Thread: Java abstract/implements

This looks like the perfect opportunity for a Map. Maps relate one object to another. For instance you could use a HashMap<String,Product> to relate the name of the car to the car object. Read up on Maps and see if you think it would fit. With a map you can just call map.get("Jaguar") and it will give you your Jaguar vehicle object. Then yes you would want to have an inventory value in each of your products to keep track of how many you have.

Well i'm not going to code it for you but i'll help you through it.

Start by adding the inventory amount as an attribute in your Product class and give it some getters and setters so you can update the value.

After that, determine you want to find the item. If you want to hunt it down with loops that's fine or you can look into something more sophisticated like a map. Although i wouldnt recommend using a map if you are doing this for a class and the class hasnt gone over them. You have to gauge if your teacher will applaud the advanced tactics or get upset that you are going beyond their teaching.

Your System.out.println is in the loop. Is this intended?

Aha, i see. It is in the list twice. I guess the problem here is that you have two different Jaguar objects which makes sense. What would really help me out would be to show me what you would expect to have to output given the input you have provided.

Another way to use a Map would be with the product name as the key and an object that contains the count and the cost as the value.

I agree norm, a map would help but you would need two of them. One for quantity and one for total cost. And again i warn of using things your teacher doesnt allow. Many assignments are done to teach you a certain thing about programming that using an advanced tactic could render useless. Some teachers mark off for that. Just use caution.

I would recommend, for a more basic solution, sort your list so the items are grouped together and you can just go through the list and total things up. Then when you see the item name change you can output the values and go onto the next item.

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Another way to do this would be to keep a list of "processed items". Then you could check, is my item in the processed list and if it is you can skip it. Some of these options are pretty obnoxious, you'll have to decide what works with where you are at in your progression of learning java.

Something else i thought about. Are you supposed to be checking for a possibility that you have a vehicle and a tool that share the same name? A big part of my job is knowing how to break code and this is the first thing i would try.