Code Print Error! Help needed

[socboy6579]

When i run this code:

public class baseballPlayer {
	private static String FirstName;
	private static String LastName;
	private static double average;
	private static String position;
	private static String Team;
	
	public baseballPlayer(String FirstName, String LastName, double average, String position, String Team){
		
		String FirstN= "Michael";
		String LastN= "Hall";
		double Batting = 0.300;
		String pos="Second Base";
		String TeamName="Angels";
		
		FirstName= FirstN;
		LastName= LastN;
		average= Batting;
		position= pos;
		Team= TeamName;
		
		
	}
public static void main(String[] args){
	baseballPlayer mHall=new baseballPlayer(FirstName, LastName, average, position, Team);
	System.out.println(mHall.FirstName + " " + mHall.LastName + " " + mHall.average + " " + mHall.position + " " + mHall.Team);
}
}

i get an output of

null null 0.0 null null

Why do i get this output, and what can i do to fix my error?

[curmudgeon]

None of those variables / fields should be static. None.

And don't re-declare your variables in the constructor. Instead use the class fields as that's what they're for.

In other words don't do this:

class Foo {

static int bar;

  public Foo(int bar) {
     int bar = bar;  //the "bar declared in the constructor is only visible in the constructor
  }

Instead do this:

class Foo {

  int bar;  // not static

  public Foo(int bar) {
     bar = bar;  // bar is not re-declared
  }

[socboy6579]

when i change the fields to non-static
i get an error on this line

baseballPlayer mHall=new baseballPlayer(FirstName, LastName, average, position, Team);

the error is "Cannot make a static reference to the non-static field "...."

[curmudgeon]

when i change the fields to non-static
i get an error on this line

baseballPlayer mHall=new baseballPlayer(FirstName, LastName, average, position, Team);

the error is "Cannot make a static reference to the non-static field "...."

The solution is not to make the class fields static. The solution is to use local variables in the main method, variables that are declared in that method, not to use the class fields there (unless they're associated with an object).

[socboy6579]

the fields are for the baseball player if that changes anything to make the object run correctly?

[socboy6579]

how can i make this object run properly without changing it to static which makes th eoutput null..

[pbrockway2]

Could you post the code you are using now? ANd any compiler messages if you don't understand them.

Basically the code should look like:

public class MyThing {
    private String name;

    public MyThing(String name) {
        this.name = name;
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
	String testName = "Michael";

        MyThing thing = new MyThing(testName);
        System.out.println(thing.name);
    }
}

Some things to notice here:

* The class starts with a capital letter (as does the constructor), methods and variables start with a lower case letter and use camelCase.
* In the constructor "this" is used so that the name argument is assigned to the name instance variable. Or use two different variable names, but in that case you have to keep which goes with what straight in your own mind.
* The actual data (the name in this case) is supplied by the "client" (the main() method). The MyThing class constructor doesn't take it upon itself to name itself "Michael".
* Only main() is static.

Maybe there are other things whose significance is not clear (ie you say to yourself "I wouldn't do that. Why is he doing that?"). If so, ask.

[socboy6579]

this is the code that i am using now

public class baseballPlayer {
	private String FirstName;
	private String LastName;
	private double average;
	private String position;
	private String Team;
	
	public baseballPlayer(String FirstName, String LastName, double average, String position, String Team){
		
		String FirstN= "Michael";
		String LastN= "Hall";
		double Batting = 0.300;
		String pos="Second Base";
		String TeamName="Angels";
		
		FirstName= FirstN;
		LastName= LastN;
		average= Batting;
		position= pos;
		Team= TeamName;
		
		
	}
public static void main(String[] args){
	baseballPlayer mHall=new baseballPlayer(FirstName, LastName, average, position, Team);
	System.out.println(mHall.FirstName + " " + mHall.LastName + " " + mHall.average + " " + mHall.position + " " + mHall.Team);
}
}

[socboy6579]

error message is
"Cannot make a static reference to the non-static field "...."
at the line

baseballPlayer mHall=new baseballPlayer(FirstName, LastName, average, position, Team);

[pbrockway2]

You are referencing FirstName (for example) and the compiler has a problem with that. It knows that the baseballPlayer class has a FirstName instance variable. (In plain terms it knows that a baseball player has a name.) But when it hits this line the compiler's message is saying, in effect, "Whose first name?!?!?!".

You can only talk about FirstName once you have a baseball player. So mHall.FirstName would make sense as it means "mHall's first name". {*}

But that's no good for the constructor because you don't have a baseball player at that point. (and hence no first name to be referenced.) Have a look at my point about the client being the one to supply the data (first name and the rest). And the overall structure of the code. The code I posted ought to compile and run - I haven't tested it, though - and output what you would expect.


{*} Edit: Later when you write methods you will use the simple FirstName form. But in that context it means "my first name". What the compiler means by a "static context" is a context where there is no "my".

[curmudgeon]

Don't use the class fields to fill the parameters. Use literals, such as:

   public static void main(String[] args) {
      baseballPlayer mHall = new baseballPlayer("Mickey", "Mantle", 0.258, "FB", "Yankees");
      System.out.println(mHall.FirstName + " " + mHall.LastName + " " + mHall.average + " "
               + mHall.position + " " + mHall.Team);
   }

I like to think that there are two separate worlds here, the static world that exists in static methods and blocks, and the instance world that exists in non-static methods and blocks. You can use static things in the instance world, but you can't use instance things in the static world unless they're associated with an object.

[socboy6579]

when i run this code

public class baseballPlayer {
	private String FirstName;
	private String LastName;
	private double average;
	private String position;
	private String Team;
	
	public baseballPlayer(String FirstName, String LastName, double average, String position, String Team){
		
		String FirstN= "Michael";
		String LastN= "Hall";
		double Batting = 0.300;
		String pos="Second Base";
		String TeamName="Angels";
		
		FirstName= FirstN;
		LastName= LastN;
		average= Batting;
		position= pos;
		Team= TeamName;
		
		
	}
public static void main(String[] args){
	baseballPlayer mHall=new baseballPlayer("Michael", "Hall", 0.350, "First Base", "Angels");
	System.out.println(mHall.FirstName + " " + mHall.LastName + " " + mHall.average + " " + mHall.position + " " + mHall.Team);
}
}

i get "null null 0.0 null null"
Why?

[pbrockway2]

Because in your constructor you say:

FirstName= FirstN;

instead of

this.FirstName = FirstName;

I have suggested - a couple of times - that the constructor should assign the instance variables using the data passed to it and should not be making up its own data (FirstN and the rest). Those variables should simply be deleted. It's up to you of course.

[curmudgeon]

You've get several things wrong in your code above. For one, you're ignoring the parameters passed. For example, just looking at one field, first name,

	public baseballPlayer(String FirstName){
		
		String FirstN= "Michael";  // Error #1

		FirstName= FirstN;  // Error #2
	}

At Error #1, you're ignoring the value passed into the parameter, and you're setting a local variable with a hard-coded String literal, "Micheal".

Then at Error #2 you're setting the parameter, not the class field to the hard-coded value. Since the parameter FirstName and the class field FirstName are spelled exactly the same, the compiler has to choose which one you mean when you use that name in the constructor, and by default it uses the parameter. To use the class field, you have to prefix it with this, i.e,

this.FirstName = "spam";

Better still is to simplify your code by just passing the parameter into the class field in one step:

	public baseballPlayer(String FirstName){
		
		this.FirstName = FirstName;
	}

Now try to do the same with the rest of the parameters. You'll also want to avoid capitalizing the first letters of fields.

Luck!