getting illegal start of expression error

Question

i\'m totally new to java. i \'m try to create my first program & i get this error.

E:\\java>javac Robot.java
Robot.java:16: error: illegal start of ex         


        

Answer 1

You didn't close your main method before you create the CreateNew() one. In fact I don't think you meant to have a main method in your Robot class, you should have only one main method for your whole program. And your CreateNew should be a constructor:

public class Robot {
        String model;
        /*int year;*/
        String status;

        public Robot () {
            this.model="Autobot"; 
            this.status="active";
        }
    }
}

and then in another class that contains your main method (or it could be in the same class too):

public class OtherClass {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Robot optimus = new Robot(); // here you create an instance of your robot.
    }
}

then you can have a second constructor that takes in parameter the model and status like that:

public Robot (String m, Status s) {
        this.model=m; 
        this.status=s;
}

and finally in your main:

Robot prime = new Robot("aName", "aStatus");

Answer 2

You're trying to define a method (CreateNew) within a method (main), which you cannot do in Java. Move it out of the main; and as model and status appear to be instance variables (not method variables), move them as well:

public class Robot {
    // Member variables
    String model;
    /*int year;*/
    String status;

    // main method
    public static void main(String args[]){

        // Presumably more stuff here
    }

    // Further method    
    public String CreateNew () {
        Robot optimus;
        optimus = new Robot();
        optimus.model="Autobot"; 
        /*optimus.year="2008";*/
        optimus.status="active";
        return (optimus.model);
    }
}

Based on its content, you may want CreateNew to be static (so it can be called via Robot.CreateNew rather than via a Robot instance). Like this:

public class Robot {
    // Member variables
    String model;
    /*int year;*/
    String status;

    // main method
    public static void main(String args[]){

        // Presumably more stuff here
    }

    // Further method    
    public static String CreateNew () {
    //     ^----------------------------- here's the change
        Robot optimus;
        optimus = new Robot();
        optimus.model="Autobot"; 
        /*optimus.year="2008";*/
        optimus.status="active";
        return (optimus.model);
    }
}

Used as

String theModel = Robot.CreateNew();

...although it's unclear to me why you want to create a Robot instance and then throw it away and just return the model instance member's value.

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Somewhat off-topic, but the overwhelming convention in Java is that method names (static or instance) start with a lower-case letter, e.g. createNew rather than CreateNew.