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Java Java Objects (Retired) Creating the MVP Strings and Chars

Abe Daniels
PLUS
Abe Daniels
Courses Plus Student 2,781 Points
Posted by Abe Daniels
Abe Daniels
Courses Plus Student 2,781 Points

Why doesn't this work?

I am completely blown away that I didn't get this one on the first try. It seems pretty straight forward. My return value of true/false is what seems to be the issue. I don't understand what other type of value it would be since i am working with a boolean.

ScrabblePlayer.java 
public class ScrabblePlayer {
    private String mHand;
    public ScrabblePlayer() {
        mHand = "";
    }

    public String getHand() {
       return mHand;
    }

    public void addTile(char tile) {
        // Adds the tile to the hand of the player
      mHand += tile;
      if (mHand) {
       boolean hasTile = true;
        return true;
      } else {
        return false;
        }
    }

    public boolean hasTile(char tile) {
       return false;
    }
}

4 Answers

Chase Marchione
Chase Marchione
155,055 Points
Chase Marchione
Chase Marchione
155,055 Points

Hi Abe,

The issue is that mHand is a string variable, but your 'if (mHand)' test treats mHand as a boolean. That statement is interpreted as 'if mHand is true', which cannot be tested given that mHand is not a true/false data type, but a string.

Fortunately, you already have a statement that does what you need: updates mHand with the new tile. That statement is 'mHand += tile;'.

Shortening the code a little:

public class ScrabblePlayer {
    private String mHand;

    public ScrabblePlayer() {
        mHand = "";
    }

    public String getHand() {
       return mHand;
    }

    public void addTile(char tile) {
        // Adds the tile to the hand of the player
       mHand += tile;
    }

    public boolean hasTile(char tile) {
       return false;
    }
}
Maciej Torbus
Maciej Torbus
8,137 Points
Maciej Torbus
Maciej Torbus
8,137 Points

Hey Abe!

Your method addTile is the type of void. Void methods should not return any value. I think that this method should look something like your first line only. It just adds tile to the hand.

On the other hand, the code you wrote is nearly correct, but you should move it to your hasTile method, which return boolean value

Try it on your own, good luck!

Abe Daniels
PLUS
Abe Daniels
Courses Plus Student 2,781 Points
Abe Daniels
Abe Daniels
Courses Plus Student 2,781 Points

The issue is that it's asking me to make an if else, inside of a boolean. So how would i incorporate that? I tried just sliding the code into the hasTile constructor but it didnt do the trick. I understand what the issue is, i just don't know how to make a solution. How do you go about translating a boolean, to work for a string object?

Cynthia Jenkins
Cynthia Jenkins
4,983 Points
Cynthia Jenkins
Cynthia Jenkins
4,983 Points

I'm fairly new at this (I did this one a couple days ago), but I believe your if statement needs a bit of work. Anyways, you were correct to put it all under hasTile, but you needed to adjust it to if (mHand.indexOf() > -1) {.... } else {}. Because it seems like you're saying .. well, if mHand ... then do this.. but if mHand is what? Otherwise I think what you had was correct.