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:headdesk:

The only problem is that you have not initialised the alphabet variable to a String. Perhaps you meant to do this

private static final String alphabet = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz";

Notice the...

We don't need you posting the full assignment. Did you read my reply? It explains what you are doing wrong. If you don't understand what I said then ask a specific question.

private int location = alphabet.indexOf (e);
private static String abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz;
private static final String alphabet = abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz;

On line 1 you call indexOf...

It would help if you posted this in your other thread which contains the code.