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Java Java Objects (Retired) Creating the MVP For Each Loop

Shaun Williams
Shaun Williams
1,986 Points
Posted by Shaun Williams
Shaun Williams
1,986 Points

Struggling With the getTileCount Challenge

Hey Guys,

I'm struggling to pass the ScrabblePlayer "getTileCount" Challenge.

I keep getting the error message: Bummer! Did you forget to create the method getTileCount that accepts a char?

Where am I going wrong? Any help would be great!

Here is my code (see getTileCount method at the bottom):

ScrabblePlayer.java 
public class ScrabblePlayer {
  private String mHand;

  public ScrabblePlayer() {
    mHand = "";
  }

  public String getHand() {
   return mHand;
  }

  public void addTile(char tile) {
    // Adds the tile to the hand of the player
    mHand += tile;
  }

  public boolean hasTile(char tile) {
   return mHand.indexOf(tile) > -1;
  }

  public String getTileCount() {
   String counter = "";
    for (char tile: mHand.toCharArray()) {
      char display = tile++;
      if (mHand.indexOf(tile) >= 0) {
        display = tile;
      }
      counter += display;
    }
    return counter;
  }
}

4 Answers

Robert Richey
Robert Richey
Courses Plus Student 16,352 Points

Adding to Patrick's answer, here's another hint:

Did you forget to create the method getTileCount that accepts a char?

// this method signature is accepting a char
public boolean hasTile(char tile)

// your getTileCount method signature is not accepting a char
public String getTileCount()

I'll also point out that the return value for getTileCount should be a number (what data type can we use to represent a number?).

Here's some pseudo-code that may help

/*

getTileCount(char tile) {
  initialize a counter variable to 0
  for each letter in mHands
    if letter and tile match
      increment counter
  return counter
}

*/

Please let me know if this helps or not.

Cheers

Shaun Williams
Shaun Williams
1,986 Points
Shaun Williams
Shaun Williams
1,986 Points

Hey Robert,

Really appreciate the reply! That's a big help, I understand it now.

I think I'm almost there, but getting the following error: "Bummer! The hand was "sreclhak" and 'e' was checked. Expected 1 but got 844."

How could it be getting 844 instead of 1?

public class ScrabblePlayer {
  private String mHand;

  public ScrabblePlayer() {
    mHand = "";
  }

  public String getHand() {
   return mHand;
  }

  public void addTile(char tile) {
    // Adds the tile to the hand of the player
    mHand += tile;
  }

  public boolean hasTile(char tile) {
   return mHand.indexOf(tile) > -1;
  }

  public int getTileCount(char tile) {
   int counter = 0;
    for (char letter: mHand.toCharArray()) {
      char display = tile++;
      if (mHand.indexOf(letter) >= 0) {
        display = tile;
      }
      counter += display;
    }
    return counter;
  }
}
Robert Richey
Robert Richey
Courses Plus Student 16,352 Points

You're doing great! These challenges can be really tricky sometimes. Here are some more hints. Please let me know how you're doing after this.

public int getTileCount(char tile) {
   int counter = 0;
    for (char letter: mHand.toCharArray()) {

      // we don't need this line
      char display = tile++;

      // indexOf is more like a search instead of a match
      // how might you change this to see if letter is equal to tile?
      if (mHand.indexOf(letter) >= 0) {

        // this should be where we increment counter if a match is found
        // to increment by one, counter += 1 or counter++
        display = tile;
      }

      // counter should be incremented inside the if block above
      counter += display;
    }
    return counter;
  }
Michael C
Michael C
3,230 Points
Michael C
Michael C
3,230 Points

If somebody says something about "accepting" and "methods" in one sentence I always think about "What kind of data type (char, integer, string etc.) does this method actually wants as an argument (or some say parameter)".

As you know printf() does need a String. So if the Bummer tells you if you created a method that "accepts a char" you might realize that the error message wants to point to the question if you actually created a method that awaits a parameter/argument.

As you can see in your method's parantheses you did not put any parameter of type char in there.

Shaun Williams
Shaun Williams
1,986 Points
Shaun Williams
Shaun Williams
1,986 Points

Thanks so much for the reply, Patrick.

I originally had:

public char getTileCount() { char counter = '-';

However, I received a ton of compile issues and that really threw me.

I'm still struggling to wrap my head around it. Any hints on what I can do from there?

Thanks

Shaun Williams
Shaun Williams
1,986 Points
Shaun Williams
Shaun Williams
1,986 Points

Hey Robert,

Got it! Thanks so much for the help, you're a life saver. I'm relying on Google a lot, and struggling to know when to apply certain concepts, but I'll get there with practice.

Thanks again :)

kevin nisay
kevin nisay
1,159 Points
kevin nisay
kevin nisay
1,159 Points

hi guys im just starting to learn how to program using java ,its been a year for this comment, guys can you give me some advice ? im struggling a lot , i would like to ask is it fine to look around some codes and answer ? can i learn by doing that ?