Compiler says defined constructor is NOT defined

Question

I'm sure I've used something very much like this before. I don't get it. The constructor IS defined. Why does it say it is not defined?
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.event.*;
import javax.swing.text.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import java.awt.*;
public class Sample extends JFrame
  implements WindowListener, ActionListener {
  static private Sample              parentFrame;
  public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e) { };
  public void windowClosed(WindowEvent e) { };
  public void windowOpened(WindowEvent e) { };
  public void windowIconified(WindowEvent e) { };
  public void windowDeiconified(WindowEvent e) { };
  public void windowActivated(WindowEvent e) { };
  public void windowDeactivated(WindowEvent e) { };
  public void windowGainedFocus(WindowEvent e) { };
  public void windowLostFocus(WindowEvent e) { };
  public void windowStateChanged(WindowEvent e) { };
  public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) { };
  public Sample() {
    // ... constructor
  private static void createAndShowGUI() {
  //Create and set up the window.
    parentFrame = new Sample("Alert!");
    parentFrame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    //Display the window.
    parentFrame.pack();
    parentFrame.setSize(450,200);
    parentFrame.setVisible(true);
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    //Schedule a job for the event-dispatching thread:
    //creating and showing this application's GUI.
    javax.swing.SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
        public void run() {
            createAndShowGUI();
}Error:
Sample.java:33: cannot resolve symbol
symbol  : constructor Sample (java.lang.String)
location: class Sample
    parentFrame = new Sample("Alert!");
                  ^
1 error

Answer 1

I'm beginning to understand what the real problem is. It's not immediately obvious to a beginner, but Java is clearly a very powerful language. The real problem is that the documentation was written BY experts FOR experts. Being experts, those who use the documentation daily don't even realize that that same documentation they find so helpful is utterly incomprehensible to a beginner.
Try this experiment: Find an experienced programmer with expertise in at least two or three languages, but who has never used Java, and has never used PHP. How give them a random page from the Java documentation and a random page from the PHP documentation. What you will discover is that this experienced programmer will immediately understand the PHP page, learn from it, and be able to apply it immediately. Given the Java page, however, that same experienced programmer will NOT understand the documentation , will NOT be able to apply it immediately, and will learn nothing from it.
What Sun needs to do is get a group of newbies to look at their documentation and instead of slinging insults at the newbies, look closely at WHY their documentation is so opaque to all but Java experts, and see what steps can be taken to make it more usable.
The reason is that with languages like PHP an experienced programmer can start doing meaningful programming in the very first hour they are introduced to the language, but the way the Java documentation is structured the experienced programmer has to devote many weeks to learning vast amounts of background material before being able to do any meaningful programming.
In my own particular situation, I am called upon to write code in four or five different languages. A typical project lasts only a week or two. I have no intention of devoting months to learning a language I only use occasionally, (I last used Java 11 months ago, and probably wont use it again for a year or two) especially since the other languages I use occasionally have documentation I can learn from directly, without having to invest that huge amount of time prior to actual coding.
For the person who devotes themselves to Java, and specializes in Java, and codes exclusively, or primarily in Java, the documentation and learning curve is fine. For someone who uses Java only occasionally, the documentation is worthless. And that is not an indictment of Java as a language, but of the documentation, because with so many other languages the occasional user CAN pick up the bits and pieces needed for a small project directly from the documentation. (Take a look, for example, at this PHP function which is relatively complex. I'll bet that even if you've never used php, after looking at this page you could use this function in your own code IMMEDIATELY. http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.preg-match.php )
My frustration is that I have 30+ years of programming experience and Java documentation makes me feel like an ignorant moron. No other programming language has ever done that to me. I just don't like being made to feel that way.
So why, you might ask, doesn't my company hire someone experienced in Java for those projects? The fact is, Java projects come up very rarely, and I'm the only programmer on the staff who will even attempt the Java projects. All the other coders run screaming at the mere mention of Java. It is a universally hated language in this shop, not because of the language, but because everyone here hates documentation that seems to deliberately make them feel like morons.