Thread: Homework Help Java Beginner

I'm confused. What is wrong with the addToCounter() method? I am noticing that you are pretty much ignoring the values of the parameters you pass into the method (since you are setting their values in the method without ever reading them first).
Is the problem that you don't understand how to use a mutator method in general?

Ok, well first of all, take out the code in your addToCounter() method where you are setting the parameter values:

calories = 900;
// and
itemName = "Subway BMT Italian Sandwich";
// and 
itemName=nameOfHighest;

The values of the parameters are determined when the mutator method is called, you do not need to (and you should not) set them in the method itself.
The values of the parameters are used to set your instance variables. So, instead of hardcoding the name, make this change:

// Change this:
nameOfHighest = "Subway BMT Italian Sandwich";
// Into this:
nameOfHighest = itemName;
// And change this:
totalCalories = 900;
// Into this:
totalCalories = calories;

Now, in your main, we call the addToCounter() method and pass it the variables by saying:

counter1.addToCounter("Subway BMT Italian Sandwich",900);

This call passes the desired parameter variables to the addToCounter() method.
After we have all of that sorted out, we can continue from there.

Ok, very good. Now, let's look at your requirements for this method:

The addToCounter method will add calories of the added item to the totalCalories and increment the countOfItems for the instance of CalorieCounter. It will also compare the value of the item passed into the method with the current caloriesOfHighest. If the added itme has greater calories than the current highest item it must update the variables nameOfHighest and caloriesOfHighest. (Note that the first item added will automatically be the highest.)

So our goals for this method are:
1. Add calories to the totalCalories instance variable
2. Increment the count of items instance variable
3. Adjust the highest values if need be

You already did #2 with this line: countOfItems++;
So now we just have to worry about #1 and #3.
Currently, your code just sets the totalCalories variable to the value you passed in. According to your requirements, you need to add the passed in calories to your totalCalories instance variable. This is simple enough to accomplish. Depending on preference either of these two lines would work:

// you can do it this way:
totalCalories += calories;
// or this way:
totalCalories = totalCalories + calories
// the two lines of code do the exact same thing

So you would want to replace your totalCalories = calories; line with one of the above. This covers goal #1.
Now for the hardest part of this method: goal #3. I will explain to you how to do it, and you can try to code this part on your own. Your requirements tell you to compare the value of the current highest with the value of the passed in item. This is telling you that you should compare the caloriesOfHighest instance variable with the calories parameter variable. If the value of calories is larger, you want to set caloriesOfHighest to be equal to calories AND you want to set the nameOfHighest instance variable to be equal to the itemName parameter variable. If the value of calories is smaller, you don't have to do anything.
Your requirements also mention one more condition: the first item added will automatically be the highest. This means that if the item that was passed into the method is the first item, you want to set caloriesOfHighest to be equal to calories and you want to set the nameOfHighest instance variable to be equal to the itemName parameter variable. The question you should ask here is: but how do I know it is the first item? There are a few ways you can do this. You can check if the value of the totalCalories instance variable is 0 (before adding the value of calories to it). If it is 0, this indicates that no items have been added yet. Alternatively, you can check the value of your nameOfHighest instance variable. If it is set to " ", this indicates that no items have been added yet (see my NOTE below regarding default values of Strings). There are a handful of ways you can check this.
So, considering all of your requirements for updating the largest value, here is the order you want to do them:
1. Check if no items have been added yet. If no items have been added, set the highest values to the ones provided by the method parameters.
2. Check if the calories parameter variable is larger than the caloriesOfHighest instance variable. If the calories parameter variable is larger, set the highest values to the ones provided by the method parameters.

Try to see how much of that you can do on your own, and comment if you have any trouble.

NOTE: I noticed you set the nameOfHighest instance variable's default value to " " (you did this in the constructor). While there is nothing wrong with that, normal java convention suggests you should set the default value of Strings to be either: null or "". Notice the second one: "", is known as: empty String. The only difference between that and what you have now is that your default value has a space. The reason empty String is used instead of " " is mainly because of the String.length() method. In the case of an empty String, this method will return: 0. However, if you add the space, it has a value of: 1. Most professionally developed programs would probably trim away any of the leading and following spaces anyway, but that extra space could give the false impression that the String has some value other than the conventional default value. This is just something to consider when programming. Like I said, this is not something that would be considered "wrong" with your program, and it will not change how the program operates, but it is a generally frowned upon practice.

You know, since you are setting caloriesOfHighest to 0 initially, and we can assume you will never have an item with negative calories, your first if statement would actually cover the situation where it is the first item. This is because: if caloriesOfHighest has never been set, then calories will obviously be larger.
So, you can actually get rid of the two if statements after your comment where you say you are unsure how to display the highest calorie item.
Now, as for why it doesn't work: that is because you are setting the nameOfHighest and caloriesOfHighest every time (before checking).
Look at my comments below on your code:

public void addToCounter(String itemName, int calories)
   {
 
      nameOfHighest = itemName; // Remove this
      totalCalories += calories;
      caloriesOfHighest = calories; // Remove this
      countOfItems++;
 
      if (calories > caloriesOfHighest)
      {
         caloriesOfHighest = calories;
         nameOfHighest = itemName;
      }  
 
      // Remove everything from here...
      if(nameOfHighest.equals(""))
      {
          caloriesOfHighest = calories;
         nameOfHighest = itemName;
      }   
 
     if(totalCalories == 0)
      {
       caloriesOfHighest = calories;
         nameOfHighest = itemName;
      }
    // ... to here
    }