<identifier> expected

[Pedro Fonseca]

Hello everyone, I just recently started studying Java on my own using the book Head First Java and everything was going rather smoothly until the sixth chapter with the battleship-ish game, where I'm getting an error I have no idea how to fix since from what I know so far, the code's supposed to work.

I did check the web for the error and found some answers, however, most of them did not apply here (at least I don't think they do) since I'm declaring a method and the ones that were somewhat similar didn't work at all (for example, there was one that mentioned that the code given in the HFJ website worked once a line was fixed, but here it didn't work either.

For those familiar with the book, both the DotCom and GameHelper classes are on the same folder as the DotComBust and I typed them myself (they both compiled just fine).

And not sure if it makes any difference (shouldn't), but I'm doing all this on a mac, using the text edit to type all the code (but I have converted it to plain text instead of the default rich text).

Well, without further ado, here's the code:

import java.util.*;
public class DotComBust {

  private GameHelper helper = new GameHelper();
  private ArrayList<DotCom> dotComList = new ArrayList<DotCom>();
  private int numOfGuesses = 0;

  private void setUpGame();
    DotCom one = new DotCom();
    one.setName("Pets.com");
    DotCom two = new DotCom();
    two.setName("eToys.com");
    DotCom three = new DotCom();
    three.setName("Go2.com");
    dotComsList.add(one);
    dotComsList.add(two);
    dotComsList.add(three);

    System.out.println("Your goal is to sink three dot coms:");
    System.out.println("Pets.com, eToys.com and Go2.com");
    System.out.println("Try to sink them all in the fewest number of guesses");

    for (DotCom dotComToSet : dotComsList) {
      ArrayList<String> newLocation = helper.placeDotCom(3);
      dotComToSet.setLocationCells(newLocation);
    }
  }
  private void startPlaying();
    while(!dotComsList.isEmpty()) {
      String userGuess = helper.getUserInput("Enter a guess: ");
      checkUserGuess(userGuess);
    }
    finishGame();
  }

  private void checkUserGuess(String userGuess) {
    numOfGuesses++;
    String result = "miss";

    for (DotCom dotComToTest : dotComsList) {
      result = dotComToTest.checkYourself(userGuess);
      if (result.equals("hit") {
        break;
      }
      if (result.equals("kill") {
        dotComsList.remove(dotComToTest);
        break;
      }
    }
    System.out.println(result);
  }

  private void finishGame() {
    System.out.println("All Dot Coms are dead! Your stock is now worthless!");
    if (numOfGuesses <= 18) {
      System.out.println("It only took you " + numOfGuesses + " guesses.");
      System.out.println("You got out before you options sank.");
    } else {
      System.out.println("Took you long enough. "+ numOfGuesses +" guesses.");
      System.out.println("Fish are dancing with your options!");
    }
  }

  public static void main (String[] args) {
    DotComBurst game = new DotComBurst();
    game.setUpGame();
    game.startPlaying();
  }
}

And here's the error list:

