Develop Reference

I'm a complete beginner at java and have entangled my methods

I'm making a horse-race themed program for my mom that compares the money taken in by her employees and ties it to a horse. I've created two methods which entirely rely on each other and have no idea how to call them into my main method. I, of course, also need to add a graphical element to this at some point, and figuring out how to make the program work with decimal integers would also be ideal. My main issue right now is I need to know how to call print3largest and inputs in my main method, or how to generally make this not a dumpster fire and maybe reduce it to less than 3 methods that aren't entangled like this.
I've searched through repository websites for hours now looking for a solution, but as I have no professional experience in any kind of programming I severely lack the terminology to find an answer, assuming anyone else is stupid enough to run into the same problem I have. I'm extremely limited in my programming knowledge, with java being the only thing I've ever messed with thanks to a course in high school. Sadly, that hardly helps as it was almost entirely through an interface that was essentially just scratch.
import java.util.Scanner;
class HorseComparison
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
//no clue how to call print3largest or inputs here without ruining everything
}
static void print3largest(int arr[], int arr_size, String firsthorse, String secondhorse, String thirdhorse)
{
int i, first, second, third;
if (arr_size < 3)
{
System.out.print(" Invalid Input ");
return;
}
third = first = second = Integer.MIN_VALUE;
for (i = 0; i < arr_size ; i ++)
{
if (arr[i] > first)
{
third = second;
second = first;
first = arr[i];
}
else if (arr[i] > second)
{
third = second;
second = arr[i];
}
else if (arr[i] > third)
third = arr[i];
}
inputs(first, second, third);
System.out.println("The horse in the lead is " + firsthorse + " with " +
first + " dollars.");
System.out.println("The runner up is " + secondhorse + " with " +
second + " dollars.");
System.out.println("Third place is " + thirdhorse + " with " +
third + " dollars.");
}
static void inputs(int first, int second, int third)
{
Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
int size;
System.out.println("How many horses are competing?");
size = sc.nextInt();
int[] arr = new int[size];
System.out.println("Enter the amount of money taken in by each horse (rounded to the nearest dollar and separated by spaces)");
//For reading the element
for(int i=0;i<size;i++) {
arr[i] = sc.nextInt();
int n = arr.length;
String firsthorse;
String secondhorse;
String thirdhorse;
System.out.println("Which horse has taken in "+ first +"?");
firsthorse = sc.toString();
System.out.println("Which horse has taken in "+ second +"?");
secondhorse = sc.toString();
System.out.println("Which horse has taken in "+ third +"?");
thirdhorse = sc.toString();
print3largest(arr, n, firsthorse, secondhorse, thirdhorse);
}
}
}
I want it to display the 3 highest amounts along with the input name of the horse tied to those amounts.

I don't feel like there really is enough information about what the program is intended to do for a clear, direct answer to be provided, but I will do my best.
First, what I would suggest, is you take a good look at this program and determine how you can separate out each responsibility. For example, do you really need to call inputs from print3largest, or could you possibly call this directly from your main?
Once you have established the intent of each function, consider making each function return a result. Generally speaking, you want parameters to be immutable. Learning functional programming habits now will help you down the road.
Here is what I would do:
Copy this file to a backup file.
Start a new Java project, create your class.
Write all of your display code. That is, develop the initial user experience. What inputs do you want to ask from the user? Capture those inputs.
Given those inputs, write your core algorithm, which currently appears to be primarily in print3largest. Return those results back to the caller.
Display your results back to the end user.
This might result in more functions, but that isn't a bad thing. I would also advise that you consider creating a separate class to hold some of this logic. This will give you an opportunity to learn about objects and separation of concerns.

you can call static methods directly by the method name
print3largest()
or you can use the classname before method name example
HorseComparision.print3largest() ```

Since both methods are static and so the Main method. Static methods can be called
Directly with method name, if you are calling from inside the class. Eg : print3largest(.. args), inputs(.. args)
call using ClassName.Method name. This can be used if you are calling method from outside or inside the class. Eg: HorseComparison.print3largest(.. args), HorseComparison.inputs(.. args)

