Quick basic java questions!!

LanceStorm

Whats the difference between

private variables
and
public variables?

Also

What the hell is linear searching??

lukeUCD

public can be accessed by any class whereas private variables can only be accessed by subclasses or classes in the same package.

think linear search is something like searching an array for the smallest value

LanceStorm

Ah, most helpful thanks!!

Harry Lime

Not quite...
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/java/javaOO/accesscontrol.html

satchmo

Originally posted by lukeUCD
public can be accessed by any class whereas private variables can only be accessed by subclasses or classes in the same package.

It's protected variables that can only be accessed by subclasses or classes in the same package. Private variables can be accessed only by that class.

Draupnir

linear search sucks cos you go through each individual item looking for what you want. thats linear search.

not a patch on a good old binary search

bonkey

Originally posted by Draupnir
linear search sucks cos you go through each individual item looking for what you want. thats linear search.

not a patch on a good old binary search

Depends on the size of your dataset, and whether or not it is already sorted, actually.

For a single search on unsorted data, a linear search will generally beat the living crap out of a binary search - or any other non-random search method for that matter - as the binary search (and others) will require a sort beforehand, and that sort will typically be more expensive than the linear search itself.

This might seem overly pedantic, but its not really.

Its important to realise that there are plenty of situations where implementing "good old binary search" is not your friend, whereas implementing one of the "suckier" methods will be. The trick comes in spotting what is useful when.

jc