Object Oriented System Design - ICT 325 (3)

Java Classes with Objects and Attributes

Dr. R. A. H. M. Rupasingha
Senior Lecturer in Computer Science
Content
• Java Classes/Objects
• Multiple Objects
• Multiple Classes
• Java Classes/Attributes
• Accessing Attributes
• Modify Attributes
• Multiple Objects
• Multiple Attributes 2
 Java - What is OOP?

• OOP stands for Object-Oriented Programming.

• Procedural programming is about writing procedures or methods
that perform operations on the data, while object-oriented
programming is about creating objects that contain both data
and methods.

3
 Java Classes/Objects
• Classes and objects are the two main aspects of object-oriented
programming.
• Eg:

• So, a class is a template for objects, and an object is an instance of a

class.
• When the individual objects are created, they inherit all the variables
and methods from the class.
4
 Java Classes/Objects - Example 01
1. Create a Class
• To create a class, use the keyword class.

Eg:
• Create a class named "MyClass" with a variable x:

MyClass.java
public class MyClass {
int x = 5;
}
5
 Java Classes/Objects - Example 01 (Cont.)
2. Create an Object
• In Java, an object is created from a class. We have already created the class
named MyClass, so now we can use this to create objects.
• To create an object of MyClass, specify the class name, followed by the object
name, and use the keyword new:

Eg (Cont.):
Create an object called "myObj" and print the value of x:
public class MyClass {
int x = 5;
public static void main(String[] args) {
MyClass myObj = new MyClass(); Output:
System.out.println(myObj.x); 5
}
} 6
Content
• Java Classes/Objects
• Multiple Objects
• Multiple Classes
• Java Classes/Attributes
• Accessing Attributes
• Modify Attributes
• Multiple Objects
• Multiple Attributes 7
 Multiple Objects - Example 02
• You can create multiple objects of one class:
Eg:
Create two objects of MyClass:
public class MyClass {
int x = 5;

public static void main(String[] args) {

MyClass myObj1 = new MyClass(); // Object 1
Output:
MyClass myObj2 = new MyClass(); // Object 2
System.out.println(myObj1.x); 5
System.out.println(myObj2.x); 5
}
} 8
Content
• Java Classes/Objects
• Multiple Objects
• Multiple Classes
• Java Classes/Attributes
• Accessing Attributes
• Modify Attributes
• Multiple Objects
• Multiple Attributes 9
 Multiple Classes

• You can also create an object of a class and access it in another

class.
• This is often used for better organization of classes.
• One class has all the attributes and methods, while the other
class holds the main() method (code to be executed)).

Eg:
• Let’s create two files in the same directory/folder:
• MyClass.java
• OtherClass.java

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Multiple Classes – Example 03
MyClass.java
public class MyClass {
int x = 5;
}

Output:
OtherClass.java 5
class OtherClass {
public static void main(String[] args) {
MyClass myObj = new MyClass();
System.out.println(myObj.x);
}
} 11
Content
• Java Classes/Objects
• Multiple Objects
• Multiple Classes
• Java Classes/Attributes
• Accessing Attributes
• Modify Attributes
• Multiple Objects
• Multiple Attributes 12
 Java Class Attributes
• In the previous part, we used the term "variable" for x in the
example (as shown below).
• It is actually an attribute of the class.
• Or you could say that class attributes are variables within a class.

Eg:
• Create a class called "MyClass" with two attributes: x and y:
pclass MyClass {
int x = 5;
int y = 3;
}
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Content
• Java Classes/Objects
• Multiple Objects
• Multiple Classes
• Java Classes/Attributes
• Accessing Attributes
• Modify Attributes
• Multiple Objects
• Multiple Attributes 14
 Accessing Attributes
• You can access attributes by creating an object of the class, and
by using the dot syntax (.):

• The following example will create an object of the MyClass class,

with the name myObj. We use the x attribute on the object to
print its value:
public class MyClass {
int x = 5;
Check again previous public static void main(String[] args) {
Example 01: MyClass myObj = new MyClass(); Output:
System.out.println(myObj.x); 5
}
} 15
Content
• Java Classes/Objects
• Multiple Objects
• Multiple Classes
• Java Classes/Attributes
• Accessing Attributes
• Modify Attributes
• Multiple Objects
• Multiple Attributes 16
 Modify Attributes – Example 04

• You can also modify attribute values:

• Set the value of x to 40:
public class MyClass {
int x;

public static void main(String[] args) {

Output:
MyClass myObj = new MyClass();
myObj.x = 40; 40
System.out.println(myObj.x);
}
}
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 Modify Attributes – Example 05

• Or override existing values:

• Change the value of x to 25:

public class MyClass {

int x = 10;

public static void main(String[] args) { Output:

MyClass myObj = new MyClass(); 25
myObj.x = 25; // x is now 25
System.out.println(myObj.x);
}
}
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 Modify Attributes – Example 06
• If you don't want the ability to override existing values, declare the
attribute as final:
• The final keyword is useful when you want a variable to always store
the same value.
• The final keyword is called a "modifier". (See Lec 11 in last semester)
public class MyClass {
final int x = 10;
Output:
Exception in thread "main"
public static void main(String[] args) { java.lang.Error: Unresolved
MyClass myObj = new MyClass(); compilation problem: The final field
MyClass.x cannot be assigned
myObj.x = 25; // will generate an error: cannot assign a value to a final variable at
System.out.println(myObj.x); MyClass.main(MyClass.java:6)

}
} 19
Content
• Java Classes/Objects
• Multiple Objects
• Multiple Classes
• Java Classes/Attributes
• Accessing Attributes
• Modify Attributes
• Multiple Objects
• Multiple Attributes 20
 Multiple Objects – Example 07
• If you create multiple objects of one class, you can change the attribute
values in one object, without affecting the attribute values in the other:
• Change the value of x to 25 in myObj2, and leave x in myObj1
unchanged:
public class MyClass {
int x = 5;

public static void main(String[] args) {

MyClass myObj1 = new MyClass(); // Object 1 Output:
MyClass myObj2 = new MyClass(); // Object 2 5
myObj2.x = 25; 25
System.out.println(myObj1.x); // Outputs 5
System.out.println(myObj2.x); // Outputs 25
}
} 21
Content
• Java Classes/Objects
• Multiple Objects
• Multiple Classes
• Java Classes/Attributes
• Accessing Attributes
• Modify Attributes
• Multiple Objects
• Multiple Attributes 22
 Multiple Attributes – Example 08
• You can specify as many attributes as you want:

public class MyClass {

String fname = "Nimali";
String lname = "Jayarathne";
int age = 24;
public static void main(String[] args) {
MyClass myObj = new MyClass();
System.out.println("Name: " + myObj.fname + " " + myObj.lname);
System.out.println("Age: " + myObj.age);
} Output:
Name: Nimali Jayarathne
} 23
Age: 24
Summary
• Java Classes/Objects
• Multiple Objects
• Multiple Classes
• Java Classes/Attributes
• Accessing Attributes
• Modify Attributes
• Multiple Objects
• Multiple Attributes 24
Questions?

End. 25