Implementing Methods

**doswald1** · May 26th, 2014, 08:32 PM

Hi everyone,

I am taking my first Java course and I'm finding there is very little direction in it, and I'm already becoming frustrated.

I have a question as follows:

For a class representing a light switch (bodies of methods omitted):

public class Switch {
  public enum Position { Off, On };
  private Position position;
  public Switch() { ... }
  public Switch (Position pos) { ... }
  public void on() { ... }
  public void off() { ... }
  public Position getPosition() { ... }
  public String toString() { return “Switch is “+position; }
  public static void main(String[] args) { // Sample usage
    Switch s1 = new Switch();
    System.out.println(s1);
    s1.on();
    System.out.println(s1);
    s1.off();
    System.out.println(s1);
  }
}

Implement three (3) methods: One (of the two) constructor, the method on, and the method getPosition.

We don't have a textbook, and given that I'm a visual person, I need to see example code because I can't come up with something off the top of my head having never seen or written code before.

I tried to look for examples online, and all I could come up with so far is this:

public Switch (Position pos) { 
position = pos; 
} 
 
 
public void on() { 
position = Position.On; 
} 
 
 
public Position getPosition() { 
return Position; 
}

I'm not even sure that's right. I'm 100%

Thanks.

**BharathA** · May 27th, 2014, 01:55 AM

Hi, kindly find whether the below code snippet helps you and is that what you are looking for.

 
Code removed.

[COLOR="Silver"]

**Ada Lovelace** · May 27th, 2014, 02:47 AM

Please do not provide complete solutions to a problem - give helpful hints and advice.
Giving a more or less practical solution removes the fun of learning for themselves.

Wishes Ada xx

**doswald1** · May 27th, 2014, 03:09 AM

BharathA: Thank you, this was GREATLY appreciated. I am a visual learner, and learning by means of verbal or written directions simply doesn't help.

Ada: As much as I'm sure in most cases you are correct, I may be one of the few exceptions to the rule. Unfortunately, my 10-week course in java, which is thankfully coming to an end, has been anything but fun. Sometimes, people just need to see it done for the first time to understand it, rather than working off of hint-dropping and suggestions. It's nothing personal -- there are just some folks out there, like myself, that are right-brained as opposed to left. It would be helpful if college instructors could/would understand that, but that has not been the case for me.

**Ada Lovelace** · May 27th, 2014, 03:22 AM

Yes, I completely understand where you are coming from - I was simply stating that learning anything - be it programming or otherwise,
should be a process of knowledge that is gradually formed over X amount of weeks/months/years etc. When you say "Visualise" I am guessing
you're instructor neglected to mention that there are a fair few examples of Java program in the Internet, be it through video or tutorials written
by other people. I can also see why people find it difficult, especially when you are given so little help from the one place in which you would expect to
be given that help right from the off. Poorly educated instructors can lead to struggling students - and it is the people who struggle though, who sometimes
come out on top. I think you are a strong and willing person, and whatever grade you get from this course - build on it. Whatever knowledge you got from
the course - don;t lose it - take notes on it. Make programs in your own time - learn about the language. Java is beautiful. and is well worth the effort.
Do not let bad teaching and poor resources stop you from becoming a programmer.
Good luck!

Wishes Ada xx

**GregBrannon** · May 27th, 2014, 04:53 AM

Right brained, left brained, it doesn't matter which half you use to learn. Being given the solution will prevent you from using either half, and you will learn nothing.

@BharathA: Please read The Problem With Spoon-feeding.

**BharathA** · May 27th, 2014, 11:51 AM

@Greg and Ada - Thanks for sharing me the link and the problems with spoon-feeding. Apologies from my end for sharing the entire code as I thought doswald had initially given a try with few coding lines and couple of methods as well. That's why I have shared the complete coding on the basis that atleast the person had given a try. But I now realize that it could not be a good learning process for others too. So, apologies for not letting doswald to learn.

@doswald - I hope you got the answer. Going forward, try splitting the question into small pieces. In this example, I have tried to print the first array and then looked for printing the 2nd and so on. So, break it up into smaller junks and you could go through them.

