Accessors/Mutators needed ???

Question

I wrote a student grade calculation program. Now, our prof. gave us a sample program that tracks an employee and their salary and information. When I'm comparing mine to his, I notice I have no accessor/mutator (get/set) statements like he does. Am I doing something wrong? Am I missing something or should I be using the get/set commands anywhere? My program and output runs just fine. Thanks for the help. I am very new and this is my first time creating an object template.
Here is my StudentRecord program
// Title: ClassRecord.java
// Class: CSC-201 (Summer 2007)
// Assignment: HW #2
// Author: Me
// Last Modified:
// Description: A basic program that allows a user to enter information about
//              a student's grades to determine their overall numeric score for
//              the class as well as the final letter grade attained in the
//              course.
// Assumptions: - Students are identified by student ID #
//              - User is aware that tests are only 10 points each
//              - User is aware that midterm/Final exam are 100 points each
//              - User has to rerun the program to recalculate changes
// Deficiencies: - Does not check to see if students scored higher than the
//                 assumed maximum points for each assignment
//               - Limited to hard-coded number of quizzes/tests
//               - Limited to initial weights given for each quiz/test
//               - Does not use a students name
// CONSTRUCTORS
/* Default constructor */
/* Comprehensive constructor */
// MUTATOR METHODS
// ACCESSOR METHODS
// PUBLIC INTERFACE METHODS
// Precondition:
// Postcondition:
// PRIVATE HELPER METHODS
// Precondition:
// Postcondition:
// REQUIRED PACKAGES
import java.util.*;
public class StudentRecord {
//      INSTANCE VARIABLES
     private int studentID, quizOne, quizTwo, midTerm, finalExam, overallScore;
     private char letterGrade;
     public void readInput()
          Scanner keyboard = new Scanner(System.in);
          System.out.println("Please enter the Student's ID#: ");
          studentID = keyboard.nextInt();
          System.out.println("Please enter the score for Quiz 1: ");
          quizOne = keyboard.nextInt();
          System.out.println("Please enter the score for Quiz 2: ");
          quizTwo = keyboard.nextInt();
          System.out.println("Please enter the score for the Midterm: ");
          midTerm = keyboard.nextInt();
          System.out.println("Please enter the score for the Final Exam: ");
          finalExam = keyboard.nextInt();
     public void calculation()
          overallScore = (quizOne + quizTwo) * 5 / 4 + (midTerm / 4) +
                         finalExam / 2;
          if (overallScore >= 90)
               letterGrade =  'A';
          else if ((overallScore >= 80) && (overallScore < 90))
               letterGrade =  'B';
          else if ((overallScore >= 70) && (overallScore < 80))
               letterGrade =  'C';
          else if ((overallScore >= 60) && (overallScore < 70))
               letterGrade =  'D';
          else
               letterGrade =  'F';
     public void writeOutput()
          System.out.println("Student# " + studentID + " grade report");
          System.out.println("Quiz one = " + quizOne);
          System.out.println("Quiz two = " + quizTwo);
          System.out.println("Midterm = " + midTerm);
          System.out.println("Final = " + finalExam);
          System.out.println("Overall Score = " + overallScore);
          System.out.println("Final Letter Grade = " + letterGrade);
Here is the DriverStudentRecord that I use to test it.
public class DriverStudentRecord {
     public static void main(String[] args) {
    StudentRecord testStudent = new StudentRecord();
    testStudent.readInput();
    testStudent.calculation();
    testStudent.writeOutput();
Now here is a copy of my prof.'s program
// Title: Employee.java
// Class: CSC-201 (Fall 2006)
// Assignment: ICE #1
// Author: Ric Heishman
// Last Modified: 08/06/06
// Description: Template for an employee object.
// Assumptions: 1) employee number is a 5-digit integer.
//              2) salary cannot be negative.
//              3) first name limited to 10 characters.
//              4) last name limited to 15 characters.
// Deficiencies: None
// <-- text in file should be no wider than 80 characters so text doesn't wrap
//       when printed in portrait format -->
// REQUIRED PACKAGES
import java.text.NumberFormat;
import java.util.Locale;
public class Employee {
  // INSTANCE VARIABLES
  private int employeeNumber;   // class invariant: 5-digit limit
