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Java Java Objects (Retired) Harnessing the Power of Objects Method Signatures

Posted by Mo Perl
Mo Perl
1,195 Points

method signatures

how do you do a method signature?

GoKart.java 
public class GoKart {
  public static final int MAX_BARS = 8;
  private String mColor;
  private int mBarsCount;

  public GoKart(String color) {
    mColor = color;
    mBarsCount = 0;
  }

  public String getColor() {
    return mColor;
  }

  public void drive(int laps) {
    // Other driving code omitted for clarity purposes
    mBarsCount -= laps;
  }


  public void charge() {
    while (!isFullyCharged()) {
      mBarsCount++;
    }
  }

  public boolean isBatteryEmpty() {
    return mBarsCount == 0;
  }

  public boolean isFullyCharged() {
    return mBarsCount == MAX_BARS;
  }

}

1 Answer

Simon Coates
Simon Coates
28,694 Points
Simon Coates
Simon Coates
28,694 Points

here's a code snippet:

  public void drive(int laps) {
    // Other driving code omitted for clarity purposes
    mBarsCount -= laps;
  }
  public void drive() {
      drive(1);
  }

The point is that since the signatures differ (one requires an argument be supplied), the two methods don't conflict. YOu can call one using object.drive() and the other using object.drive(4). The best practice is for one method here to call the other as they do fundamentally the same thing. If you needed to change the underlying implementation, you could then alter it in a single place, rather than needing to duplicate code.