University of Washington, CSE 142

Lab 3: Parameters, Graphics

Except where otherwise noted, the contents of this document are Copyright 2012 Stuart Reges and Marty Stepp.

lab document created by Marty Stepp, Stuart Reges and Whitaker Brand

Basic lab instructions

Today's lab

Goals for today:

Parameters

A parameter allows you to pass in a value to a method as you call it.

public static void name(type name) {   // declare
methodName(expression);                // call

Example:

public static void squared(int num) {
    System.out.println(num + " times " + num + " is " + (num * num));
}
...
squared(3);          // 3 times 3 is 9
squared(8);          // 8 times 8 is 64

Exercise : Parameters output

Exercise : String values

Exercise : Parameter Mystery practice-it

Exercise : Parameter Mystery practice-it

Exercise : Parameter Mystery practice-it

Exercise : Syntax errors

Exercise - answer

  1. line 5: cannot use variable y without declaring and initializing it
  2. line 5: cannot declare the type of y in the method call
  3. line 6: cannot call printer without the correct number of parameters (2, in this case)
  4. line 7: cannot call printer by passing the correct type of parameters (double, in this case)
  5. line 8: cannot refer to the variable z: it is in scope inside printer, not main
  6. line 11: must provide a type for x
  7. line 11: must provide a variable name for the second parameter
  8. line 12: must refer to the parameters using the exact same spelling
  9. line 13: cannot refer to variables in main that were not passed into printer as a parameter

Exercise - Corrected version

Exercise : jGRASP Debugger

continued on the next slide...

Exercise - jGRASP Debugger

continued on the next slide...

Exercise - jGRASP Debugger

Variable Scope

A variable's scope is the part of a program in which it exists. In Java, the scope of a variable starts when it is declared and ends when the closing curly brace for the block that contains it is reached. A variable is said to be in scope where it is accessible.

public class Example {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        performTest();
    }
	
    public static void performTest() {
        int count = 12;
        for (int i = 1; i <= 12; i++) {
            runSample();
            System.out.print(count);   
        }
    }

    public static void runSample() {
	    System.out.print("sample");
    }
} 
In which of these two blocks is the variable count in scope?

Exercise : Printing Strings practice-it

Graphics

Now we'll explore several exercises related to drawing graphics.

quilt drawingpanel compare

Exercise : Graphics

DrawingPanel is the canvas where you can draw and Graphics is the paint brush.

The coordinate system for the DrawingPanel is different from the one you might be used to. Moving downwards for the DrawingPanel is the same as increasing the "Y" coordinate in a positive direction.

graphics coordinate system

Exercise - Continued

Here is a small segment of code that uses the DrawingPanel and Graphics to start a new canvas to draw on.

graphics coordinate system
import java.awt.*;

public class Draw {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
    	// Makes a new canvas that is 220px by 150px
        DrawingPanel panel = new DrawingPanel(220, 150);

        // This gets the paint brush
        Graphics g = panel.getGraphics();
    }
}

Copy and paste this code into jGRASP, then save it and compile it. You should store this program in the same directory where you saved the DrawingPanel class.

Exercise : Graphics 2

You can draw shapes on the canvas using your Graphics paint brush. Here are some things you can ask your paint brush to draw:

Exercise - Continued

Try drawing the following on a 500 by 500 canvas:

graphics coordinate system

Exercise - Solution

import java.awt.*;

public class Draw {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DrawingPanel panel = new DrawingPanel(500, 500);
        Graphics g = panel.getGraphics();
		
        g.drawLine(200, 200, 350, 425);
        g.drawRect(10, 10, 150, 250);
        g.drawOval(350, 300, 140, 100);
   }
}

Exercise : Graphics 3

You can also draw shapes that are filled in, instead of just an outline:

Exercise - Continued

Try drawing the following on a 300 by 300 canvas:

graphics coordinate system

Exercise - Solution

import java.awt.*;

public class Draw {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DrawingPanel panel = new DrawingPanel(300, 300);
        Graphics g = panel.getGraphics();
		
        g.fillRect(150, 200, 50, 75);
        g.fillOval(25, 50, 100, 50);
   }
}

Exercise : Graphics 4

Here is a list of some colors:

  • Color.RED
  • Color.BLUE
  • Color.BLACK
  • Color.YELLOW
  • Color.ORANGE
  • Color.GREEN
  • Color.LIGHT_GRAY
  • Color.MAGENTA

You can also change the color of what you draw. It helps to think about changing colors as dipping your paint brush (Graphics) into a can of paint.

Exercise - Continued

Try drawing the following on a 300 by 300 canvas that is light gray in color:

graphics coordinate system

Exercise - Solution

import java.awt.*;

public class Draw {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DrawingPanel panel = new DrawingPanel(300, 300);
        Graphics g = panel.getGraphics();
        panel.setBackground(Color.LIGHT_GRAY);
        g.setColor(Color.BLUE);
        g.fillRect(150, 200, 50, 75);
        g.setColor(Color.RED);
        g.fillOval(25, 50, 100, 50);
        g.setColor(Color.MAGENTA);
        g.drawLine(120, 130, 160, 175);
   }
}

Exercise : Syntax errors

answer on next slide...

