Needing help with my char variable

[Üzeyir Kilic]

Hi,

i´m new to programing and i´m stuck here.

public class Executioners {
/*
*
*/
public static void main(String[] args) {
int my_variable = 6;
short my_short = 6;
char Alfred = 'a';

   
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
System.out.println(my_variable);
}

}


How do I give the variable "Alfred" a value. It shows me the error "The value of the local variable "Alfred" is not used.

[I Wayan Saryada]

At what process did you get the error message? Your code looks quite good to me. The declaration and initialization of the Alfred variable is fine.

[Tim Cooke]

Are you sure it's an actual error from the compiler? And not just a recommendation / suggestion from your IDE?

[Knute Snortum]

A note on your post: If you UseCodeTags (that's a link) you won't lose the nice formatting of your code:

public class Executioners {
/*
 * 
 */
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		int my_variable = 6;
		short my_short = 6;
		char Alfred = 'a';
		
	    
		// TODO Auto-generated method stub
		System.out.println(my_variable);
	}

}

Looks better, huh?

[Üzeyir Kilic]

Tim Cooke wrote:Are you sure it's an actual error from the compiler? And not just a recommendation / suggestion from your IDE?

It´s an error. "The value of the local variable alfred is not used"

[Üzeyir Kilic]

Knute Snortum wrote:A note on your post: If you UseCodeTags (that's a link) you won't lose the nice formatting of your code:

public class Executioners {
/*
 * 
 */
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		int my_variable = 6;
		short my_short = 6;
		char Alfred = 'a';
		
	    
		// TODO Auto-generated method stub
		System.out.println(my_variable);
	}

}

Looks better, huh?

Thanks. It was my first post btw. I got that suggested but didn´t want to mess around too much

[Tim Cooke]

Where exactly do you see that error?

[Üzeyir Kilic]

Tim Cooke wrote:Where exactly do you see that error?

short my_short = 6;
char Alfred = 'a';

"my_short" and "Alfred" are yellow underlined

[Tim Cooke]

Right, so you're seeing it in your IDE. Eclipse, or IntelliJ, or some other.

Like I said, are you sure it's an error? I propose that it's just your IDE giving you a suggestion. I have run your code using just a terminal and the javac command with no error or warning.

It is recommended that when starting out with java programming that you do not jump straight in to using and IDE and keep it simple by using the command line tools. That way you really learn what errors and messages are coming from the compiler and what messages are just IDE sugar. Don't get me wrong, IDE's are a great tool and are hugely useful but it's extremely important to understand what the IDE is doing for you first.

Does that all make sense?

[Knute Snortum]

At least in Eclipse, it's just a warning.  It's telling you you're not using a local variable, which usually a mistake is spelling.  It's not a compiler error.  To prove this, you can compiler your file at the command line:
C:\Users\Knute\Documents\Java >javac Executioners.java C:\Users\Knute\Documents\Java >

[Üzeyir Kilic]

Tim Cooke wrote:Right, so you're seeing it in your IDE. Eclipse, or IntelliJ, or some other.

Like I said, are you sure it's an error? I propose that it's just your IDE giving you a suggestion. I have run your code using just a terminal and the javac command with no error or warning.

It is recommended that when starting out with java programming that you do not jump straight in to using and IDE and keep it simple by using the command line tools. That way you really learn what errors and messages are coming from the compiler and what messages are just IDE sugar. Don't get me wrong, IDE's are a great tool and are hugely useful but it's extremely important to understand what the IDE is doing for you first.

Does that all make sense?

So when you run it, is everything running correctly? Did you copy/paste my whole class? I´m curious. I can´t really remember what I did with the IDE. I´m not a student anymore or taking any class. I do this on my freetime because i´m planing to make bigger projects one day. So I guess I don´t have the structure of how to attempt things.

[Knute Snortum]

Even with people like me, who don't think it's a bad idea to learn an IDE as you learn Java, I still believe that knowing how to run from the command line is essential.  All you need is a JDK and a text editter (like Notepad++ on windows or vim on Linux).

Here is a wiki page that will get you started.

[Üzeyir Kilic]

Knute Snortum wrote:Even with people like me, who don't think it's a bad idea to learn an IDE as you learn Java, I still believe that knowing how to run from the command line is essential.  All you need is a JDK and a text editter (like Notepad++ on windows or vim on Linux).

Here is a wiki page that will get you started.

I´m already learning the IDE. I downloaded Eclipse since it´s the most popular and am programing and trying out Java on it.

[cris ortiz]

The variables work its just that you aren't using all of them.

[Randy Maddocks]

Knute Snortum wrote:All you need is a JDK and a text editter (like Notepad++ on windows or vim on Linux).  

I have to agree with Knute on this. When you're beginning to learn programming an IDE like Eclipse can be a little "intimidating". I use the word intimidating carefully, because I don't want to make it sound like Eclipse is some kind of "bad guy" here, designed to overwhelm you with coloured, underlined code in your project, with messages that can confuse you. But when starting out, enough cannot be said about building a solid foundation of programming concepts by using a simple editor like Notepad++. It strips out all the intuitiveness you get from IDE tools like Eclipse, and makes you focus on things like code syntax, logic, and so on. Once you have a good grasp of the fundamentals, then progress to an IDE like Eclipse. Then you're likely in a position to understand situations that come up like this one, where the IDE is simply pointing out to you that your declared and initialized variable Albert is not being used any where in your code. A warning like that, although not considered an error, can serve a bigger purpose when you're working with a lot more code and you inadvertently declare a variable that is needed, but which you neglect to actually use in your code.

There are other concerns with your code, but for the purposes of this post I'll stick to the specific warning you asked about.

The warning would disappear if you were to do something like this:

public static main (String[] args) {

    int my_variable = 6;
    short my_short = 6;
    char Alfred = 'a';

    // TODO Auto-generated method stub 
    System.out.println(my_variable + " " + my_short + " " + Alfred);
}

Now you're using the variable Alfred to show the value stored in that variable.

Hope this helps. Cheers.

[Liutauras Vilda]

Randy Maddocks wrote:Hope this helps. Cheers.

That's indeed helpful. I just assigned skull, just joking, cow on me, great post

[Randy Maddocks]

Thank you Liutauras, very much appreciated!    

[Ibrahim Matar]

It works just fine, that is the right way to make a char variable.

public class Executioners {

    /* 
* 
     */
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int my_variable = 6;
        short my_short = 6;
        char Alfred = 'a';

// TODO Auto-generated method stub 
        System.out.println(Alfred);
    }

}

Result:
a

[Knute Snortum]

cris ortiz wrote:The variables work its just that you aren't using all of them.

This has already been discussed.  Be sure you are adding something new to the thread when you post.