length Vs length()

[Faraz Alig]

Hi Experts,

In Java, if one wants to know the length of a String, then below statement is used:
myString.length()

But for an array, this statement is used:
myArray.length



Why can't the same type of length works at both place.

Thanks,
Faraz

[Janeice DelVecchio]

The length of an array is a property.

String.length() is a method.

[Jim Hoglund]

...and myArray.length is an integer attribute of the array.
I agree that it's a bit confusing. The way I remember it is
to think of arrays as "a bit more primitive" than a String
object, for example.

Jim ... ...

[Wouter Oet]

The String class must implement the method length() (among others) because it implements the CharSequence interface.

[Mike Simmons]

Also, all collections have a size(). So if you work with arrays and Strings and collections, you need to remember whether to use length or length() or size(). Three ways to refer to basically the same concept. Why this unnecessary confusion?

Ultimately, I think this is one of those things where early on, when Sun engineers where developing the Java language and platform, some things were done quickly, under tight deadlines, that we might today consider, ummm, errors of judgement, or inconsistencies, or at least non-intuitive choices. If they did it again today, knowing what they know now, many things would be different. But history didn't happen that way, and today we're stuck with decisions made over a decade ago.

[Faraz Alig]

Thanks all of you for your valuable inputs!!!

Regards,
Faraz

[Hunter McMillen]

If you have trouble remembering that, there are some really good ide's like eclipse that check for mistakes like that.

-Hunter