Modifiers (Set-Methods)

• A modifier is a method that allows changing the attributes, stored as private instance variables, of an object.

• The typical name for a setter is to use the word set followed by the name of the instance value as the name of the method. This is why modifiers are also called set-methods or setters.

• What does a set-method do and what does it return?

  A basic setter takes a single argument that is the same data type as the instance variable and set the instance variable (the attribute) to the passed-in value.

  You may decide to write a modifier that takes multiple arguments - typically one for each attribute. For instance, the setLocation() method in the Point class takes the new x and the new y values.

• A setter either has a return-type of void or may return a boolean (true/false) if it could fail to set the attribute under certain cirmcumstances.

• Setters are public - this is so they can always be called from outside of our class, for instance from a main(). So, how would we call these methods???

• For now we will provide instructions on how to code any helper classes, but once you are given the instance variables, you should be able to code the appropriate setters.