DotComBust.java:10: <identifier> expected
    one.setName("Pets.com");
               ^
DotComBust.java:10: illegal start of type
    one.setName("Pets.com");
                ^
DotComBust.java:12: <identifier> expected
    two.setName("eToys.com");
               ^
DotComBust.java:12: illegal start of type
    two.setName("eToys.com");
                ^
DotComBust.java:14: <identifier> expected
    three.setName("Go2.com");
                 ^
DotComBust.java:14: illegal start of type
    three.setName("Go2.com");
                  ^
DotComBust.java:15: <identifier> expected
    dotComsList.add(one);
                   ^
DotComBust.java:15: <identifier> expected
    dotComsList.add(one);
                       ^
DotComBust.java:16: <identifier> expected
    dotComsList.add(two);
                   ^
DotComBust.java:16: <identifier> expected
    dotComsList.add(two);
                       ^
DotComBust.java:17: <identifier> expected
    dotComsList.add(three);
                   ^
DotComBust.java:17: <identifier> expected
    dotComsList.add(three);
                         ^
DotComBust.java:19: <identifier> expected
    System.out.println("Your goal is to sink three dot coms:");
                      ^
DotComBust.java:19: illegal start of type
    System.out.println("Your goal is to sink three dot coms:");
                       ^
DotComBust.java:20: <identifier> expected
    System.out.println("Pets.com, eToys.com and Go2.com");
                      ^
DotComBust.java:20: illegal start of type
    System.out.println("Pets.com, eToys.com and Go2.com");
                       ^
DotComBust.java:21: <identifier> expected
    System.out.println("Try to sink them all in the fewest number of guesses");
                      ^
DotComBust.java:21: illegal start of type
    System.out.println("Try to sink them all in the fewest number of guesses");
                       ^
DotComBust.java:23: illegal start of type
    for (DotCom dotComToSet : dotComsList) {
    ^
DotComBust.java:23: ')' expected
    for (DotCom dotComToSet : dotComsList) {
                           ^
DotComBust.java:23: <identifier> expected
    for (DotCom dotComToSet : dotComsList) {
                                         ^
DotComBust.java:28: class, interface, or enum expected
  private void startPlaying();
          ^
DotComBust.java:29: class, interface, or enum expected
    while(!dotComsList.isEmpty()) {
    ^
DotComBust.java:31: class, interface, or enum expected
      checkUserGuess(userGuess);
      ^
DotComBust.java:32: class, interface, or enum expected
    }
    ^
DotComBust.java:34: class, interface, or enum expected
  }
  ^
DotComBust.java:38: class, interface, or enum expected
    String result = "miss";
    ^
DotComBust.java:40: class, interface, or enum expected
    for (DotCom dotComToTest : dotComsList) {
    ^
DotComBust.java:42: class, interface, or enum expected
      if (result.equals("hit") {
      ^
DotComBust.java:44: class, interface, or enum expected
      }
      ^
DotComBust.java:47: class, interface, or enum expected
        break;
        ^
DotComBust.java:48: class, interface, or enum expected
      }
      ^
DotComBust.java:51: class, interface, or enum expected
  }
  ^
DotComBust.java:55: class, interface, or enum expected
    if (numOfGuesses <= 18) {
    ^
DotComBust.java:57: class, interface, or enum expected
      System.out.println("You got out before you options sank.");
      ^
DotComBust.java:58: class, interface, or enum expected
    } else {
    ^
DotComBust.java:60: class, interface, or enum expected
      System.out.println("Fish are dancing with your options!");
      ^
DotComBust.java:61: class, interface, or enum expected
    }
    ^
DotComBust.java:64: class, interface, or enum expected
  public static void main (String[] args) {
                ^
DotComBust.java:66: class, interface, or enum expected
    game.setUpGame();
    ^
DotComBust.java:67: class, interface, or enum expected
    game.startPlaying();
    ^
DotComBust.java:68: class, interface, or enum expected
  }
  ^

The setName method refers to the DotCom class that is in another file at the same folder and is coded to take an n String.

public void setName(String n) 

[Paul Clapham]

The lines flagged as errors are flagged because they are not declarations and they are not in a method (or constructor, etc).

You probably think they are in the checkUserGuess() method, but they aren't because you didn't quite write it correctly.

Look at line 36, which is the first line of the checkUserGuess() method. Now look at line 8, which is supposed to be the first line of the checkUserGuess() method. Notice any difference?

[Michal Plutynski]

Hi!
try to use some IDE. It will be very helpful for beginner.

the problem is in your methods :

setUpGame();
...
}

startPlaying();
...
}

i'm sure that was just a typo. Use '{' instead of ';' next to methods names.

Regards

[Pedro Fonseca]

Ow, duh!

I feel incredibly stupid to let such a simple mistake slip by, but thanks for the help it works like a clockwork now!

And thanks for the tip, it looks like it's indeed time to get an IDE.

[fred rosenberger]

Pedro Fonseca wrote:And thanks for the tip, it looks like it's indeed time to get an IDE.

Most of the old timers here would strongly recommend you NOT use an IDE. at least, not yet. If you are just learning java, you need to learn it. Using an IDE causes you to learn the IDE, and you miss some of the fundamentals.

I would also say you should NEVER have gotten this far on this code. NEVER NEVER NEVER write more than 2-3 lines before you compile. If the first time you attempt to compile you have 70 lines of code, you are in for a world of hurt.