Overloading a Method Overloading: Involves using one term to indicate diverse meanings Writing multiple methods with the same name, but with different arguments Overloading a Java method means you write multiple methods with a shared name This is polymorphism in action.

Constructors Constructors are a special type of method. Used to create an instance of the class. e.g. Employee e = new Employee( ); This calls the Employee constructor. Java automatically provides a constructor method when you create a class Programmers can write their own constructor classes Programmers can also write constructors that receive arguments Such arguments are often used for initialization purposes when values of objects might vary

Overloading Constructors If you create a class from which you instantiate objects, Java automatically provides a constructor But, if you create your own constructor, the automatically created constructor no longer exists As with other methods, you can overload constructors Overloading constructors provides a way to create objects with or without initial arguments, as needed

Example of Overloading a Constructor public class Employee { public Employee (String n, double a) { name = n; salary = a; } public Employee ( ) { name = “ “; salary = 0; } }

Mutator and Accessor Methods Often referred to as get/set methods. Mutator methods modify fields in a class. Example: public void setName (String n) { empName = n; } Accessor methods retrieve fields in a class Example: public String class getName () { return empName; }

Mutator and Accessor Methods Returning mutatable objects in public accessor methods breaks encapsulation!!!! Even if the data element is private, outside classes can now modify it. You should return immutable objects (Strings, ints, etc). If you must return a reference to a mutatable object, you should clone it first. See pg. 112 in book for example of this rogue code.

The finalize() Method Inherited from the Object class. Called by the VM before an object is destroyed and it’s memory is released Use it to release resources that might not otherwise be released (e.g. files) Use it to record the fact that an object has been destroyed

The Import Statement and Using Pre-written Classes The creators of Java wrote nearly 500 classes For example: System, Character, Boolean, Byte, Short, Integer, Long, Float, and Double are classes These classes are stored in packages, or a library of classes, which is a folder that provides a convenient grouping for classes

java.lang – The package that is implicitly imported into every Java program and contains fundamental classes, or basic classes Fundamental classes include: System, Character, Boolean, Byte, Short, Integer, Long, Float, and Double Optional classes – Must be explicitly named The Import Statement and Using Pre-written Classes

To use any of the prewritten classes (other than java.lang): Import the class OR Import the package which contains the class you are using To import an entire package of classes use the wildcard symbol - * For example: import java.util.*; //imports all java.util classes import java.util.Vector; //imports the Vector class Represents all the classes in a package

Packages Creating packages encourages others to reuse software because it makes it convenient to import many related classes at once Packages are used to: maintain the uniqueness of class names Using Packages in your programs prevent class name scope conflicts if multiple classes of the same name are used. e.g. both java.util and java.sql have a Date class, so if you are using both packages you need to reference with java.util.Date or java.sql.Date. group classes to make them more easily accessible to your classes reference classes in a particular scope What access modifier helps you limit access to packages?

Packages and the Protected Access Modifier the protected access modifier: Provides you with an intermediate level of security between public and private access Is used to limit access to classes within the same package If you create a protected data field or method, it can be used: within its own class in any classes extended from that class or in classes in the same package but it cannot be used by “outside” classes

Putting Your Class in a Package To include your class into a package, use the package statement The package statement must appear outside the class definition The package statement looks like this: package ; example: package MC697; class Person {... }

Packages and Directory Structure Packages map to the directory structure. Example: package com.MC697; public class Test { public static void main (String[] args) { System.out.println(“Testing packages”); } } This package statement maps to the directory: /com/MC697 where base directory is the directory you are going to compile and execute the class file from

Compiling and Executing Using Packages When using packages you must compile and run from the base directory. So, let’s say c:\temp is the base directory we want to use. The file in the example should be saved to c:\temp\com\MC697\Test.java. To compile: cd to c:\temp javac com/MC697/Test.java To execute: cd to c:\temp java com.MC697.Test

JAR Files Jar files are Java’s version of the zip file. They group packages and class files together in a unit to make it easier to deploy. Can be viewed using Winzip or similar utility.

Javadocs Javadocs are documentation for class files. Javadoc is a utility built into the sdk to automatically build documentation from the java files. e.g. javadoc VectorDemo.java Remember the /** …. */ documentation symbols? These are used to denote documentation comments. Put these before a method or field to include comments about these in the javadocs. Special tags can @param for methods

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