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Java Java Data Structures Organizing Data Interfaces

Jordan George
Jordan George
9,926 Points
Posted by Jordan George
Jordan George
9,926 Points

Why not use other.getCreationDate() instead of other.mCreationDate()?

So, while watching the video I was confused about why Craig was using mCreationDate() instead of getCreationDate() on the other object.

This didn't compile for me:

        int dateCmp = mCreationDate.compareTo(other. mCreationDate());
        if (dateCmp == 0) {
            return mDescription.compareTo(other.mDescription());
        }

This route compiled for me:

        int dateCmp = mCreationDate.compareTo(other.getCreationDate());
        if (dateCmp == 0) {
            return mDescription.compareTo(other.getDescription());
        }

1 Answer

Benjamin Barslev Nielsen
Benjamin Barslev Nielsen
18,958 Points
Benjamin Barslev Nielsen
Benjamin Barslev Nielsen
18,958 Points

In your first code sample:

return mDescription.compareTo(other.mDescription());

should be

return mDescription.compareTo(other.mDescription);

since mDescription is a field and not a method. other.mCreationDate() should also be other.mCreationDate.

You can access the fields of a class from inside that class, even though it is not the "this"-instance, and therefore we can use other.mCreationDate instead of using the other.getCreationDate().

Hope this helps.