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Java Java Objects Delivering the MVP Forum

Sarantis Tutzarakis
Sarantis Tutzarakis
8,480 Points
Posted by Sarantis Tutzarakis
Sarantis Tutzarakis
8,480 Points

Really do not get what I am doing wrong here, perhaps missing an initialization to a method somewhere?

Cannot complete the 4th task... NullPointerException error

Forum.java 
public class Forum {

  public Forum(String topic) {
    topic = topic;
  }

  private String topic;

  public String getTopic() {
      return topic;
  }

  public void addPost(ForumPost post) {

      System.out.printf("New post from %s %s about %s.\n",
                         post.getAuthor().getFirstName(),
                         post.getAuthor().getLastName(),
                         post.getTitle());

  }
}
User.java 
public class User {

  private String firstName;
  private String lastName;

  public User(String firstName, String lastName) {
    // TODO:  Set the private fields here
   firstName = firstName;
   lastName = lastName;
  }

  public String getFirstName() {
    return firstName;
  }

  public String getLastName() {
    return lastName;
  }

}
ForumPost.java 
public class ForumPost {
  private User author;
  private String title;
  private String description;

//add this constructor
public ForumPost(User author, String title, String description) {
    author = author;
    title = title;
    description = description;
}
  public User getAuthor() {
    return author;
  }

  public String getTitle() {
    return title;
  }

  public String getDescription() {
    return description;
  }
}
Main.java 
public class Main {

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    System.out.println("Starting forum example...");
    if (args.length < 2) {
       System.out.println("first and last name are required. eg:  java Example Craig Dennis");
    }
    Forum forum = new Forum("Java");
    //Take the first two elements passed args
    User author = new User(args[0], args[1]);
    //Add the author, title and description
    ForumPost post = new ForumPost(author, "Java", "Obj.");
    forum.addPost(post);
  }
}

1 Answer

Richard Lambert
PLUS
Richard Lambert
Courses Plus Student 7,180 Points
Richard Lambert
Richard Lambert
Courses Plus Student 7,180 Points

Hello mate,

When initializing member variables within the constructor, prefix them with this. in order to prevent naming conflicts (1). Also, it is best practice to declare variables at the beginning of a class definition (2).

Forum.java 
public class Forum {

    public Forum(String topic) {
        topic = topic;    // (1) NAMING CONFLICT
    }

    private String topic;    // (2) DECLARE AT BEGINNING OF CLASS DEFINITION

    public String getTopic() {
        return topic;
    }

    public void addPost(ForumPost post) {
        System.out.printf("New post from %s %s about %s.\n",
                                       post.getAuthor().getFirstName(),
                                       post.getAuthor().getLastName(),
                                       post.getTitle());
    }

}
User.java 
public class User {

  private String firstName;
  private String lastName;

  public User(String firstName, String lastName) {
    // TODO:  Set the private fields here
   firstName = firstName;    // (1) NAMING CONFLICT
   lastName = lastName;    // (1) NAMING CONFLICT
  }

  public String getFirstName() {
    return firstName;
  }

  public String getLastName() {
    return lastName;
  }

}
ForumPost.java 
public class ForumPost {
  private User author;
  private String title;
  private String description;

//add this constructor
public ForumPost(User author, String title, String description) {
    author = author;    // (1) NAMING CONFLICT
    title = title;    // (1) NAMING CONFLICT
    description = description;    // (1) NAMING CONFLICT
}
  public User getAuthor() {
    return author;
  }

  public String getTitle() {
    return title;
  }

  public String getDescription() {
    return description;
  }
}

Hope this helps

andren
andren
28,558 Points
andren
andren
28,558 Points

On top of the issues Richard has pointed out (which are correct) I also notice that you have changed what the addPost method prints out, which is not something the challenge asks you to do and which will also cause the challenge to fail.

The method is supposed to look like this:

 public void addPost(ForumPost post) {
    System.out.printf("A new post in %s topic from %s %s about %s is available",
            topic,
            post.getAuthor().getFirstName(),
            post.getAuthor().getLastName(),
            post.getTitle()
    );
  }

In order to pass the challenge you have to both fix the issues Richard pointed out, and fix the addPost method so that it looks exactly like the one I posted above.