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Java Java Objects Creating the MVP Conference Registration Assistant

taha siddiqui
taha siddiqui
6,222 Points

Can someone help me wit this java problem

Fix the getLineNumberFor method to return a 1 if the first character of lastName is between A and M or else return 2 if it is between N and Z.

this was the question. I don't think we have learn how you are supposed to differentiate between letters. So it says if the first letter is between A and M, return 1. I know how to return one but how do I write the condition so that it tests whether the letter is between A and M

ConferenceRegistrationAssistant.java
public class ConferenceRegistrationAssistant {

  /**
   * Assists in guiding people to the proper line based on their last name.
   *
   * @param lastName The person's last name
   * @return The line number based on the first letter of lastName
   */
  public int getLineNumberFor(String lastName) {
    if (lastName.charAt(0)
    int lineNumber = 0;
    /*
      lineNumber should be set based on the first character of the person's last name
      Line 1 - A thru M
      Line 2 - N thru Z

     */
    return lineNumber;
  }

}
Example.java
public class Example {

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    /*
      IMPORTANT:  You can compare characters using <, >. <=, >= and == just like numbers
     */
    if ('C' < 'D') {
      System.out.println("C comes before D");
    }

    if ('B' > 'A') {
      System.out.println("B comes after A");
    }

    if ('E' >= 'E') {
      System.out.println("E is equal to or comes after E");
    }

    // This code is here for demonstration purposes only...
    ConferenceRegistrationAssistant assistant = new ConferenceRegistrationAssistant();
    /*
      Remember that there are 2 lines.
      Line #1 is for A-M
      Line #2 is for N-Z
     */
    int lineNumber = 0;
    /*
      This should set lineNumber to 2 because
      The last name is Zimmerman which starts with a Z.
      Therefore it is between N-Z
     */
    lineNumber = assistant.getLineNumberFor("Zimmerman");

    /*
      This method call should set lineNumber to 1, because 'A' from "Anderson" is between A-M.
     */
    lineNumber = assistant.getLineNumberFor("Anderson");

    /*
      Likewise Charlie Brown's 'B' is between 'A' and 'M', so lineNumber should be set to 1
     */
    lineNumber = assistant.getLineNumberFor("Brown");
  }

}

1 Answer

Kyle Gronberg
Kyle Gronberg
1,759 Points

The comments in the other file (example.java) explain: you can compare chars with comparison operators similar to ints. Chars are basically just numbers converted to ASCII. So you can say 'A' < 'B', because A is the first letter of the alphabet and B is the second. You can use this to form an if statement to solve this problem.