Thread: Can't seem to get starting position right

So I have this code that I made to make a ball bounce off the sides of the window no matter what the size of it, yet, I don't know what to do about this problem. Towards the bottom of the code, there is too parts that I have written. One updates with the resizing of the window and has the ball bounce off accordingly and the other has it bounce on invisible walls so the size of the windows doesn't affect it.

The problem I'm having with it is the fact that I want to have it start off in different places and eventually get it to start off at the bottom of the screen so I can add gravity and make it look like a regular bouncing ball. When i run the one with numbers I can set the ball to start where I want it to but when I run the one with getWidth and getHeight, no matter what numbers I put, it starts off at the corner of the screen on the top left hand corner. Can someone please help me and explain to me what is wrong with my code?

/*
 * To change this template, choose Tools | Templates
 * and open the template in the editor.
 */
package bouncing.ball;
 
/**
 *
 * @author Marlin
 */
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
 
public class BouncePanel extends JPanel {
 
    //location of bouncing ball
    private int x;
    private int y;
    private int dx = 5;
    private int dy = 5;
 
    BouncePanel() {
        x = 100;
        y = 400;
 
        AnimationThread animethread = new AnimationThread(this);
        animethread.start();
    }
 
    public void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
        //clear screen
        super.paintComponent(g);
 
        g.setColor(Color.BLUE);
        g.fillOval(x, y, 40, 40);
    }
 
    public void update() {
 
        x += dx;
        y += dy;
        if (x < 0) {
            x = 0;
            dx = -dx;
        }
        if (x + 40 >= getWidth()) {
            x = getWidth() - 40;
            dx = -dx;
        }
        if (y < 0) {
            y = 0;
            dy = -dy;
        }
        if (y + 40 >= getHeight()) {
            y = getHeight() - 40;
            dy = -dy;
        }
 
//                if(x < 0){
//            x = 0;
//            dx = -dx;
//        }
//        if (x + 30 >= 400) {
//            x = 400 - 30;
//            dx = -dx;
//        }
//        if (y < 0) {
//            y = 0;
//            dy = -dy;
//        }
//        if (y + 30 >= 400) {
//            y = 400 - 30;
//            dy = -dy;
//        }
 
        repaint();
    }
}

Well, this is just a portion of it. The JFrame is set in the Main() method and all everything needed is set in another java class. The BouncePanel() is what I was messing with to edit the starting position.

Forgive me if this is a stupid question but what is SSCCE? I read it and I'm not sure I catch the jist of it. As for what I want to happen, I just want to be able to set the starting position of the ball myself.

Actually what I meant to ask was, what exactly is short, self contained, correct example? I read it a bit but I didn't quite understand what it was. Here is what I am thinking it is, I think it is a way of running my program to show where the fault in it is so I can explain it more easily but then again I'm still fairly new to all this so I'm not sure. Am I about in the ball park?

As for the code, yes, those two varibles are what control the starting position of my ball but when I use this method it seems to work only when I use the commented out part. The part that is not commented out makes the ball start off at the 0,0 position no matter what I set x and y to in the previous part of the program. I'm not sure why this is. I tried running it in my head to see if I could see what the computer is seeing but I just don't seem to understand why it is doing what it is doing. I can post the entire thing of code if you need it, it's only three pages that are not that long. Maybe 300 lines of code or so.

public void update() {
 
        x += dx;
        y += dy;
        if (x < 0) {
            x = 0;
            dx = -dx;
        }
        if (x + 40 >= getWidth()) {
            x = getWidth() - 40;
            dx = -dx;
        }
        if (y < 0) {
            y = 0;
            dy = -dy;
        }
        if (y + 40 >= getHeight()) {
            y = getHeight() - 40;
            dy = -dy;
        }
 
//                if(x < 0){
//            x = 0;
//            dx = -dx;
//        }
//        if (x + 30 >= 400) {
//            x = 400 - 30;
//            dx = -dx;
//        }
//        if (y < 0) {
//            y = 0;
//            dy = -dy;
//        }
//        if (y + 30 >= 400) {
//            y = 400 - 30;
//            dy = -dy;
//        }
 
        repaint();
    }