**doswald1** · May 27th, 2014, 10:10 PM

Originally Posted by GregBrannon

Right brained, left brained, it doesn't matter which half you use to learn. Being given the solution will prevent you from using either half, and you will learn nothing.

@BharathA: Please read The Problem With Spoon-feeding.

Everyone -- he didn't give me the answer. He filled in the parts of the code that my (useless) instructor omitted, making it easier for me to figure out the rest of the problems. Rather than telling someone what they SHOULD'NT post to someone else, why not jump in with your own advice and tidbits? Seems a little silly to me, given all the other forums on the internet that exist to help students with java. Just saying.

**Ada Lovelace** · May 28th, 2014, 02:25 AM

I see your point, and apologies if it did seem a bit harsh on him/yourself in general. It did seem like the entire solution had been given,
thus why the problem arose.
People on this forum will always try to help others - and that is totally the point of a forum. Refer to my other post where I gave you a detailed explanation
and a big thumbs up about your courageous learning. I do see where you come from with the lousy instructor, if a person cannot be bothered to teach a student
programming - he should not be teaching it.
To me you seem like a person who wants to succeed - and you will. Everyone here will - and people are always willing to aid others in that venture.

Wishes Ada xx

**copeg** · May 28th, 2014, 11:47 AM

Originally Posted by doswald1

Everyone -- he didn't give me the answer. He filled in the parts of the code that my (useless) instructor omitted, making it easier for me to figure out the rest of the problems. Rather than telling someone what they SHOULD'NT post to someone else, why not jump in with your own advice and tidbits? Seems a little silly to me, given all the other forums on the internet that exist to help students with java. Just saying.

While I didn't edit the post above I stand behind the member of the moderator staff who did. The forums have guidelines, and while some may not agree with every decision made to enforce those guidelines, please understand they are meant to be in the best interest of everyone. If you disagree, I recommend starting a new thread (in the appropriate) to discuss. But let me add that learning to program is as much learning to problem solve as it is writing code. Its about trying things and seeing what happens. Its about writing code, compiling, running, then continually repeating. When a member hands over code that contains no explanation, it can rob you of the opportunity to improve these skills. In some extreme cases, it can be considered academic dishonesty.

On a side note...

He filled in the parts of the code that my (useless) instructor omitted

...many of us here are self taught - and many consider placing any type of blame on an instructor a (dare I say) useless (and often self-defeating) exercise.

Now...back onto the initial topic at hand (presuming you are still having difficulty)

I'm not even sure that's right

We're you able to compile the code you posted? If not, what warnings/errors did you get? If so, did you run the code? What happened?

**Time4Java** · May 28th, 2014, 02:36 PM

,) i'm a diesel engine too, passed the first 2 tests with flunks, now i need 80% on my last one, just made it and spent probably 40-50 hours trying and failing and trying something else and moving on and starting again, but it works now, so perhaps I'l salvage this year.
But I did learn tons

The instructor can feed you tidbits of information each lesson, but in the end it's up to you to try them out in different ways and get accomodated to how they work.
If you just look up complete pieces of code you won't have the slightest idea how to reproduce a likewise situation with your own code,
+ half the fun is errorhunting

or atleast when you find the errors

Thread: Implementing Methods

LinkBack

Thread Tools

Display

Implementing Methods

Related threads:

Re: Implementing Methods

Re: Implementing Methods

Re: Implementing Methods

Re: Implementing Methods

Re: Implementing Methods

The Following User Says Thank You to GregBrannon For This Useful Post:

Re: Implementing Methods

The Following User Says Thank You to BharathA For This Useful Post:

Re: Implementing Methods

Re: Implementing Methods

Re: Implementing Methods

The Following User Says Thank You to copeg For This Useful Post:

Re: Implementing Methods

The Following User Says Thank You to Time4Java For This Useful Post:

Similar Threads

Implementing a webproxy

implementing KeyListener

Implementing an algorithm

Why and where abstract methods & classes and static methods are used?

Implementing Semaphores