pre-java requisites

Question

ive completed the java basics but after that things are getting too hard and i dont get what's going on. this track is not for beginners at all. are there some other easier to understand object oriented programming tracks?

Craig Dennis · Accepted Answer

Hi Kevin!
What exactly does 'static' do?
Static is a keyword that allows the class, or blueprint, to have exposed properties.  There are a couple of reasons why you might want to do this.  Some classes are utility only classes, meaning you would never create an instance.  You know like calling new on it.  One reason it is often used is for defining constants that will be true of every type of that instance.  Like we did with MAX_PEZ.  They are called class level variables or class constants.  It's helpful to remember that your class might live amongst many other classes, and you just want a little bit of information about the class, and would not want/need to create an instance.  I introduced this now as an attempt to demystify some of the boilerplate code.  At the end of the course we will see that the main method is static, so you it can be called directly from the Example.class like so:
java
Example.main(args);

Why do we use the lower case 'm' before the instance variables? is it just to make the code easier to read?
The m prefix is a coding style (https://source.android.com/source/code-style.html#follow-field-naming-conventions) that is used by the Android development team.  The m stands for member, and initially it is used to show that that it is private member variable that should not be exposed outside of the instance.  To expose it you write getters and setters, but only if you want to actually expose it.  This is definitely not required.  You can actually clear things up using a keyword named this, which we will explore but here is an example:
```java
// Using Android Style
public class Dog {
    private String mName;
   public Dog(String name) {
      mName = name;
   }
  public String getName() {
     return mName;
  }
}
// Using this approach
public class Dog {
    private String name;
   public Dog(String name) {
      // See this might be confusing how many names there are at use
      this.name = name;
   }
  public String getName() {
     // No need to use this, because there isn't one in local scope, so name is assumed to be the private field.
     return name;
  }
}
```
Thank you for your awesome questions!
Does that help?  Let me know if you are still feeling blocked!

Gabriel Bogo · Answer

Thank you very much Kevin, I'll definetely persist on it!

Gabriel Bogo · Answer

Hey Kevin, I'm having the same struggle, did you learn Java afterwards? What was your path?

Craig Dennis · Answer

I added some Teacher's notes to this video.  I'd love your feedback @Kevin P (https://teamtreehouse.com/kevinpark4) !

Craig Dennis · Answer

Hi Kevin!
Sorry to hear things aren't clicking.  I usually recommend hitting up the Java SE tutorials (https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/) for those who would like to learn more.
Is there something I can help with specifically, I'm sure another one of your classmates might be struggling with the same thing, so asking your question probably will actually help someone else learn!
Let me know if I can help, I'd love to try!

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