Help with static variable counter

[silvia]

Hi, i have a pretty easy program, and i wanted to add one function - but it doesn't work. It's a little bit long,
But can you please tell me why doesn't it work?
I highlighted the problematic function. Basically it's supposed to present how many animals i've created, in this case - 4, but it gives me 0 instead.

public class Animal {
//class variables
String Name;
int BirthYear, NumOfLegs, AYear=1970;
boolean Vegetarian;
public static int counter=0;
Animal (String theName , int theBirthYear , int theNumOfLegs, boolean theVegetarian)
{
Name = theName;
BirthYear = theBirthYear;
NumOfLegs = theNumOfLegs;
Vegetarian = theVegetarian;
if (BirthYear < AYear)
System.out.println( "The animal is old." );
else
System.out.println( "The animal is not old." );
}
//class methods
public void printDetails ()
{
System.out.println( "Name: " + Name ) ;
System.out.println( "Year of birth: " + BirthYear ) ;
System.out.println( "Number of legs: " + NumOfLegs ) ;
System.out.println( "Vegetarian: " + Vegetarian ) ;
}
public static int addAnimal(){
counter=addAnimal();
return counter++; }
public void walk() {
System.out.println("The animal is walking in the rain.");
}
public void run() {
System.out.println("The animal is running right now.");
}
public void eat() {
System.out.println("The animal is busy eating");
}
}

the main:

public class MainAnimalDemo
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
//Define & initialize Animal objects :
Animal Frog = new Animal ("Crazy frog", 1971, 2, true);
Frog.printDetails();
Frog.run();
System.out.println();
Animal Dog = new Animal ("Bobik", 1965, 4, false);
Dog.printDetails();
Dog.eat();
System.out.println();
Animal Camel = new Animal ("Moses", 2000, 2, false);
Camel.printDetails();
Camel.eat();
System.out.println();
Animal Cow = new Animal ("Cow Angelika", 1954, 4, false);
Cow.printDetails();
Cow.walk();
System.out.println("Current number of animals created is: " + Animal.counter);
}
}

Thanks

[cruxblack]

U did add the addAnimal() method in the Animal class, the problem is, u didn't include it inside the constructor

I presume u wanted the counter to add each time u create an animal right?
if so u should add addAnimal(); line inside your constructor

And also,

public static int addAnimal(){
counter=addAnimal();
return counter++; }

What do u want from the

counter=addAnimal()

line to do supposedly?

To increment da animal counter, u don't need this line, it'll bring error toward ur work instead

Good luck with the code :)