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Java Java Objects Creating the MVP Conference Registration Assistant

Ketaki Kshetramade
Ketaki Kshetramade
1,661 Points

Getting msg "Hmmm, I entered "Nelson" for the lastName and expected line number 2 to be returned, but instead it was 50"

For the code I've coded for this task I am getting Bummer msg "Hmmm, I entered "Nelson" for the lastName and expected line number 2 to be returned, but instead it was 50".Please help figure out whats wrong in my code.

ConferenceRegistrationAssistant.java
public class ConferenceRegistrationAssistant {

  /**
   * Assists in guiding people to the proper line based on their last name.
   *
   * @param lastName The person's last name
   * @return The line number based on the first letter of lastName
   */
  public int getLineNumberFor(String lastName) {
    int lineNumber = 0;
    char firstLetter = lastName.charAt(0);
    if(firstLetter>='A' && firstLetter <='M'){
      lineNumber = '1';
    }else{
      lineNumber = '2';
    }
    return lineNumber;
  }

}
Example.java
public class Example {

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    /*
      IMPORTANT:  You can compare characters using <, >. <=, >= and == just like numbers
     */
    if ('C' < 'D') {
      System.out.println("C comes before D");
    }

    if ('B' > 'A') {
      System.out.println("B comes after A");
    }

    if ('E' >= 'E') {
      System.out.println("E is equal to or comes after E");
    }

    // This code is here for demonstration purposes only...
    ConferenceRegistrationAssistant assistant = new ConferenceRegistrationAssistant();
    /*
      Remember that there are 2 lines.
      Line #1 is for A-M
      Line #2 is for N-Z
     */
    int lineNumber = 0;
    /*
      This should set lineNumber to 2 because
      The last name is Zimmerman which starts with a Z.
      Therefore it is between N-Z
     */
    lineNumber = assistant.getLineNumberFor("Zimmerman");

    /*
      This method call should set lineNumber to 1, because 'A' from "Anderson" is between A-M.
     */
    lineNumber = assistant.getLineNumberFor("Anderson");

    /*
      Likewise Charlie Brown's 'B' is between 'A' and 'M', so lineNumber should be set to 1
     */
    lineNumber = assistant.getLineNumberFor("Brown");
  }

}

1 Answer

Eric M
Eric M
11,545 Points

Hi Ketaki,

Your solution is very close.

You might already know this, but the reason we can use greater than and less than against characters is that they are encoded as a numerical value, they can be converted between the character and numeric representation. Or, in more specific programming terms, you can cast between a char and an int and back.

An ASCII value of 50 is the character 2.

In Java string literals are enclosed in double quotation marks (e.g. String example_string = "hello"). Character literals are enclosed in single quotation marks (e.g. char example_char = 'q' or char example_two = '2'). Integers are not enclosed at all (e.g. int my_int = 3).

If you remove the single quotes around your assignment to lineNumber in your conditional branches your code passes the challenge.

Happy coding!