Simple assignment question.

[jessewclark]

I'm trying to examine an array of strings and find out which is the widest.  Here's an approximation of the code I'm using:

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// The set of texts: String [] texts = a bunch of texts Font [] fonts = the fonts of those texts // A variable to hold the longest line, initially set to the width of the first line: double longestLine = ( the width of the first line, calculated using the font and the getStringBounds method) ; // A variable to hold the current width when counting through the texts: double currentWidth ; // Now, counting through the texts to find the longest one: for ( int i=1 ; i < texts.length ; i ++ ) {      currentWidth =  ( again using getStringBounds, this time to find the width of the current line ) ;      if ( longestLine < currentWidth )           longestLine = new Double ( currentWidth ).doubleValue () ; }

So, here's my assignment question.  What I really want to do in that last line is:

    longestLine = currentWidth ;

except I suspect that will make longestLine and currentWidth both pointers to the same variable, and thus longestLine will change whenever currentWidth changes.  That's not what I want.  But using "new Double ( currentWidth ).doubleValue ()" seems like a really dumb way to do things.  I mean, really: creating a Double from a double so that I can get a new double?  That seems really roundabout.  Is there a simpler way to do the same thing?

[princec]

You have become madly confused about how primitives work. It doesn't make a reference to any data at all. It just copies that value into the variable, just like you probably always thought it would!

In other words

1	longestLine = currentWidth;

is all you want to do on that last line.

Cas

[jessewclark]

Huh.  Okay, so, but let's just say we were talking about a Point2D and not a double.  In that case,

pointA = pointB

would make both pointA and pointB point to the same object, instead of copying pointB into a new object for pointA, right?

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[princec]

Yes.

Cas

[jessewclark]

Thanks!

[cfmdobbie]

And to finish that thought, that situation is why the Sun Gods gave us the Object.clone() method.  If you have a Point2D object and instead of assigning a second reference to it you want a reference to an identical but different object, call:

 Point2D pointB = (Point2D)pointA.clone();