Java   View all facts   Glossary   Help

member > instance member > instance method > method that is declared in Object class > toString

toString
subject			fact

toString	has specification
	has default implementation the name of the class followed by a hexadecimal code that distinguishes one instance from another
	has purpose to convert any kind of object into a string
	is a subtopic of Example Methods
	is an instance of method that is declared in Object class
	returns a String representation of the object to which it is applied
	should be written for every class you create
instance method	can operate on the current object's instance variables
	can refer to the object itself using the 'this' keyword
	has access to every class variable of its class
	has example public float credit(float amountToCredit) { balance = balance + amountToCredit; return balance; }
	implements the behaviour of the objects in the class
	is part of a class
	may be declared public, protected or private
	should be placed in a class such that there is no needless duplication of it, and such that it is useful in all the subclasses of the class in which it is defined
method	if a method is declared with the same method signature as a method in a superclass then this method overrides the method with the same method signature in the superclass
	if a method may throw a checked expression then the method must have a throws clause that mentions the class of that exception or one of the superclasses of the class of that exception
	when a method is called a piece of memory is allocated for every parameter
	when a method is called and the method's parameter is a reference type then the memory allocated for that parameter holds a copy of the address of the argument
	when a method is called and the method's parameter is a primitive type then the memory allocated for that parameter holds a copy of the parameter itself
	belongs to a class
	can access all instance variables of all objects of its class
	can be inherited by subclasses of its class
	can be accessed by other methods and variables in any class in the same package by default
	can use the super method to invoke a method declared in the superclass
	cannot be passed as an argument to a method or constructor
	creates an object by instantiating a class
	has part method definition
	has part method signature
	has part a block of implementation code
	is equivalent to the terms "function member" or "member function" which are used in C++
	is equivalent to the terms "routine", "function" or "method" which are used in non object-oriented programming languages
	may contain empty return statement if it has a void return type
	may have access modifier public or private or protected
	must contain return statement unless it has a void return type
	must define its parameter list
	must define its return type
	overrides a method in a superclass with the same name
	should be as private as possible
	should not be public except for those that will definitely need to be called from outside the package
	should return to its caller from only one place which should be the last statement
	usually hides instance variables, class variables from other objects
access unit	has access mode
syntactic unit	has syntax rule bold = mandatory italic = non-terminal normal font = optional

Next method that is declared in Object class: wait method    Up: method that is declared in Object class    Previous method that is declared in Object class: notifyAll