Allocate memory for array of Objects.

[Splanger]

Hello,

I'm confused how to allocate memory for an array, if its members are Objects...

I tried to create a class CardDeck, which will represent an array of objects of Card class.

And I get

Syntax error on token ";", , expected

error, when I'm trying to allocate memory like that:

package app;

class CardDeck {
	Card[] cards;		
	static final int deckSize = 36;	
	cards = new Card[deckSize - 1];
	
	/*
	 * new CardDeck constructor, creates a new CardDeck object
	 */
	CardDeck(){
		int k = 0;		
		for (int i=0; i<4; i++){
			for (int j=0; j<8; j++){				
				cards[k] = new Card(Card.suites[i], Card.rates[j]);
				k++;
			}			
		}
	}
	
	/*
	 * Outputs all deck cards
	 */
	void getDeckDetails(){
		for(int k = 0; k < (deckSize - 1); k++){
			this.cards[k].getCardDetails();
		}
	}

I read in the tutorial this lines:
int[] anArray;
anArray = new int[10]

and tried to behave like it was in example.

[billycro]

well you're doing it right, the one thing i can see that may cause an error is where you create cards, you should make the size deckSize, not deckSize-1, because the size of the array will be the same as the deck, however the maximum index in the array will be deckSize-1

did that all make sense, im not sure what your question was lol

[Norm]

What line does the error occur on? Please post the full text of the error message.

You define an array by using a pair of [] following the type on both sides of the assignment statement:
AClass[] arrayOfAClass = new AClass[10]; // create an array to hold 10 AClass objects

[Splanger]

Oh, thanks! It's finally works!

The error message occur on line with "static final int deckSize = 36;"

And when I was trying to run program, the full error was:

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.Error: Unresolved compilation problem:
Syntax error on token ";", , expected

at app.CardDeck.<init>(CardDeck.java:5)
at app.First.main(First.java:10)

By the way,
I still can't understand, why if I'm declaring array's size for 35 members (4 suites and 9 rates for each suit), that must be equivalent to 36 cards,
I get a compiler error message:

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: 35
at app.CardDeck.<init>(CardDeck.java:14)
at app.First.main(First.java:10)

The full code of the CardsDeck class :

package app;

class CardDeck {		
	static final int deckSize = 36;	
	Card[] cards = new Card[deckSize-1];	
	
	/*
	 * new CardDeck constructor, creates a new CardDeck object
	 */
	CardDeck(){
		int k = 0;		
		for (int i=0; i<4; i++){
			for (int j=0; j<=8; j++){				
				cards[k] = new Card(Card.suites[i], Card.rates[j]);
				k++;
			}			
		}
	}
	
	/*
	 * Outputs all deck cards
	 */
	void getDeckDetails(){
		for(int k = 0; k < (deckSize-1); k++){
			this.cards[k].getCardDetails();
		}
	}
	
}

and this is the Card class:

package app;

class Card {
	/*
	 * Initialize Card's class fields
	 */
	final String suite;
	final String rate;
	static final String[] rates = {"6", "7", "8", "9", "10", "J", "Q", "K", "A"};
	static final String[] suites = {"Diamonds", "Hearts", "Spades", "Clubs"};
	
	Card(String suite, String rate) {
		this.suite = suite;
		this.rate = rate;
	}
	
	void getCardDetails(){
		System.out.println(this.suite + " " + this.rate);
	}
}

[Norm]

ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: 35

Remember arrays are zero based. First index=0, last = arraysize-1
What is the size of your array?

BTW The error message is not from the compiler. It comes from execution.

[Splanger]

Oh, yes... It's my fault, I just missed billycro's answer and after the message was already posted, found his answer))

My array must contain 36 members, so I suppose, that its size 36.

Hm... What is the difference between error message from compiler and execution? And how can I distinguish them?

[Norm]

how can I distinguish them?

Compiler error messages come from the compiler. The javac commmand
Execution error message come when you execute the program with the java command

If you are using an IDE that is all hidden from you. I have no idea how your IDE works. Its all magic.

[Splanger]

I suppose it is good idea for me then, try to program at this stage in the command line)
Thank you very much!