Beginner Java Scope Issue [duplicate]

This question already has an answer here:
Beginner Java: Variable Scope Issue
(1 answer)
Closed 7 years ago.
I'm new to programming and seem to be running into issues with when a variable, class, etc can and can't be referenced. Below is an example, hoping one of you can fix the specific issue but also help me understand it more broadly so I don't run into it again and again.
to try and avoid posting a bunch of code please note that a Question class is defined as well as a setText, setAnswer, checkAnswer, and display method are all defined elsewhere (all public).
The relevant code is below and I have two questions:
Why is the variable first not recognized in the method presentQuestion()?
At the very end there, why can't I just call the method checkAnswer() on first, i.e. why can't I just do first.checkAnswer(response);? Why do I have to define it in a new variable: boolean outcome = first.checkAnswer(response);?
Code:
/**
* This program shows a simple quiz with two questions.
*/
public class QuestionDemo {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in);
Question first = new Question();
first.setText("Who was the inventor of Java?");
first.setAnswer("James Gosling");
Question second = new Question();
second.setText("Who was the founder of Udacity?");
second.setAnswer("Sebastian Thrun");
int score = 0;
score = score + presentQuestion(first, in);
// Present the second question
score = score + presentQuestion(second, in);
System.out.println("Your score: " + score);
}
/**
* Presents a question to the user and obtains a response.
* #param q the question to present
* #param in the scanner from which to read the user input
* #return the score (1 if correct, 0 if incorrect);
*/
public static int presentQuestion(Question q, Scanner in) {
// Display the first question
first.display();
System.out.println("Your answer:");
String response = in.nextLine();
// Check whether the response was correct
// If so, print "true" and return 1
// Otherwise, print "false" and return 0
boolean outcome = first.checkAnswer(response);
System.out.println(outcome);
if (outcome) {
return 1;
}
else {
return 0;
}
}
}

The reason you can't use the variable first inside presentQuestion is because it's defined in main, and therefore not visible outside of main. Isn't this precisely why you gave presentQuestion its Question q parameter, however?
It seems to me that this is what you want to do:
public static int presentQuestion(Question q, Scanner in)
{
// Display the first question
q.display();
System.out.println("Your answer:");
String response = in.nextLine();
// Check whether the response was correct
// If so, print "true" and return 1
// Otherwise, print "false" and return 0
boolean outcome = q.checkAnswer(response);
System.out.println(outcome);
if (outcome) {
return 1;
} else {
return 0;
}
}
Note that references to first have been replaced by references to q.
To try and clear up what I imagine your confusion may consist in, imagine if presentQuestion were called from another method than main, in which case no first variable would be declared at all. What would then happen to the references to first inside of presentQuestion, now not referring to anything at all? This is why you need to explicitly pass the data you want as parameters. Different methods are independent blocks of code, and you can't intermingle variable references between them even if they happen to call each other.
As for question 2, there should indeed be no problem with checking if(q.checkAnswer(response)) directly, without using the outcome variable. I'm guessing you were simply confused by the error emitted by the compiler when first wasn't recognized again.

first is a local variable, that means it can only be accessed inside the method in which it is defined.
You don't have to put the result of checkAnswer() into a boolean before using it. Actually, if (checkAnswer(response)) { ... } is valid.

presentQuestion takes a question as a parameter. In main, you're calling it on the first question, and then on the second question; it looks like the intent is that you use presentQuestion on the first question, and then on the second question. So far, so good.
The problem is that in presentQuestion, you're referring to the question (which could be the first or the second question) as q in the parameter list. All you need to do is use q instead of first in the rest of the method.