  private double salary;
  private String firstName,     // class invariant: 10 character limit
                 lastName,      // class invariant: 15 character limit
                 hireDate;
  // CONSTRUCTORS
  /* Default constructor */
  public Employee() {
    this(0,
         0.0,
         "firstname",
         "lastname",
         "hiredate");
  /* Comprehensive constructor */
  public Employee(int employeeNumber,
                  double salary,
                  String firstName,
                  String lastName,
                  String hireDate) {
    setEmployeeNumber(employeeNumber);
    setSalary(salary);
    setFirstName(firstName);
    setLastName(lastName);
    setHireDate(hireDate);
  // MUTATOR METHODS
  public void setEmployeeNumber(int employeeNumber) {
    if (employeeNumber >= 0 && employeeNumber <= 99999)
      this.employeeNumber = employeeNumber;
    else {
      System.out.println("Employee number must be between 0 -> 99999");
      System.exit(1);
  public void setSalary(double salary) {
    if (salary >= 0.0)
      this.salary = salary;
    else
      this.salary = 0.0;     // potential problem ???
  public void setFirstName(String firstName) {
    if (checkStringLength(firstName, 1))
      this.firstName = firstName;
    else {
      System.out.println("First Name must be < 10 characters");
      System.exit(1);
  public void setLastName(String lastName) {
    if (checkStringLength(lastName, 2))
      this.lastName = lastName;
    else {
      System.out.println("Last Name must be < 15 characters");
      System.exit(1);
  public void setHireDate(String hireDate) {
    this.hireDate = hireDate;
  // ACCESSOR METHODS
  public int getEmployeeNumber() {
    return employeeNumber;
  public double getSalary() {
    return salary;
  public String getFirstName() {
    return firstName;
  public String getLastName() {
    return lastName;
  public String getHireDate() {
    return hireDate;
  // PUBLIC INTERFACE METHODS
  // Precondition: requires Employee object to be compared to calling object
  // Postcondition: returns "true" if all fields of calling object and
  //                comparison object are identical
  public boolean equals(Employee employee) {
    if (this.employeeNumber == employee.employeeNumber &&
        this.firstName == employee.firstName &&
        this.lastName == employee.lastName &&
        this.hireDate == employee.hireDate &&
        this.salary == employee.salary)
      return true;
    else
      return false;
  // Precondition: Employee object has been instantiated
  // Postcondition: returns Sting representing current state of object
  public String toString() {
    return "Employee Number: " + employeeNumber + "\nEmployee Name: " +
         firstName + " " + lastName + "\nSalary: " + formatSalary(salary) +
           "\nHire Date: " + hireDate;
  // PRIVATE HELPER METHODS
  // Precondition: requires a string to be tested and an integer value
  //               representing a particular type of test for string length:
  //               (1) - maximum length of 10
  //               (2) - maximum length of 15
  // Postcondition: returns "true" if string length < particular maximum length
  private boolean checkStringLength(String string,
                                    int typeOfTest) {
    int maximumLength = 0;
    switch (typeOfTest) {
      case 1:
        maximumLength = 10;
        break;
      case 2:
        maximumLength = 15;
        break;
      default:
        System.out.println("Improper value for \"typeOfTest\" variable");
    if (string.length() < maximumLength)
      return true;
    else
      return false;
  // Precondition: requires double value to be formatted as US currency
  // Postcondition: returns String of input value formatted as US currency
  private String formatSalary(double salary) {
    Locale locale = Locale.US;
    return NumberFormat.getCurrencyInstance(locale).format(salary);
}

Answer 1

I wrote a student grade calculation program. Now, our prof. gave us a sample program that tracks an employee and their salary and information. When I'm comparing mine to his, I notice I have no accessor/mutator (get/set) statements like he does. Am I doing something wrong? Am I missing something or should I be using the get/set commands anywhere?
Well, how does he use his get/set? What do you do differently that you're getting the same results without using them?
There is this school of thought:
http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-09-2003/jw-0905-toolbox.html
While I think the author's presentation is a bit extreme, he does have some valid points.