Thread: class function

hi

i have created a class called Tuple that simply has two variables in it that are defined when the class is created. what i want to do now is add a function to the class that is called compare.

i want this function to compare an array of Tuples and then return one from that array.

i know i can call a function on a single instance but how am i able to make that function callable from the array

this is what i have so far

public class Tuple {
    int x;
    int y;
 
    public Tuple(int a, int b) {
          x = a;
          y = b;
    }
}

i have this right but i want to be able to call the function compare() this so

Tuple[] tupleArray = new Tuple[2];
//add stuff to tupleArray
Tuple newTuple = tupleArray.compare();

thanks in advance

implement the Comparable interface to your class, then write a compareTo() method. Afterwards you can then determine what object you want to return.

thanks for your help. i've ended up doing this inside the Tuple class

static public Tuple compare(Tuple[] t) {
        return new Tuple(1,1);
 }

which can be called like so

Tuple x = Tuple.compare(arrayOfTuples)

Hello huddo!

Originally Posted by huddo

static public Tuple compare(Tuple[] t) {
        return new Tuple(1,1);
 }

which can be called like so

Tuple x = Tuple.compare(arrayOfTuples)

Is this what you want your compare method to do? If so (just return a new Tuple), you don't need a method to do that. You can directly say:

Tuple x = new Tuple(1,1);

But in your first post you say you want to compare an array. Can you elaborate this?

sorry i hadn't finished writing the whole function before i put it up. But basically i'm making a memory game for school, so choose two cards and see if they match. i've made it so that the board is made programatically but i want to make the board as close as possible to a square as i can so i've created a Tuple class that holds the length and width of a possible game board. i get all the possibilities for the game board and then compare them using this function and return the Tuple that is closest to a square.

    static public Tuple compare(Tuple[] squares) {
        int minDifference = 9999999;//a crazy number to make sure a proper value is smaller
        Tuple finalTuple = new Tuple(0,0);
        for (Tuple option : squares ) {
            if (Math.abs(option.x-option.y) < minDifference) {
                minDifference = Math.abs(option.x-option.y);
                finalTuple = option;
            }
        }
        return finalTuple;
    }

basically this is what my program does

-gets the number of players and the game type they want to play with -multiplayer, beat the clock and a high score mode
-depending on the number of players it works out the minimum number of squares along the width because i need to show labels that display information relating to the players turns and pairs found and what ever. it also set the minimum number of rows to 2
-it then gets the dimensions of the screen and works out the maximum number of rows and columns.
-then using these values i have a for loop in a for loop that works out all possibilities that will fit on the screen.

ArrayList options = new ArrayList();
        for (int x=minWidth;x<=maxWidth;x++) {
            for (int y=minHeight;y<maxHeight;y++) {
                if (x*y%2 == 0 && !options.contains(x*y)) {
                    options.add(x*y);
                }
            }
        }

-the user can then select the number of squares they want to play with from these values
-once the user has selected the number of squares they want to work out all the different possibilities that the board can have
so just say that the user wants 20 squares then the can either have a 2*10 board or a 4*5 board.
-as i want the board to be as close to a square as possible so x*x (where x = y) will equal the number of squares.

-this is where i use the compare function to get the possibility closest to a square.

if that makes sense?

I think I might get it now.
But I can't see why you need the last posted code. Since the options doesn't keep x and y (coordinates) but only their product and the only condition is that it must be even. What if you just ask the user for an even number (in the desired range), calculate all possible combinations for this number and then select the one that is "closest to a square"? Am I missing something?

that code works out the number of squares the player can have. I could use a JOptionPane but I'm trying to make it so that it is easy for the user to use and they can't screw up by putting in a string. I know i can catch the error and get them to try again. I'm also trying to utilise as many possible objects in Java to show my range in skills to my teacher