When I was new to programming, I had this problem as well! Then I found out it is very simple.
For your first question, first is declared in the main method and you want to use it in presentQuestion method. But presentQuestion and main are different methods! So you can't get to first in presentQuestion. As you can see, there is a Question-typed parameter in the presentQuestion method. This is like you telling first, "Come here, man! And then change your name to q." When you do pass the argument first to presentQuestion,
presentQuestion (first, in);
first comes to the pressentQuestion method with its name being as q. So you should use q instead of first in the presentQuestion method.
Now the second question, using a variable in this context is not needed. But to increase efficiency, use a boolean variable to store the result of checkAnswer. Let's imagine what happens if you don't use a boolean variable.
System.out.println(q.checkAnswer(response));
if (q.checkAnswer(response)) {
return 1;
} else {
return 0;
}
See? you called q.checkAnswer twice! This would slow down your program so you should use a boolean variable.

Obtain the largest number in an array of numbers [closed]

Closed. This question needs details or clarity. It is not currently accepting answers.
Want to improve this question? Add details and clarify the problem by editing this post.
Closed 8 years ago.
Improve this question
This is my first time doing java and I am am trying to get the largest number from an array of x numbers using a method called bigNum(). Can anyone tell me why this doesn't work?
class project3
{
public static void main(String args[])
{
int total =0;
int b;
System.out.println("How many numbers do you want in the array");
int maxItems = EasyIn.getInt();
int[] numbers = new int[maxItems];
for (int i=0; i < maxItems; i++)
{
b = EasyIn.getInt();
}
bigNum(b);
}
public static void bigNum(int maxItems)
{
for (int i = 1; i >= maxItems; i++)
{
if (bigNum(b) >= maxItems)
bigNum(b) = maxItems;
}
return bigNum(b);
}
}

You're probably getting compiler errors at this point due to unmatched braces. You want your program to have matched braces, and you also want to avoid having methods inside of other methods.
You want to have something that has the following form
class project3
{
public static void main(String args[])
{
...
}
public static int bigNum(int maxItems[])
{
...
return someInt;
}
}

// capital letter for the class (convention)
public class Project3 {
public static void main(String args[]) {
//int total = 0; // you never used this number
System.out.println("How many numbers do you want in the array");
int maxItems = EasyIn.getInt();
int[] numbers = new int[maxItems];
for(int i = 0; i < maxItems; ++i) {
int newNumber = EasyIn.getInt();
/* you want to put the numbers into an array,
so don't call "bigNum" but put them there: */
numbers[i] = newNumber;
}
// now find the big number:
int bigNumber = bigNum(numbers);
System.out.println("The biggest number: " + bigNumber);
}
// first: change the return type to get the biggest number
// second: pass the reference to the array, not a single number
// public static void bigNum(int maxItems) {
public static int bigNum(int[] items) {
// create big number, assume it's very small:
int bigNumber = Integer.MIN_VALUE;
// this for loop will never run, change it a bit:
//for(int i = 1; i >= maxItems; i++) {
for(int i = 0; i < items.length; i++) {
// your idea is correct, but you can not use the
// method here, see explanations below
// Also don't check for the number of Items, but for
if(items[i] > bigNumber) {
bigNumber = items[i];
}
}
return bigNumber;
}
}
Explanations and further readings
Class name: Java has lots of different naming conventions, but the most common rules are: ClassNames/Types in CamelCase with a Capital at the beginning, variableNames following a similar convention but with a leading small letter. This makes it much easier to read code.
Indentation: Try to use a more consistent indentation. Also supports readability. Actually some other programming languages even rely on correct indentation.
Try to understand what variables and what methods are and how to use them (and return from them, you can not assign values to a method in Java. While you read the latter tutorial focus on return types and how to call methods correctly, you can not return an int when your method is of type void. Also the parameters need to be exactly defined.
Apart from that try to compile your code before you post it. As your code went, it should have thrown lots of compile errors, e.g. bigNum(b) = maxItems; should tell you that the left-hand side of an assignment needs to be a variable. This can help you a lot while tracking down mistakes.
Another error is that for most people EasyIn will not be defined (as it is for me, so the code I posted above might actually not be working, I didn't try). I suppose it's a learning library (we had our AlgoTools back in our first Java lectures). Still it would be nice to tell us what it is and what other imports you use (common mistake when I let my IDE decide my imports for me: java.util.Date and java.sql.Date).
Also try to make clear to yourself what you want to achieve with your program and how. Your algorithm actually looks like you didn't think too much about it: You try to find a biggest number and always check "a big number" against the number of expected items, which then might become "the big number" as well. Or something like that.
Programming is being concise and exact, so make a plan before. If it's too hard for you to think about a solution directly, you can maybe draw it on paper.
And if you then have problems, after compiling, asking your program, asking google, asking stack overflow: provide us with as many details as you can and we will be able to help you without just posting some code.
Good luck!

