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Java Java Objects Meet Objects Constructors

Julie Austin
Julie Austin
1,322 Points
Posted by Julie Austin
Julie Austin
1,322 Points

Confused about this. or using m

So this.characterName or mCharacterName is used to differentiate a private String from a public string with the same name? what if you have a code block with multiple private and public strings? I'm not clear on this concept.

1 Answer

Ken Alger
STAFF
Ken Alger
Treehouse Teacher
Ken Alger
Ken Alger
Treehouse Teacher

Julie;

Great question. The m prefix vs this. is a naming convention to handle member variables. The use of which will likely depend on your code base. The m prefix was very popular in Android development for a while, but seems to have fallen out of favor towards using this. It really has more to do with scope than anything else as to which variable is being referred to. Mr. Hampton provides some additional information in his post here.

I hope that helps, but post back if you're still stuck.

Best wishes,
Ken W. Alger