AP Comp Sci (Methods, classes, constructors, etc )

object

a specific instance of a class

overloaded method

a method with the same name (but different parameters) as another method

public

can be used outside of a class

method

what an object can do (or how it can behave)

field (instance variable)

properties of a class

private

can only be used inside of a class

constructor

creates a new object

Class(public or private)

public

field(public or private)

Private

constructor(public or private)

Public

Method(public or private)

Public

Requirements for a constructor?

- Same name as class

- no return type

- no parameters

- Each constructor of a class must have a different set of parameters

- A class can have 0, 1, or several constructors.

- creates the object and usually initializes its field values.

- if no constructor is defined, then a default constructor will be invoked which has no parameters and sets all fields to default values (0 or null).

- ex: Student()

Requirements for a method?

- return type required

- modifier(optional)

- has the word public or private, the return type, the method name, and a list of parameters.

- The keyword void in a method header means that the method doesn't return anything.

- ex: getAge() -- accessor

reserved words

- predefined identifiers that have a specific meaning in the language syntax

- ex: int, double, new

Void

Used before a method if the method returns no value. In other words, it simply prints or manipulates values, but it doesn't actually return a value of its own.

Object-oriented programming

In Object-oriented programming, or OOP, all computations are carried out with objects.

Procedural programming

a list of instructions which tells the computer what to do step-by-step. Procedural programming is based on procedures, often called routines or subroutines. A procedure contains a series of steps to be carried out.

Accessor

- An accessor is a special method that allows methods outside of a class to have access to the class's private fields.