Array of Abstract Data Type

[Kate Zoy]

If I want to make an array of an ADT I create, let's say MyThing(int value, String keyWord)...
The following code doesn't work:
MyThing[] thingy;
for( int i=0; i<6; i++ )
{
thingy[i] = new MyThing( anInt, aString );
}
Obviously, it gives me a null pointer cause i never said how many things were in my array. But writting MyThing[] thingy = new MyThing( anInt, aString )[6]; doesn't work either. Do I HAVE to use a array of Objects? Those get really messy... Let me know if you have any suggestions!
Zoy

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Hi Kate,
There's no way to create an array full of objects in one step; you create the empty array object, then fill it up. It looks like this.

// Create an empty array with slots for 6 MyThings
MyThing[] thingy = new MyThing[6]; 
// Now create a MyThing for each slot and plug them in
for( int i=0; i<6; i++ )
  thingy[i] = new MyThing( anInt, aString );

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Moving this to Java in General (Intermediate.)

[Kate Zoy]

Right... that makes sense. I don't know why I was trying to skip a step!
Thanks alot, you saved me tons of problems!
Kate