Coding question for program on cars

[MW130]

Guys I was doing a tutorial on objects, and I was trying to make a program that made two cars; a lexus and a ferrari. I made a speed, mph, and color. I tried to run but received 15 errors, all saying "class, interface, or enum expected", and pointing at the beginning letter of all my lines of code. What am I doing wrong? Thanks so, so much in advance.

 Class car {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
      int speed;
int mph;
      String color;
car ferrari = new car();
       car lexus = new car();
lexus.mph=160;
      lexus.color="white";
lexus.speed=60;
     ferrari.speed=120;
ferrari.mph=200;
    ferrari.color="red";
      System.out.println("a ferrari's stats: " + ferrari.speed + ferrari.mph +      ferrari.van + ferrari.color);
System.out.println("a lexus's stats: " + lexus.speed + lexus.mph + lexus.van + lexus.color);
    }
}

[Wnt2bsleepin]

Class has to have a lowercase c, class.

[kaydell2]

Class has to have a lowercase c, class

In fact, every key word in Java (including class) must be in all lower-case.

[MW130]

hey guys, thanks for the reply. I uncapitalized it, but I still get an error :(

class car {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int speed;
int mph;
string color;
car ferrari = new car();
car lexus = new car();
lexus.mph=160;
lexus.color="white";
lexus.speed=60;
ferrari.speed=120;
ferrari.mph=200;
ferrari.color="red";
System.out.println("a ferrari's stats: " + ferrari.speed + ferrari.mph + ferrari.color);
System.out.println("a lexus's stats: " + lexus.speed + lexus.mph + lexus.color);
  }
}

What else could I be doing wrong...? In the main method, string should be capitalized shouldn't it? Ahh, I'm so frustrated >.< Thanks for the replies

[Wnt2bsleepin]

Yes, String should be capitalized.

You should also print the entire error for us if you can.

[MW130]

ok I copy and pasted all of the errors :

car.java:5: error: cannot find symbol
string color;
^
  symbol:   class string
  location: class car
car.java:8: error: cannot find symbol
lexus.mph=160;
     ^
  symbol:   variable mph
  location: variable lexus of type car
car.java:9: error: cannot find symbol
lexus.color="white";
     ^
  symbol:   variable color
  location: variable lexus of type car
car.java:10: error: cannot find symbol
lexus.speed=60;
     ^
  symbol:   variable speed
  location: variable lexus of type car
car.java:11: error: cannot find symbol
ferrari.speed=120;
       ^
  symbol:   variable speed
  location: variable ferrari of type car
car.java:12: error: cannot find symbol
ferrari.mph=200;
       ^
  symbol:   variable mph
  location: variable ferrari of type car
car.java:13: error: cannot find symbol
ferrari.color="red";
       ^
  symbol:   variable color
  location: variable ferrari of type car
car.java:14: error: cannot find symbol
System.out.println("a ferrari's stats: " + ferrari.speed + ferrari.mph + ferrari.color);
                                                  ^
  symbol:   variable speed
  location: variable ferrari of type car
car.java:14: error: cannot find symbol
System.out.println("a ferrari's stats: " + ferrari.speed + ferrari.mph + ferrari.color);
                                                                  ^
  symbol:   variable mph
  location: variable ferrari of type car
car.java:14: error: cannot find symbol
System.out.println("a ferrari's stats: " + ferrari.speed + ferrari.mph + ferrari.color);
                                                                                ^
  symbol:   variable color
  location: variable ferrari of type car
car.java:15: error: cannot find symbol
System.out.println("a lexus's stats: " + lexus.speed + lexus.mph + lexus.color);
                                              ^
  symbol:   variable speed
  location: variable lexus of type car
car.java:15: error: cannot find symbol
System.out.println("a lexus's stats: " + lexus.speed + lexus.mph + lexus.color);
                                                            ^
  symbol:   variable mph
  location: variable lexus of type car
car.java:15: error: cannot find symbol
System.out.println("a lexus's stats: " + lexus.speed + lexus.mph + lexus.color);
                                                                        ^
  symbol:   variable color
  location: variable lexus of type car
13 errors

[Wnt2bsleepin]

You already know the answer to the first error. Fix that first and then start working on the other ones. It cannot find the symbols, so the following variables are missing

mph, color,speed

For each of the instances of your Car object.

[MW130]

but I do have them, look they are declared at the beginning:

class car {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int speed;
int mph;
string color;
car ferrari = new car();
car lexus = new car();
lexus.mph=160;
lexus.color="white";
lexus.speed=60;
ferrari.speed=120;
ferrari.mph=200;
ferrari.color="red";
System.out.println("a ferrari's stats: " + ferrari.speed + ferrari.mph + ferrari.color);
System.out.println("a lexus's stats: " + lexus.speed + lexus.mph + lexus.color);
  }
}

[Wnt2bsleepin]

I see that.

Oracle doesn't seem to have a guide to scope, but this is an OOP concept so you should know it.

Are those variables visible to the class? You also need to work on formatting the code a little bit better

class Car {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int speed;
        int mph;
        string color;
        car ferrari = new car();
        car lexus = new car();
        lexus.mph=160;
        lexus.color="white";
        lexus.speed=60;
        ferrari.speed=120;
        ferrari.mph=200;
        ferrari.color="red";
        System.out.println("a ferrari's stats: " + ferrari.speed + ferrari.mph + ferrari.color);
        System.out.println("a lexus's stats: " + lexus.speed + lexus.mph + lexus.color);
    }
}

[MW130]

I see that.

Oracle doesn't seem to have a guide to scope, but this is an OOP concept so you should know it.

