Wombat Object Basics (Young Developers Series, Part 1)

Java programming is easy to learn. All Java programs are made up of objects just like the world around you. And Java objects do things with each other like you do things with objects wherever you are.

This article explains what Java objects are and how they interact with each other. You will get familiar with some basic programming terminology as well. This article is aimed at anyone interested in Java programming who is between the ages of 10-100, and has no programming experience.

The best way to learn object basics is to look at a Java program. So, to follow along with this article, you will need the following:

• The Java SE software must be installed on your computer
• Greenfoot must be installed on your computer

Open Greenfoot and let's get started!

Next, click on Scenario in the top menu, choose Open, select wombats, then click Open. You should see something like Figure 1 below:

This program will be made up of several Java objects: World, wombatWorld, Actor, Wombat, Leaf.

Compare the Wombat World to the real world: We live on the object planet Earth. On the Earth object are Continent objects and Ocean objects. On the Continent objects, there are City objects, House objects, and People objects. And many more objects.

By opening the Wombat scenario, which is the main object, you created an empty wombatWorld object. Now create new Wombat objects by right-clicking the Wombat rectangle under Actor classes, and select new Wombat() as shown in Figure 2 below.

You will learn about classes in the next article.

Now drag and drop the wombat image onto the wombatWorld, which is the sand colored grid that takes up the left side of the screen.

Do the same thing to create new Leaf objects, placing them wherever you like in the wombatWorld. Repeat this process until you have several Wombats and lots of Leaves. Greenfoot should now look something like Figure 3 below:

Objects exist everywhere, but they are not interesting until they do something. In the real world, you are an object. A Chair is also an object. But the Chair object doesn't do you any good, if you can't do something with that chair.

In Java programming, objects interact through methods. Methods tell an object what it can do. Methods bring objects to life, so to speak. For example, if a Person object has the method sit(), then the Person object can sit on the Chair object.

Wombats have methods that let them move, and find and eat leaves. See how these methods work by clicking the Run button at the bottom of the Greenfoot screen. The wombats should move around the screen, eating leaves as they come across them. Stop it by clicking Pause.

In a Java program, methods are called or invoked. This is like saying that when you push the TV On button, you are invoking the on() method. By clicking Run in the Wombat scenario, you invoked the move() and eatLeaf() methods.

You've seen some of the similarities of objects in the real world and Java objects. When you see a Java program like a Word Processor, you'll know everything you see is an object: the menus, the buttons, the area you write in, etc. And you can only do something with those objects if they have methods that allow you to interact with the object.

You may have also noticed some strange capitalization of words, double words, and () in this article. These are a part of the Java programming language syntax. There are certain rules to writing Java code just like there are certain rules for writing English sentences.

In the code itself and when we are writing about the code, Java object names are capitalized, such as Wombat and Leaf. Object names may also be made up of more than one word, in which case you'd use initial capitals as in WombatWorld. This varies under certain circumstances, which is why you see the World object which was made from the Scenario object: called wombatWorld.

Additionally, in this article and others you'll notice that all objects and methods are put in the code style font, or courier type font. This makes it easier for developers, like yourself, to see if a name is an object or a method rather than the name of a real world object. In other words, you may ride a bike, but in a Java program, such as a game, you'd have a Bike object.

Methods usually start with a lower case letter, may be made up of more than one word, and are followed by (), such as eatLeaf() for the wombats. A Bike object might have the method moveFast() or moveSlow(). When the moveFast() method is invoked, the Bike moves quickly forward. You could also have a moveBackwards() method, so you could ride the Bike backwards.

In Greenfoot, clear the world you made by going to World classes on the right and right-clicking WombatWorld and selecting newWorld(). The world area will now be clear of the leaves and wombats you created earlier.

At the top of the world area, right-click void populate(), as shown in Figure 5 below:

By invoking the voice populate() method, you have caused the program to place Wombat and Leaf objects into the wombatWorld.

Now you have learned some basics about Java objects, and seen some objects in action in the Greenfoot Wombat scenario. You also learned a bit about Java programming syntax for objects and methods.

• Java programs are made up of objects
• Objects interact through instructions called methods
• To get an object to use its method, you invoke or call the method
• Java programming has special syntax, capitalizing object names, and using lower case for method names. Initial capitalization is used for name that have several words, as in BeachBall.
• Java objects and method names are put into code font in articles for easy reading

In the next article, you will learn about classes and object states, and the code editor in Greenfoot. You'll also exam the code for Wombats to learn more about objects and their methods, and even add some of your own code the Wombats scenario!

• The Wombat Tutorial
• Young Developers
• New to Java Programming Center