How to Return Object through getter method in Java

Question

I have always returned single field with getter methods, I was wondering if we can return Object using getter.

I have,

class Student
{
 int age
 String name

 public Student(int age,String name)
{
this.age=age;
this.name=name;
}


public Student getStudent()
{

  // **how can I do this**
return studentObject;
}

I have used ,

public int getAge()
{
return age;
}

many times I need to know how to do with Object Or even we can do it or not.

Why do you want to return same object ?? Does it make sense ? — Rahman, Sep 22 '15 at 07:26
Depends what `studentObject` should be. Right now, it's not very clear what exactly you're asking. — Manu, Sep 22 '15 at 07:29
Why do you want to do this? Should `getStudent()` return a new object with new or different parameters, simply the same object, or a single instance? Can `getStudent` be static? Also: http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/66377/what-is-the-xy-problem — Ian2thedv, Sep 22 '15 at 07:44

score 7 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 22 '15 at 07:32

If you want to return the object itself, do this:

public Student getStudent(){
    return this;
}

If you want to return another instance of the Student object with similar content (a copy of current Student):

public Student getStudent(){
    return new Student(age, name);  //Create a new Student based on current properties
}

Benefit of the 2nd approach: Changes to the new Student object will not affect the original one.

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 22 '15 at 07:24

public Student getStudent(){
  return this;
}

But I do hope you understand that this makes no sense at all. In order to be able to return the 'this' of that instance, you would already need the instance to be able to call the method getStudent()

Or do you mean you want to return a cloned object?

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 22 '15 at 07:24

2

Why not ? It's just like any other field. If you have declared a type of Object just return that, or if you just want to return current object do

public Student getStudent()
{
return this;
}

But this doens't make sense, since you need to have an instance to invoke which already the same :).

answered Sep 22 '15 at 07:24

Suresh Atta

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Please have a new question. Explain your need and show what exactly you are doing. – Suresh Atta Sep 22 '15 at 08:22

Rahul Yadav · Answer 4 · 2015-09-22T07:33:15.507

1

You can do it in following way if you always want new object

public Student getStudent()
{
   Student studentObject = new Student(10, "ABC");
   return studentObject;
}

else if you want the same object you can return this;.

edited Sep 22 '15 at 07:33

answered Sep 22 '15 at 07:25

Rahul Yadav

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And what sense makes that? you "get" a previous non-existing instance. Why those values? – Stultuske Sep 22 '15 at 07:25
I thought he needed new object of Student everytime, hence thought of that. – Rahul Yadav Sep 22 '15 at 07:27
1

Might be so, but why with hardcoded values that might (not) be what he needs? – Stultuske Sep 22 '15 at 07:27
Then he should go with `this`. – Rahul Yadav Sep 22 '15 at 07:28
Not if he wants a new Object. this would work, but it's a bit nonsense. (as I answered in my reply as well, I think the question itself is a bit odd) – Stultuske Sep 22 '15 at 07:30
returning ``this`` makes no nense at all since you need the object's reference to call the getter. That reference is the same as returning ``this`` in the getter. – f1sh Sep 22 '15 at 07:35
@VedantKekan: based on your edit: you don't have a type SuperStudent, so trying to return an instance of it, isn't what you want – Stultuske Sep 22 '15 at 08:29

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 22 '15 at 07:28

1

I assume, you need a new object having the same content as the calling class:

public Student getStudent(){
  return new Student(this.age,this.name);
}

answered Sep 22 '15 at 07:28

Danyal Sandeelo

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then why do you need a function ..I don't think you would need that, you can do that directly. – Danyal Sandeelo Sep 22 '15 at 08:40

How to Return Object through getter method in Java

5 Answers5