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Android

Shane McC
Shane McC
3,005 Points
Posted by Shane McC
Shane McC
3,005 Points

Java keyword "This" confused

Hi Everyone

I have a question regarding the "this" keyword in Java. When I call this.whatever in the println statement it's printing "This is from the String whatever Hi Man!!" how come it's printing "Hi Man!!" and not "Hi Dude!!"?

"Hi Dude!!" is within the scope of the method sayIt so shouldn't it print out "Hi Dude!!" instead of "Hi Dude!!"?

Thanks

public class MorePractice{

    public static void main(String[] args){
        Test mp = new Test ();
        mp.whatever = "Hi Man!!";
        mp.sayIt();
    }
}

class Test{

    String whatever = "Hi Dude!";

    public void sayIt(){
        System.out.println("This is from the String whatever " + this.whatever);
    }

}

1 Answer

JT Keller
JT Keller
12,731 Points
JT Keller
JT Keller
12,731 Points

Don't forget that the main method has scope as well. In addition to the scoping, the default constructor for the Test object that you've instantiated is being called, which sets your fields to (null, 0, etc... depending on the type). Think about those 2 things and retrace your steps through the code. Also adding print statements can be a good way step through your code as it is executing.

http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~jrs/4/lec/08