Chapter 4-2:

More Object Concepts

 Overloading Constructors (cont'd.)

Java Programming, Sixth Edition 2

 Learning About the this Reference
• Instantiate object from class
– Memory reserved for each instance field in class
– Not necessary to store separate copy of each
variable and method for each instantiation of class
• In Java
– One copy of each method in class stored
– All instantiated objects can use one copy

Java Programming, Sixth Edition 3

 Learning About the this Reference
(cont'd.)
• Reference
– Object’s memory address
– Implicit
• Automatically understood without actually being
written

Java Programming, Sixth Edition 4

 Learning About the this Reference
(cont'd.)
• this reference
– Reference to object
– Passed to any object’s nonstatic class method
– Reserved word in Java
– Don’t need to use this reference in methods you
write
• In most situations

Java Programming, Sixth Edition 5

 Learning About the this Reference
(cont'd.)

Java Programming, Sixth Edition 6

 Learning About the this Reference
(cont'd.)
• this reference (cont'd.)
– Implicitly received by instance methods
– Use to make classes work correctly
– When used with field name in class method
• Reference to class field
• Instead of to local variable declared within method

Java Programming, Sixth Edition 7

 Using the this Reference to Make
Overloaded Constructors
More Efficient
• Avoid repetition within constructors
• Constructor calls other constructor
– this()
– More efficient and less error-prone

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Java Programming, Sixth Edition 9
 Using static Variables
• Class methods
– Do not have this reference
– Have no object associated with them
• Class variables
– Shared by every instantiation of class
– Only one copy of static class variable per class

Java Programming, Sixth Edition 10

 Using Constant Fields
• Create named constants using keyword final
– Make its value unalterable after construction
• Can be set in class constructor
– After construction cannot change final field’s value

Java Programming, Sixth Edition 11

 Using Constant Fields (cont'd.)

Java Programming, Sixth Edition 12

 Using Automatically Imported,
Prewritten Constants and Methods
• Many classes commonly used by wide variety of
programmers
• Package or library of classes
– Folder provides convenient grouping for classes
– Many contain classes available only if explicitly
named within program
– Some classes available automatically

Java Programming, Sixth Edition 13

 Using Automatically Imported,
Prewritten Constants and Methods
(cont'd.)
• Fundamental or basic classes
– Implicitly imported into every Java program
– java.lang package
• Only automatically imported, named package
• Optional classes
– Must be explicitly named

Java Programming, Sixth Edition 14

 Using Automatically Imported,
Prewritten Constants and Methods
(cont'd.)
• java.lang.Math class
– Contains constants and methods used to perform
common mathematical functions
– No need to create instance
– Imported automatically
– Cannot instantiate objects of type Math
• Constructor for Math class private

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Java Programming, Sixth Edition 16
 You Do It
• Demonstrating scope
• Overloading methods
• Creating overloaded constructors
• Using an explicitly imported prewritten class
• Creating an interactive application with a timer

Java Programming, Sixth Edition 17

 Don’t Do It
• Don’t try to use a variable that is out of scope
• Don’t assume that a constant is still a constant
when passed to a method’s parameter
• Don’t overload methods by giving them different
return types
• Don’t think that default constructor means only the
automatically supplied version
• Don’t forget to write a default constructor for a
class that has other constructors

Java Programming, Sixth Edition 18

 Summary
• Variable’s scope
– Portion of program in which you can reference
variable
• Block
– Code between a pair of curly braces
• Overloading
– Writing multiple methods with same name but
different argument lists
• Store separate copies of data fields for each object
– But just one copy of each method
Java Programming, Sixth Edition 19
 Summary (cont'd.)
• static class variables
– Shared by every instantiation of a class
• Prewritten classes
– Stored in packages
• import statement
– Notifies Java program that class names refer to
those within imported class
• A class can contain other objects as data members
• You can create nested classes that are stored in
the same file
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