I have the following problem:
When using a pointer as parameter in a method call I get the "error: identifier expected" error.
This is my code:
class Data {
Person a = new Person("John");
Person b = new Person("Mary");
a.willHug(b); // Gets error: <identifier> at this line
}
class Person {
private String name;
private Person hugs;
Person(String n){
this.name = n;
}
public void willHug(Person p) {
hugs = p;
}
}
You shoul put this code inside of a method in order to execute it:
For instance, the main method:
class Data {
public static void main(String args[]){
Person a = new Person("John");
Person b = new Person("Mary");
a.willHug(b); // Gets error: <identifier> at this line
}
}
I think you should read this question of SO in order to understand better how parameters are passed in Java.
Hope it helps.
You need to surround the operation on a with a method, either a class method, a main() method, or perhaps even a constructor:
class Data {
Person a = new Person("John");
Person b = new Person("Mary");
public Data() {
a.willHug(b);
}
}
You need to put your code in a main method:
public static void main (String[] args) {
Person a = new Person("John");
Person b = new Person("Mary");
a.willHug(b);
}
Also in Java we don't call these pointers they are just variables. A variable has a reference to a particular object instance or primitive value.
You are calling a method within the Data class definition? This is not correct, you either need a 'main' to do that, or place that in another method.
You are missing a method there (I introduced a method named foo()) :
class Data {
Person a = new Person("John");
Person b = new Person("Mary");
public void foo() {
a.willHug(b); // Gets error: <identifier> at this line
}
}
class Person {
private String name;
private Person hugs;
Person(String n){
this.name = n;
}
public void willHug(Person p) {
hugs = p;
}
}
The problem isn't because you use a pointer (called reference in Java) but because this line:
a.willHug(b);
is outside of any method. You can have only declaration or initialization block ({}) in that place.
