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Java Java Objects (Retired) Harnessing the Power of Objects Helper Methods and Conditionals

Austin Badolian
Austin Badolian
635 Points
Posted by Austin Badolian
Austin Badolian
635 Points

java.util.NoSuchElementException

Getting the error above, looked at other posts about this regarding repl, but couldn't pinpoint my problem. Have a look.

public class PezDispenser {

  //initializing integer for state of dispenser that is constant
  public static final int MAX_PEZ = 12;

  //Storing number of pez in dispenser, not initialized
  private int mPezCount;

  //The member varaible of class PezDispenser
  private String mCharacterName;

  //Constructor of class
  public PezDispenser(String characterName) {
    mCharacterName = characterName;
    mPezCount = 0;
  } 

  //Loader for pez method
  public void load() {
    mPezCount = MAX_PEZ;
    {

  //Methods always return something. This one returns the character name
  public String getCharacterName() {
    return mCharacterName;
  }

  //Check if pez is empty method
  public boolean isEmpty() {
    return mPezCount == 0;
  }
}
Austin Badolian
Austin Badolian
635 Points
Austin Badolian
Austin Badolian
635 Points

After some trial and error and trying to run the compiler javac, it gave me the error messages stating that I had not declared the data type. which is a big no no.

public getCharacterName() {
    return mCharacterName;
}

It should have been this:

public String getCharacterName() {
    return mCharacterName;
}

Remember to let the compiler know what your Data Types are. Hope that helps anyone who has any similar issues.

2 Answers

Steve Hunter
Steve Hunter
57,712 Points

Hi Austin,

That's telling the compiler that your method will return something and what type that something is. It's not just setting the data type. You set the type for mCharacterName in the class with:

private String mCharacterName;

You then want to return that from the getter method. Java already knows that mCharacterName is of type String but wasn't aware that your method wanted to return a String until you added the keyword in the method skeleton:

public String getCharacterName() {  // public method that returns a string 
    return mCharacterName; // the already-declared string being returned
}

I hope that made some sense.

Steve.

Austin Badolian
Austin Badolian
635 Points
Austin Badolian
Austin Badolian
635 Points

Thanks Steve that clears it up a little. So even though I set the data type when I created the variable. I have to also let the compiler know that a method returns a specific data type?

If that makes sense?

So if I declare a variable named mGetCharacterName, that is a string. I have to also let the method know what it's returning, which is also a string?

And that would apply to any data type?

So if I declared it as String but the method didn't return anything then I would set it as void.

Steve Hunter
Steve Hunter
57,712 Points

Hi Austin,

Yes, your method signature lets the compiler know a few things; whether the method is private, public, protected etc., the name of the method, any parameters (with their type) that the method receives and the data type that it will return (or void if nothing is returned).

Steve.

Austin Badolian
Austin Badolian
635 Points
Austin Badolian
Austin Badolian
635 Points

Awesome, thank you l. That makes perfect sense.