I don't understand getters and setters.

Question

In most javascript I can see a mental image of how data is getting passed around, but with getters and setters I have hit a brick wall. I have looked at multiple youtube videos and have gone through this course several times and for some reason I cant get an understanding of how getters and setters work. I am to the point, by repetition, that I know where to put a getter and where to put a setter, wether it's in a class, function constructor, or an object. Syntactically I get it, but I don't understand why or how it does what it does. So, the question in task 2 of 2, I don't understand the question. I don't know what it wants. Here is the question... If the student's level is Junior or Senior, the value of the backing property should be equal to the parameter passed to the setter method. If the student is only a Freshman or Sophomore, set the "_major" backing property equal to 'None'.

creating_setters.js

class Student {
    constructor(gpa, credits){
        this.gpa = gpa;
        this.credits = credits;
    }

    stringGPA() {
        return this.gpa.toString();
    }

    get level() {
        if (this.credits > 90 ) {
            return 'Senior';
        } else if (this.credits > 60) {
            return 'Junior';
        } else if (this.credits > 30) {
            return 'Sophomore';
        } else {
            return 'Freshman';
        }
    }

    set major(major) {
      this._major = major;


    }
}

var student = new Student(3.9, 60);

Answer 1 · 2019-11-14T21:44:59Z

November 14, 2019 9:44pm

The goal is to test a condition before setting the student's major. In this case, you only want to set the major property to the parameter if the student is a Junior or Senior. If they are a Freshman or Sophomore they don't need to have declared a major yet, and it should be set to None.

    set major(major) {
      // Is the student a Junior or Senior?
      this._major = major; // Then you can use your major set.
      // If they are a Freshman or Sophomore, though...
      // They should have a major of None for now.
    }

Hopefully that helps you progress, but let me know if you still have any questions. You've got the right idea! Happy coding!

Update:

Okay, so you'll need to use an if block to check for what level the student is at. If you need to review if ... else statements, try taking a look at the MDN page.

    set major(major) {
      // test if the student's (this) level is Junior or (|) Senior
      if (this.level == "Junior" | this.level == "Senior") {
        this._major = major; // if so...set major to the value passed into your setter above
      } else { // if they are not a Junior or Senior
        this._major = "None"; // their major should be set to None
      }
    }

You could also use an if...elif...else to check against Freshman and Sophomore if you want to have an else to check for values outside of the four you are expecting.

This is a pretty important challenge concept, so please let me know if you still have questions or don't understand something about this solution. I'll be happy to answer any follow-ups. :)

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Raul Cisneros

Raul Cisneros

I don't understand getters and setters.

1 Answer

rydavim

rydavim

Raul Cisneros

Raul Cisneros

rydavim

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