Java - Using Accessor and Mutator methods

Question

I am working on a homework assignment. I am confused on how it should be done.

The question is:

Create a class called IDCard that contains a

Answer 1

You need to remove the static from your accessor methods - these methods need to be instance methods and access the instance variables

public class IDCard {
    public String name, fileName;
    public int id;

    public IDCard(final String name, final String fileName, final int id) {
        this.name = name;
        this.fileName = fileName
        this.id = id;
    }

    public String getName() {
        return name;
    }
}

You can the create an IDCard and use the accessor like this:

final IDCard card = new IDCard();
card.getName();

Each time you call new a new instance of the IDCard will be created and it will have it's own copies of the 3 variables.

If you use the static keyword then those variables are common across every instance of IDCard.

A couple of things to bear in mind:

1. don't add useless comments - they add code clutter and nothing else.
2. conform to naming conventions, use lower case of variable names - name not Name.

Answer 2

Let's go over the basics: "Accessor" and "Mutator" are just fancy names fot a getter and a setter. A getter, "Accessor", returns a class's variable or its value. A setter, "Mutator", sets a class variable pointer or its value.

So first you need to set up a class with some variables to get/set:

public class IDCard
{
    private String mName;
    private String mFileName;
    private int mID;

}

But oh no! If you instantiate this class the default values for these variables will be meaningless. B.T.W. "instantiate" is a fancy word for doing:

IDCard test = new IDCard();

So - let's set up a default constructor, this is the method being called when you "instantiate" a class.

public IDCard()
{
    mName = "";
    mFileName = "";
    mID = -1;
}

But what if we do know the values we wanna give our variables? So let's make another constructor, one that takes parameters:

public IDCard(String name, int ID, String filename)
{
    mName = name;
    mID = ID;
    mFileName = filename;
}

Wow - this is nice. But stupid. Because we have no way of accessing (=reading) the values of our variables. So let's add a getter, and while we're at it, add a setter as well:

public String getName()
{
    return mName;
}

public void setName( String name )
{
    mName = name;
}

Nice. Now we can access mName. Add the rest of the accessors and mutators and you're now a certified Java newbie. Good luck.