How to output binary search answer?

I get the error message cannot find symbol, symbol: method books(int[], int) when I try to compile the following code.
For further explanation about what I want the code to do, see below the code.
public class books {
public void main(String[] args) {
int searchValue = 0, index;
int refNum[] = new int[4]; // the array
refNum[0] = 4; //numbers to refer to (aka to find)
refNum[1] = 6;
refNum[2] = 10;
refNum[3] = 12;
refNum[4] = 14;
int input = Integer.parseInt(enterValue.getText()); //takes user's input
for (int x = 0; x < refNum.length; x++) {
refNum[x] = input; //Tells refNum value to be
}
searchValue = input;
index = books(refNum, searchValue); //"books" is underlined
if (index != -1) {
binarySearchField.setText("We found: " + index);
} else {
binarySearchField.setText("Sorry! Not Found!");
}
public static Boolean binarySearch(String [] refNum, int left, int right, String search){
//Boolean code for later
}
This program uses binary search to find values stored in array after user inputs number, if they match then the item is successfully found. User inputs desired number in 'enterNumber' which is a TextField. Now in my code )which I'm 78% sure will work if it wasn't for this one little thing) there is an all important that is underlined which shouldn't be, (I've commented beside the line to show)
Now I had thought I was suppose to put the class name there, but apparently since it is underlined that is not the case. Any ideas on what I should be putting there in it's place?
And I apologize for the question may be a bit misleading on what I'm really asking, I just wasn't sure how to word the question.

The line
index = books(refNum, searchValue);
seems to be underlined because you have no method called books that takes an int[] and an int as arguments in your books class definition.
Now I had thought I was suppose to put the class name there Why do you assume you have to put the class name there? Figure out what you are trying to do with this code and then you will understand what goes in that line (at least in pseudocode).
Also it seems like you have a method declared directly inside another method. That is not legal in java. If this is not the case, please show us correct code.

books is your class's name..that might be the reason you are getting this error. You can't call constructor like a method. Change class's name to Books or something else..or change method's name

