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Java Java Objects Creating the MVP Counting Scrabble Tiles

Matthew Timmons
Matthew Timmons
33,804 Points
Posted by Matthew Timmons
Matthew Timmons
33,804 Points

For loop says invalid initialization

I am trying to count how many times the letter the user enters appears in their tiles. I am only coming across one error, which is that the initialization of the for loop is incorrect (char letter at line 12). I looked at the official java guide, but it does not define what initialization is. Could someone explain what it is or what value I should enter to initialize the for loop?

ScrabblePlayer.java 
public class ScrabblePlayer {
  // A String representing all of the tiles that this player has
  private String tiles;

  public ScrabblePlayer() {
    tiles = "";
  }

  public int getCountOfLetter(char letter) {


    for (char letter : tiles.toCharArray()) {
      int count = 0;
      if (letter.equal()) {
      count++;
    }
    }
    return count;
  }

  public String getTiles() {
    return tiles;
  }

  public void addTile(char tile) {
    tiles += tile;
  }

  public boolean hasTile(char tile) {
    return tiles.indexOf(tile) != -1;
  }
}
Example.java 
// This code is here for example purposes only
public class Example {

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    ScrabblePlayer player1 = new ScrabblePlayer();
    player1.addTile('d');
    player1.addTile('d');
    player1.addTile('p');
    player1.addTile('e');
    player1.addTile('l');
    player1.addTile('u');

    ScrabblePlayer player2 = new ScrabblePlayer();
    player2.addTile('z');
    player2.addTile('z');
    player2.addTile('y');
    player2.addTile('f');
    player2.addTile('u');
    player2.addTile('z');

    int count = 0;
    // This would set count to 1 because player1 has 1 'p' tile in her collection of tiles
    count = player1.getCountOfLetter('p');
    // This would set count to 2 because player1 has 2 'd'' tiles in her collection of tiles
    count = player1.getCountOfLetter('d');
    // This would set 0, because there isn't an 'a' tile in player1's tiles
    count = player1.getCountOfLetter('a');

    // This will return 3 because player2 has 3 'z' tiles in his collection of tiles
    count = player2.getCountOfLetter('z');
    // This will return 1 because player2 has 1 'f' tiles in his collection of tiles
    count = player2.getCountOfLetter('f');
  }
}
Lukas Baumgartner
Lukas Baumgartner
14,817 Points
Lukas Baumgartner
Lukas Baumgartner
14,817 Points 
public int getCountOfLetter(char letter) {
//hmm.. something looks wrong down there
    for (char letter : tiles.toCharArray()) {
      int count = 0; // oh, why do you set the count to zero for each tile? Maybe its better to put this at the top (line2)?
      if (letter.equal()) { //chars can be easily compared, try using ==
      count++;
     }
    }
    return count;

Have a good look at line one, and then another good look at line 3 where your for-each starts ;) There is just one word wrong, I'm sure you can do it!!

In words the method would be something like:

You have to get the count of how often a specific LETTER appears in a given set of TILES. Before you start counting how many of the same LETTERs you have, you start with your COUNTer with 0. After that, FOR EACH TILE in your set, or array, of tiles you compare a TILE after the other to the LETTER you search. Now, IF a TILE is equal (==) to the LETTER you search, the COUNT goes up by one.

After every TILE in your TILES array is counted, you RETURN your COUNT.

PS: a char is a primitive datatype, the equals method only applies to for example Strings :) have a quick read here if you want to know more: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/Object.html#equals(java.lang.Object)