Question

I am asking for help on self-help, which is kind of an oxymoron. How do I bug you nice folks less by solving more of my own problems?

I am in my last week of Java programming and I am having a huge hurdle with learning Java. I have read all the books but I keep getting hung up on tiny little issues. It is like trying to build a house of cards. I only know about the parts of the syntax and the uses that the book shows. When I am combining things, I run into horrible hurdles. I try for hours of tinkering to figure them out. The sun docs only show basic uses that don’t seem to help

Here is what I would like:

When I am trying something and it doesn’t work like the following manipulations of an array list, I want to find a place or program that can show examples code of things like adding an additional class instance to an arrayList. Where can I learn concisely about this without having to ask a question or 2 for every syntax error? Where is the Google for Java? Is there a program that will take your errors and show you how to fix them (or offer suggestions)?

/tmp/jc_4083/Inventory.java:101: incompatible types
found   : RatedDVD[]
required: java.util.ArrayList
        dvdlist = temp;
                  ^
/tmp/jc_4083/Inventory.java:110: array required, but java.util.ArrayList found
            if (p != dvdlist[i]) {
                            ^
/tmp/jc_4083/Inventory.java:111: array required, but java.util.ArrayList found
                temp[i-adj] = dvdlist[i];
                                     ^
/tmp/jc_4083/Inventory.java:115: incompatible types
found   : RatedDVD[]
required: java.util.ArrayList
        dvdlist = temp;

Here is my code for this class if anyone is interested in looking at it for me:

//Contruct inv and allow for methods add, get, size, sort, and value
import java.util.*;
import java.io.BufferedWriter;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileWriter;

public class Inventory
{// class Inventory
    private ArrayList<RatedDVD> dvdlist;// declare dvdlist as ArrayList of RatedDVD
    private int numDVDs;

    public Inventory()
    {// method Inventory
        dvdlist = new ArrayList<RatedDVD>();

    }// end method

    // add & get
    public RatedDVD get(int i){return dvdlist.get(i);}// method get

    public void add(DVD d){
    dvdlist = dvdlist d;
    sort();
    }// method add

    public double value()
    {// method value
        double total = 0.0;
        for (int i = 0; i < dvdlist.size(); i++) 
        {// for every pass thru dvdlist add total
        // [DEBUG] consider enhanced for
            total += get(i).feeValue();
        }
        return total;
    }// end method value

    public void sort()
    {// method sort
    // [DEBUG] consider optimization
    int n = dvdlist.size();
        for (int search = 1; search < n; search++) 
        {// for do the following and increment till dvdlist has been searched
            for (int i = 0; i < n-search; i++) 
            {// for step through comparison for entire dvdlist
                if (dvdlist.get(i).getName().compareToIgnoreCase(dvdlist.get(i+1).getName()) > 0) 
                {// if swap necessary then swap
                    RatedDVD temp = dvdlist.get(i);
                    dvdlist.set(i,dvdlist.get(i+1));
                    dvdlist.set(i+1,temp);
                }// end if swap
            }// end for compareto
        }// end outer for
    }// end method sort

    public int size(){return dvdlist.size();}// method size

    public void save() {
        save(true);
    }

    // save it to C:\data\inventory.dat
    public void save(boolean saveagain) {
        try {
            BufferedWriter w = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter("c:\\data\\inventory.dat"));
            for (int i = 0; i < size(); i++) {
                RatedDVD dvd = get(i);
                w.write( dvd.getItem() + "\n");
                w.write( dvd.getName() + "\n");
                w.write( dvd.getRating() + "\n");
                w.write( dvd.getUnits() + "\n");
                w.write( dvd.getPrice() + "\n");
                w.write( dvd.value() + "\n");
                w.write( dvd.fee() + "\n");
                w.write( dvd.feeValue() + "\n");
                w.newLine();
            }
            // total value of it
            //w.write( value() + "\n");
            w.close();
        } catch (Exception ex) {
            if (saveagain) {
                new File("c:\\data\\").mkdir(); // make file if doesn't exist
                save(false); 
            }
        }
    }

    public int search(String name) {
        for (int i = 0; i < size(); i++) { // check if name string is equal
            if (get(i).getName().equalsIgnoreCase(name)) return i;
        }
        return -1; // we didn't find anything
    }

    // add a new dvd to the end, increasing the array size
    public void add(RatedDVD p) {
        RatedDVD[] temp = new RatedDVD[dvdlist.size()+1];
        for (int i = 0; i < dvdlist.size(); i++) {
            temp[i] = dvdlist[i];
        }
        temp[temp.length-1] = p; // add it at the end
        dvdlist = temp;
    }

    // remove a DVD from the array, and shrink the array size
    public void delete(RatedDVD p) {
        RatedDVD[] temp = new RatedDVD[dvdlist.size()-1];
        int adj = 0;
        for (int i = 0; i < dvdlist.size(); i++) {
            if (p != dvdlist[i]) {
                temp[i-adj] = dvdlist[i];
            }
            else adj = 1;
        }
        dvdlist = temp;
    }
    public int highestNumber() {
        int numb = 0;
        for (int i = 0; i < dvdlist.size(); i++) {
            if (get(i).getItem() > numb) {
                numb = get(i).getItem();
            }
        }
        return numb;
    }   
}// end class inventory

Answer 1

The dvdlist is an ArrayList, which implements the Collection interface, not an Array (BTW, and this is known as the “program to an interface, not an implementation” principle, you should decalare dvdlist as a java.util.List):

private ArrayList<RatedDVD> dvdlist;// declare dvdlist as ArrayList of RatedDVD

Have a look at the methods on the Collection interface, you’ll find everything you need for adding and removing elements.

So, to add a RatedDVD, you don’t need to use a temporary array of RatedDVD that won’t fit anyway into an ArrayList like you’re doing here:

// add a new dvd to the end, increasing the array size
public void add(RatedDVD p) {
    RatedDVD[] temp = new RatedDVD[dvdlist.size()+1];
    for (int i = 0; i < dvdlist.size(); i++) {
            temp[i] = dvdlist[i];
    }
    temp[temp.length-1] = p; // add it at the end
    dvdlist = temp;
}

Instead, just call the add(Object o) method on dvdlist.

To delete a RatedDVD instance, use the remove(Object o) method on dvdlist.

For the search() method, consider using contains(Object o) on dvdlist.

If you need to iterate over a collection, use an Iterator:

for (Iterator iter = dvdlist.iterator(); iter.hasNext();) {
   RatedDVD ratedDVD = (RatedDVD) iter.next();
   //rest of the code block removed
}

Or even faster now with Java 5+ and Generics:

for (RatedDVD ratedDVD : dvdlist) {
   // rest of the code here
}

Really, you need to dig the the Collection Framework.