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Java Java Objects (Retired) Creating the MVP Strings and Chars

Tommy Choe
Tommy Choe
38,156 Points
Posted by Tommy Choe
Tommy Choe
38,156 Points

if(mHand.indexOf(tile)) why wouldn't this code work?

I thought I had the code right but the quiz keeps telling me that there is a compiler error. It won't show me anything on the preview either. Is this a wrong way to code this problem?

public boolean hasTile(char tile) { boolean holdsTile; if (mHand.indexOf(tile)) { holdsTile = true; } else { holdsTile = false; } return holdsTile; }

ScrabblePlayer.java 
public class ScrabblePlayer {
    private String mHand;

    public ScrabblePlayer() {
        mHand = "";
    }

    public String getHand() {
       return mHand;
    }

    public void addTile(char tile) {
        // Adds the tile to the hand of the player
      mHand += tile;
    }

    public boolean hasTile(char tile) {
      boolean holdsTile;
      if (mHand.indexOf(tile)) {
        holdsTile = true; 
      } else {
        holdsTile = false; 
      }
      return holdsTile;
    }
}
Tommy Choe
Tommy Choe
38,156 Points
Tommy Choe
Tommy Choe
38,156 Points

I have the answer now but I wanted to see if this was a viable way to code this. Thanks!

1 Answer

Craig Dennis
STAFF
Craig Dennis
Treehouse Teacher
Craig Dennis
Craig Dennis
Treehouse Teacher

Truthy and falsey concepts don't really exist in Java. You need to coerce your expression into a boolean. Even if it did, when something is not found it returns -1. Since truthy acceptable languages use 0 for false and any not 0 value for true, this would not work correctly.

Quick tip: You can return the results of an expression. Anytime you feel yourself returning true or false in an if statement, try something like this:

return mHand.indexOf(tile) >= -1