Thread: Help with dynamic array method

I'm trying to write a method for a dynamic array class that compares the size of the current dynamic array to the one passed in from the method. The issue i'm having is that the type in the method argument is of type Object, and while it is assumed to be of the same type as the array i'm comparing it to, Java doesn't know that. I've tried casting it, but it doesn't seem to be working. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Here's the basic method header also it should be noted that the object using this method is a DynamicArrayOfInts object and I have to use Object aThat in the argument for the method:

 public boolean equals(Object aThat) { // aThat is a DynamicArrayOfInts object
 
		 if(this.size!=aThat.size)  //i know this is wrong
                 return false;  // added so code would compile
    }

What did you try casting to what and where in the code did that take place?

public boolean equals(Object aThat) { // aThat is a DynamicArrayOfInts object
      if(this.size!=aThat.size) {  //i know this is wrong
           return false;
      }
      return true; //Return added for the code path you did not return on.
    }

With a minor fix, and the fact the method is only a comparison of one field, I see nothing wrong with it.
Post the code and add comments where you are making changes or have questions or errors.
"It doesn't seem to be working" does not tell much about what you are getting or what you expected, try to be more descriptive in saying what is not working the way you wanted.

I'm getting an error that says aThat.size cannot be resolved to a field. I assumed it was because the Object class doesn't have a distinct size field where as my DynamicArrayOfInts class does have that field. I was trying to cast as either (DynamicArrayOfInts)aThat.size or (Integer)aThat.size because it's an Integer array. I received the same not a valid field error. I should add that after determining if their sizes are equal I have to compare each value in both to make sure they are the same arrays.

You get an error that says .size cannot be resolved because the Object class does not have a size variable visible to your class.

So long as aThat is of type object, aThat.size will not work. If you cast aThat to a type that has .size, and is visible, you could use it that way, or using a method call like sizeOf() or length() rather than .size

It is hard to say without seeing the code.

I did try type casting to the DynamicArrayOfInts class buts it says it cannot compare types int and DynamicArrayOfInts. The class up to this point looks like this:

class DynamicArrayOfInts {
 
    private int[] storage;
    private int size;
    private final  int INITIAL_CAPACITY = 8;
    private final int GROW_FACTOR = 2;
 
    public DynamicArrayOfInts() {
      storage = new int[INITIAL_CAPACITY]; 
      size = 0;
    }
 
    private void rangeCheck(int index){ 
    	if(index<0 || index>=this.size)
    		throw new IndexOutOfBoundsException("Index: " + index + ", Size: " + size);
 
    }  
 
    private void ensureCapacity(int size_wanted) {
      int max_capacity = storage.length;
      if (size_wanted > max_capacity) {
        max_capacity = max_capacity * GROW_FACTOR +1; 
        storage = Arrays.copyOf(storage, max_capacity); // increases array size + copy contents
      } 
    }
 
    public int size() {
 
       return size; // added so code would compile
    }
 
	 public boolean equals(Object aThat) { // aThat is a DynamicArrayOfInts object
 
		 if(this.size!=((DynamicArrayOfInts)aThat.size))
          return false;  // added so code would compile
 
    }