Exercise - answer

  1. line 1: incorrect import statement; should import java.awt.*
  2. line 5: missing word new before 2nd occurrence of DrawingPanel
  3. line 6: method name should be setBackground
  4. line 6: missing panel. before setBackground
  5. line 8: method name should be getGraphics
  6. line 9: the setColor method is part of object g, not panel
  7. line 9: should not write new before Color.BLUE
  8. line 10: method name should be drawRect
  9. line 10: missing two parameters from drawRect (width and height)
  10. line 11: color should be specified as Color.RED, not "RED"
  11. line 12: method name should be fillOval
  12. line 12: wrong parameter types; width/height must be integers

Exercise - corrected version

Exercise : Face practice-it

Write a complete Java program that draws the following output:

face

Exercise - answer

import java.awt.*;

public class Face1 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DrawingPanel panel = new DrawingPanel(220, 150);
        Graphics g = panel.getGraphics();
        
        g.drawOval(10, 30, 100, 100);   // face outline
        g.setColor(Color.BLUE);
        g.fillOval(30, 60, 20, 20);     // eyes
        g.fillOval(70, 60, 20, 20);
        g.setColor(Color.RED);          // mouth
        g.drawLine(40, 100, 80, 100);
    }
}

Exercise : Stairs loop table

stairs 1

Consider the output at right. The first stair's top-left corner is at position (5, 5). The first stair is 10x10 px in size. Each stair is 10px wider than the one above it.

Fill in the table below with the coordinates and sizes of the first five stairs. Note which values change and which ones stay the same.

stair x y width height
1
5
5
10
10
2
5
15
20
10
3
5
25
30
10
4
5
35
40
10
5
5
45
50
10

Exercise : Stairs practice-it

stairs 1

Write a complete Java program to draw the stairs. Copy/paste the code template below into jGRASP and fill in your own expressions or values for each stair's x, y, width, and height.

Use your table from the previous slide to help you find the correct expressions. The values that change for each stair should become expressions in terms of the loop counter variable, i.

import java.awt.*;

public class Stairs1 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DrawingPanel panel = new DrawingPanel(110, 110);
        Graphics g = panel.getGraphics();
        for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
            g.drawRect(x, y, width, height);
        }
    }
}

Exercise : Stairs 2 practice-it

Modify your stairs program to draw one (or all) of the following outputs. Modify only the body in your for loop. (You may want to make a new table to find the expressions for x, y, width, and height.)

stairs 1stairs 2 stairs 3 stairs 4

Exercise - answer

To get each output, change the for loop body to the following:

// output 2
g.drawRect(5, 5 + 10*i, 100 - 10*i, 10);
// output 3
g.drawRect(95 - 10*i, 5 + 10*i, 10 + 10*i, 10);
// output 4
g.drawRect(5 + 10*i, 5 + 10*i, 100 - 10*i, 10);

Parameterized methods and Graphics

When you want to divide a graphical program into multiple drawing methods, you must pass Graphics g as a parameter in addition to any other parameters. Example:

public static void main(String[] args) {
    DrawingPanel panel = new DrawingPanel(400, 300);
    Graphics g = panel.getGraphics();
    ...
    drawStuff(g, 13, 52, 7);
}

public static void drawStuff(Graphics g, int a, int b, int c) {
    g.drawLine(a, 45, b, c);
    ...
}

Exercise : Face 1+2

face

Suppose you have an existing program that draws the "face" figure at right. Let's modify the program using methods and parameters so that we can draw several faces at different locations.

continued on the next slide...

Exercise : Face 2 practice-it

Modify the Face program to draw the following output. Write a parameterized method that draws a face at different positions.

face 2

Exercise - answer

import java.awt.*;

public class Face2 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DrawingPanel panel = new DrawingPanel(320, 180);
        Graphics g = panel.getGraphics();
        drawFace(g, 10, 30);
        drawFace(g, 150, 50);
    }
    
    public static void drawFace(Graphics g, int x, int y) {
        g.setColor(Color.BLACK);
        g.drawOval(x, y, 100, 100);
        g.setColor(Color.BLUE);
        g.fillOval(x + 20, y + 30, 20, 20);
        g.fillOval(x + 60, y + 30, 20, 20);
        g.setColor(Color.RED);
        g.drawLine(x + 30, y + 70, x + 70, y + 70);
    }
}

Exercise : Face 3 practice-it

Modify your previous Java program to draw the following output. Use a for loop with your parameterized method to draw faces at different positions.

face 2

Exercise - answer

import java.awt.*;

public class Face3 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DrawingPanel panel = new DrawingPanel(520, 180);
        Graphics g = panel.getGraphics();
        for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
            drawFace(g, 10 + i * 100, 30);
        }
    }
    
    public static void drawFace(Graphics g, int x, int y) {
        g.setColor(Color.BLACK);
        g.drawOval(x, y, 100, 100);
        g.setColor(Color.BLUE);
        g.fillOval(x + 20, y + 30, 20, 20);
        g.fillOval(x + 60, y + 30, 20, 20);
        g.setColor(Color.RED);
        g.drawLine(x + 30, y + 70, x + 70, y + 70);
    }
}

If you finish them all...

If you finish all the exercises, try out our Practice-It web tool. It lets you solve Java problems from our Building Java Programs textbook.

You can view an exercise, type a solution, and submit it to see if you have solved it correctly.

Choose some problems from the book and try to solve them!