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Java Java Data Structures - Retired Getting There Class Review

David Reese
David Reese
3,515 Points
Posted by David Reese
David Reese
3,515 Points

How come he names the variables mAuthor, mDescription, mCreationDate instead of just using this.author = author?

How come he names the variables mAuthor, mDescription, mCreationDate instead of just using this.author = author in the constructor?

3 Answers

Karen Fletcher
Karen Fletcher
19,189 Points
Karen Fletcher
Karen Fletcher
19,189 Points

Not sure the teacher's specific reason for why, but they're using Hungarian notation which is a common naming convention for member variables in Java and Android.

James Croxford
James Croxford
12,723 Points
James Croxford
James Croxford
12,723 Points

Watching the video again, the m prefix seems to be used to aid us learners/the user of the code in distinguishing that the declared variables are member variables, and so are different to the information being passed in by the user for that instance of the class.

So in the case of: mAuthor = author; It is clear which is the member variable (left) and which is the information passed into the constructor (right)

Other than that I remember Craig saying in an earlier course that it is a matter of style, and that the m prefix is commonly used in Android programming.