Java exercise for checkout

I'm trying some Java recently and look for some review of my style. If You like to look at this exercise placed in the image, and tell me if my style is good enought? Or maybe it is not good enought, so You can tell me on what aspect I should work more, so You can help me to improve it?
exercise for my question
/*
* File: MathQuiz.java
*
* This program produces Math Quiz.
*/
import acm.program.*;
import acm.util.*;
public class MathQuiz extends ConsoleProgram {
/* Class constants for Quiz settings. */
private static final int CHANCES = 3;
private static final int QUESTIONS = 5;
private static final int MIN = 0;
private static final int MAX = 20;
/* Start program. Number of questions to ask is assigned here. */
public void run() {
println("Welcome to Math Quiz");
while(answered != QUESTIONS) {
produceNumbers();
askForAnswer();
}
println("End of program.");
}
/* Ask for answer, and check them. Number of chances includes
* first one, where user is asked for reply. */
private void askForAnswer() {
int answer = -1;
if(type)
answer = readInt("What is " + x + "+" + y + "?");
else
answer = readInt("What is " + x + "-" + y + "?");
for(int i = 1; i < CHANCES+1; i++) {
if(answer != solution) {
if(i == CHANCES) {
println("No. The answer is " + solution + ".");
break;
}
answer = readInt("That's incorrect - try a different answer: ");
} else {
println("That's the answer!");
break;
}
}
answered++;
}
/* Produces type and two numbers until they qualify. */
private void produceNumbers() {
produceType();
produceFirst();
produceSecond();
if(type)
while(x+y >= MAX) {
produceFirst();
produceSecond();
}
else
while(x-y <= MIN) {
produceFirst();
produceSecond();
}
calculateSolution();
}
/* Calculates equation solution. */
private void calculateSolution() {
if(type) solution = x + y;
else solution = x - y;
}
/* Type of the equation. True is from plus, false is for minus. */
private void produceType() {
type = rgen.nextBoolean();
}
/* Produces first number. */
private void produceFirst() {
x = rgen.nextInt(0, 20);
}
/* Produces second number. */
private void produceSecond() {
y = rgen.nextInt(0, 20);
}
/* Class variables for numbers and type of the equation. */
private static boolean type;
private static int x;
private static int y;
/* Class variables for equation solution. */
private static int solution;
/* Class variable counting number of answered equations,
* so if it reaches number of provided questions, it ends */
private static int answered = 0;
/* Random generator constructor. */
RandomGenerator rgen = new RandomGenerator();
}

One thing I noticed was that all of your methods take no parameters and return void.
I think it would be clearer if you use method parameters and return values to show the flow of data through your program instead of using the object's state to store everything.

There are a few things you should do differently, and a couple you could do differently.
The things you should do differently:
Keep all fields together.
static fields should always be in THIS_FORM
you've used the static modifier for what clearly look like instance fields. (type,x,y,solution, answered). This means you can only ever run one MathsQuiz at a time per JVM. Not a big deal in this case, but will cause problems for more complex programs.
produceFirst and produceSecond use hardcoded parameters to nextInt rather than using MAX and MIN as provided by the class
There is no apparent need for answered to be a field. It could easily be a local variable in run.
Things you should do differently:
There is a small possibility (however tiny), that produceNumbers might not end. Instead of producing two random numbers and hoping they work. Produce one random number and then constrain the second so that a solution will always be formed. eg. say we are doing and addition and x is 6 and max is 20. We know that y cannot be larger than 14. So instead of trying nextInt(0,20), you could do nextInt(0,14) and be assured that you would get a feasible question.
For loop isn't really the right construct for askForAnswer as the desired behaviour is to ask for an answer CHANCES number of times or until a correct answer is received, whichever comes first. A for loop is usually used when you wish to do something a set number of times. Indeed the while loop in run is a good candidate for a for loop. A sample while loop might look like:
int i = 1;
boolean correct = (solution == readInt("What is " + x + "+" + y + "?"));
while (i < CHANCES && !correct) {
correct = (solution == readInt("Wrong, try again."));
i++;
}
if (correct) {
println("Well done!");
} else {
println("Nope, the answer is: "+solution);
}

Looks like a very clean program style. I would move all variables to the top instead of having some at the bottom, but other than that it is very readable.

Here is something I'd improve: the boolean type that is used to indicate whether we have an addition or subtraction:
private void produceType() {
type = rgen.nextBoolean();
}
produceType tells, that something is generated and I'd expect something to be returned. And I'd define enums to represent the type of the quiz. Here's my suggestion:
private QuizType produceType() {
boolean type = rgen.nextBoolean();
if (type == true)
return QuizType.PLUS;
else
return QuizType.MINUS;
}
The enum is defined like this:
public enum QuizType { PLUS, MINUS }

Almost good I have only a few improvements:
variables moves to the top
Inside produceNumbers and your while you have small repeat. I recommend refactor this
Small advice: Code should be like books - easy readable - in your run() method firstly you call produceNumber and then askForAnswer. So it will be better if in your code you will have the same order in definitions, so implementation askForAnswer before produceNumber. But it isn't necessary
Pay attention to have small methods. A method shouldn't have much to do - I think that askForAnswer you could split to two methods