Re: Accessor Methods

From:

Knute Johnson <nospam@rabbitbrush.frazmtn.com>

Newsgroups:

comp.lang.java.help

Date:

Thu, 18 May 2006 16:20:21 -0700

Message-ID:

<%i7bg.1230$RQ3.215@newsfe06.phx>

Patricia Shanahan wrote:

Knute Johnson wrote:

fightingbull06@yahoo.com wrote:

Am a newbie to Java Programming and am studying Accessor Methods.
If you designate variables as "private", then you can change their
values using "accessor methods". So what's the point of making them
"private" if you can still manipulate them using accessor methods.

I find it really interesting that there are so many options available
to the programmer in Java regarding the visibility of variables yet
most people want you to wrap them in accessors (getters and setters
:-). One really handy reason to do that is to synchronize access.
That and range checking are probably the most valuable. Otherwise for
a read/write variable you've just added two more methods and the
maintenance overhead that goes with them. You will find some examples
in Java itself of exposed variables, although not many in more recent
code. I know it's not OO but since I started programming before there
was OO I don't really care. The code needs to be readable,
maintainable, efficient and most importantly it needs to be written to
a budget. A public variable here or there isn't going to hurt a thing.

I don't see the connection between when one started programming and
choice of methodology now.

I wrote my first programs in 1967, before publication of Dijkstra's "Go
To Statement Considered Harmful" note. Does that mean I should use goto
all over the place when writing in languages that support it?

Patricia

Noooo! What it means is that you and I both know that perfectly good
code can be written that isn't OO and is everyday. The use of a goto or
a public variable won't automatically make our code evil or
unmaintainable either.

I've seen some of your code, a space invaders game, that was beautifully
written. I am rarely elegant when I program but I always try to code as
simply and quickly as possible. The most important thing to me is
solving the problem, not the convention or style of how it is done. Not
to say I don't value neatness however.

I don't want to trivialize style, I have style too, but style doesn't
solve problems, code does.

--

Knute Johnson
email s/nospam/knute/