Thread: Error using public static double Method

Hi everyone,
I have a Java program that's supposed to convert feet to meters and meters to feet using methods.
Here's what I have:

public class HW3_1Method {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
 
   System.out.println("Feet      Meters");
   System.out.println("---------------------");
 
   System.out.println("Meters      Feet");
   System.out.println("---------------------");
 
   /**Converts from feet to meters*/
  //14  public static double footToMeter(double foot) {
   double meter = (.305 * foot) ;
   for(foot = 1; foot <=5; foot++) 
   System.out.println("      "  + foot + "      " + meter);
       }
 
   /**Converts from meter to feet*/
   //21 public static double meterToFoot(double meter) {
   double foot = (3.28 * meter);
   for(meter = 1; meter <=5; meter++) 
   System.out.println("      "  + meter + "      " + foot);
   }
}
//27 }

There are errors on lines 14, 21 and 27 (I commented these lines). On those lines, it hints I'm missing return statements? When I try to run, I get the error using NetBeans:


run:
Feet Meters
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.RuntimeException: Uncompilable source code - illegal start of expression
---------------------
Meters Feet
---------------------
at HW3_1Method.main(HW3_1Method.java:14)
Java Result: 1
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 3 seconds)

Any help would be great, thank you!

you forgot to end your main method with a curly brace, you've also forgotten to put return statements inside of your methods.

public class HW3_1Method 
{
	public static void main(String[] args) 
	{
 
	   	System.out.println("Feet      Meters");
		System.out.println("---------------------");
 
		System.out.println("Meters      Feet");
   		System.out.println("---------------------");
 
	//We need to close our main method before we can make other methods
	[b]}[/b]
   	/**Converts from feet to meters*/
  	public static double footToMeter(double foot) 
	{
   		double meter = (.305 * foot) ;
   		for(foot = 1; foot <=5; foot++)
   			System.out.println("      "  + foot + "      " + meter);
		//You need to return the same type as what you have indicated in your method declaration
		[b]return meter;[/b]
       	}
 
   	/**Converts from meter to feet*/
   	public static double meterToFoot(double meter) 
	{
   		double foot = (3.28 * meter);
   		for(meter = 1; meter <=5; meter++)
   			System.out.println("      "  + meter + "      " + foot);
		[b]return foot;[/b]
   	}
}

(I used code tags instead of java tags for this so I could illustrate the additions)

I have bolded what needs to be added for your code to be correct. Like helloworld922 said, you need to close your main method before you can make your other methods.

You also need to remember that you have to return whatever type or object you have declared in your method. When you design your methods, you need to decide if you will return nothing or something. If you return nothing, you declare the return type to be void. If you want to return something, you have to indicate what you will be returning and you need to return the correct type or object.

Here are some examples:

//By saying "void", we have indicated that we are not going to return anything
public void method()
{...}
 
//By saying "double", we have indicated that we are going to return a double. Which we do as the last statement in the method body.
public double method()
{
return 10.9;
}
 
//By saying "JButton", we have indicated that we are going to return a JButton Object. Which we do as the last statement in the method body.
public JButton method()
{
return new JButton("This is a JButton");
}

The last discrepancy with methods (and variables) is whether or not they need to be static. Basically, if the method or variable is called from within static content (like the main method), it needs to be static. Until you start making your own classes, make all of your methods and Global Variables in your main class static.

Hmm, what's strange is now the build is successful, but no values are returned even though void isn't used.


run:
Feet Meters
---------------------

Meters Feet
---------------------
BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 0 seconds)


It's supposed to return the table of values within the table...How could I do a return in the main method, if that's the right question to be asking?