Head First Java, 2e

Chapter 4. Methods Use Instance Variables: How Objects Behave

State affects behavior, behavior affects state. We know that objects have state and behavior, represented by instance variables and methods. But until now, we haven’t looked at how state and behavior are related. We already know that each instance of a class (each object of a particular type) can have its own unique values for its instance variables. Dog A can have a name “Fido” and a weight of 70 pounds. Dog B is “Killer” and weighs 9 pounds. And if the Dog class has a method makeNoise(), well, don’t you think a 70-pound dog barks a bit deeper than the little 9-pounder? (Assuming that annoying yippy sound can be considered a bark.) Fortunately, that’s the whole point of an object—it has behavior that acts on its state. In other words, methods use instance variable values. Like, “if dog is less than 14 pounds, make yippy sound, else...” or “increase weight by 5”. Let’s go change some state.

Remember: a class describes what an object knows and what an object does

A class is the blueprint for an object. When you write a class, you’re describing how the JVM should make an object of that type. You already know that every object of that type can have different instance variable values. But what about the methods?

Can every object ...