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Java Java Objects Creating the MVP Conference Registration Assistant

Getting a range of char's in Java Objects

Hello, the challenge is asking for getting a range of chars. Im not 100% sure how to do that...anybody have a bit of help?

ConferenceRegistrationAssistant.java
public class ConferenceRegistrationAssistant {

  /**
   * Assists in guiding people to the proper line based on their last name.
   *
   * @param lastName The person's last name
   * @return The line number based on the first letter of lastName
   */
  public int getLineNumberFor(String lastName) {
    int lineNumber = 0;
    /*
      lineNumber should be set based on the first character of the person's last name
      Line 1 - A thru M
      Line 2 - N thru Z

     */
    return lineNumber;
  }

}
Example.java
public class Example {

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    /*
      IMPORTANT:  You can compare characters using <, >. <=, >= and == just like numbers
     */
    if ('C' < 'D') {
      System.out.println("C comes before D");
    }

    if ('B' > 'A') {
      System.out.println("B comes after A");
    }

    if ('E' >= 'E') {
      System.out.println("E is equal to or comes after E");
    }

    // This code is here for demonstration purposes only...
    ConferenceRegistrationAssistant assistant = new ConferenceRegistrationAssistant();
    /*
      Remember that there are 2 lines.
      Line #1 is for A-M
      Line #2 is for N-Z
     */
    int lineNumber = 0;
    /*
      This should set lineNumber to 2 because
      The last name is Zimmerman which starts with a Z.
      Therefore it is between N-Z
     */
    lineNumber = assistant.getLineNumberFor("Zimmerman");

    /*
      This method call should set lineNumber to 1, because 'A' from "Anderson" is between A-M.
     */
    lineNumber = assistant.getLineNumberFor("Anderson");

    /*
      Likewise Charlie Brown's 'B' is between 'A' and 'M', so lineNumber should be set to 1
     */
    lineNumber = assistant.getLineNumberFor("Brown");
  }

}

2 Answers

Jennifer Nordell
seal-mask
STAFF
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Jennifer Nordell
Treehouse Teacher

Hi there! I can see that you've worked on this really hard and thought about it a lot. However, I think you might be at the point where you've overthought this a bit. The biggest hint to this challenge is in this comment that is in the beginner code.

    /*
      IMPORTANT:  You can compare characters using <, >. <=, >= and == just like numbers
     */

So if I write this pseudocode, let's see if you can get it:

if the first letter of the lastName is less than or equal to 'M'
      assign the value of 1 to lineNumber
   else 
      assign the value of 2 to lineNumber
return lineNumber;

Don't forget that you can use the charAt method on a string to say which character of the string you want to look at. I hope this helps, but let me know if you're still stuck! :sparkles:

Thanks, got it. The trick was that char's can be compared like numbers..that's a nifty trick, thanks :)