Are those variables visible to the class? You also need to work on formatting the code a little bit better

class Car {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int speed;
        int mph;
        string color;
        car ferrari = new car();
        car lexus = new car();
        lexus.mph=160;
        lexus.color="white";
        lexus.speed=60;
        ferrari.speed=120;
        ferrari.mph=200;
        ferrari.color="red";
        System.out.println("a ferrari's stats: " + ferrari.speed + ferrari.mph + ferrari.color);
        System.out.println("a lexus's stats: " + lexus.speed + lexus.mph + lexus.color);
    }
}

Um, how do i know if they are visible to the class?

[Wnt2bsleepin]

Variables, methods and other items have scope, meaning what can see them. You can set the scope by using a modifier

private int a;
public int a;

public void getPizza()
private void getPizza()

You can also limit the visibility by placement.

class Test{
        static int a = 10; 
        
       public static void main(String[] args){
            int a = 5;
            print(); 
        }

      public static void print(){
            System.out.println(a); 
      }
        
        
}

Notice that there are two variables, both named a? The print method will print out 10. This is due to that variable being visible to the entire class. The variable with the number 5 is only accessible in the main method.

[MW130]

But how does that apply to my code? I tried making the ints and the string public, but then it said that they were an illegal start of expression.... What can I do to fix my code?

[Wnt2bsleepin]

Look where they are placed. They are inside the main method. When you try to make an instance of your class with

     Car ferrari = new Car();
     Car lexus = new Car();

and then called their properties with

        lexus.color="white";
        lexus.speed=60;
        ferrari.speed=120;
        ferrari.mph=200;
        ferrari.color="red"

Are those variables visible? Remember what I said about placement?

[MW130]

I am really confused... I don't understand; I think that they are visible. Let me give you the code again; I declare the variables first.

class car {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int speed;
int mph;
string color;
car ferrari = new car();
car lexus = new car();
lexus.mph=160;
lexus.color="white";
lexus.speed=60;
ferrari.speed=120;
ferrari.mph=200;
ferrari.color="red";
System.out.println("a ferrari's stats: " + ferrari.speed + ferrari.mph + ferrari.color);
System.out.println("a lexus's stats: " + lexus.speed + lexus.mph + lexus.color);
  }
}

[Wnt2bsleepin]

They are visible, to everything inside the main method. You are trying to access them at the class level. Here is an example of what I am talking about.

[MW130]

uh, I looked through it and I don't quite understand it. So do I not access them at a class level...? o_O

EDIT: I got it! I just put them OUTSIDE of the main method. I have absolutely no idea why this matters though. Should I declare all vars and strings outside of the main method?

[Wnt2bsleepin]

Very good!

You do however need to learn what it means to put variables outside any method. For the simple programs you seem to be working on now, it doesn't seem like it's an issue. However, when you start doing programming that is not basic, you want to be selective. The reason why this worked outside the main method and not it in it is because you are creating an instance of your car class. You are essentially creating a car object. Now, objects have variables called instance variables and they belong to the object. You need these to be outside in the class in order for them to be considered this. Here is a simple rundown, and I hope there are no errors.

I created a simple program that creates car and stores them in a garage (Array)

Here is my car class, which is turned into a car object. Notice that the variables name, color, speed and weight are instance variables, or part of the object. When I create the object, these are assigned values. The method below it that looks weird is called a constructor, it's what is called when I create the object with

Car myCar = new Car("Lexus", "Red", 120, 2500);

public class Car {
	
	String name; 
	String color; 
	int speed;
	int weight;
	
	public Car(String name, String color, int speed, int weight){
		this.name = name;
		this.color = color;
		this.speed = speed;
		this.weight = weight; 
	}
	
	
	

}

Here is my Garage, in which the cars are effectively stored. I create the Car objects and store them in an array. I then print out the values of the car with a loop with the syntax you were using. For example:

Car myCar = new Car("Lexus", "Red", 120, 2500);
System.out.println(myCar.name);

public class Garage {
	
	static Car[] myGarage = new Car[4];
	
	public static void main(String[] args){
		System.out.println("Welcome to my garage!");
		myGarage[0] = new Car("Lexus", "Red", 120, 2500);
		myGarage[1] = new Car("Ferrari", "White", 180, 1100);
	    myGarage[2] = new Car("Toyota", "Blue", 20, 4000);
	    myGarage[3] = new Car("Ford", "Black", 100, 3821);
	    
	    printCars();
	}
	
	public static void printCars(){
		
		for(int i = 0; i < myGarage.length; i++){
			System.out.println("Car: " + myGarage[i].name);
			System.out.println("Color: " + myGarage[i].color);
			System.out.println("Speed: " + myGarage[i].speed);
			System.out.println("Weight: " + myGarage[i].weight + "\n");
			
			
		}
	}

}

I hope this makes it a little bit more clear to you. Now to talk about your code.

class car {
    
	
	String color; 
	int speed;
	int mph; 
	
	public static void main(String[] args) {
        int speed;
        int mph;
        
        car ferrari = new car();
        car lexus = new car();
        lexus.mph=160;
        lexus.color="white";
        lexus.speed=60;
        ferrari.speed=120;
        ferrari.mph=200;
        ferrari.color="red";
        System.out.println("a ferrari's stats: " + ferrari.speed + ferrari.mph + ferrari.color);
        System.out.println("a lexus's stats: " + lexus.speed + lexus.mph + lexus.color);
    }
}

You are creating the same objects I am essentially, the instance variables are different though. When you call

car ferrari = new car();

You are invoking the default constructor, which is not visible but exists. You create the object car and fill its variable with nothing (Default values). When you call

ferrari.mph = 200;

You are assigning that objects instance variable to the value 200.

I suggest that you format your code properly, and read some more of the tutorials that Oracle provides.

[MW130]

thank you so much for taking your time to teach me that. Also, should I always declare variables/ints outside of the main method?