Objects within arrays

Question

I have a problem.
I created a class called Fuzzy and within that class there is a method called setName.
I want to store objects of Fuzzy in an array so I used the following code (in a new class)
Fuzzy[] names = new Fuzzy();
int num = 0;
String n = "Hello";
names[num].setName(n);
When I do this, it compiles correctly but at runtime I get a nullpointer exception. If I just do e.g. names.setName(n) then it works without a problem.
Can someone help? Many thanks.

Answer 1

What you have posted here could not possibly have compiled.
First of all, you declared a reference to array of Fuzzies, and then you assigned the reference a Fuzzy. This is illegal. You have to use the right syntax, as well as tell it how many Fuzzies you want in the array.
If you want to create an array that can hold 2 Fuzzies, you could do:
Fuzzy [] arrayOfFuzzies = new Fuzzy[2];Now, even at this point, you have an array that could hold 2 Fuzzies, but right now it holds 2 null references. In other words:
   arrayOfFuzzies[0] == null
           and
   arrayOfFuzzies[1] == null
*/If you want to use a Fuzzy that's in the array, you have to put the Fuzzy in the array in the first place:
arrayOfFuzzies[0] = new Fuzzy();
arrayOfFuzzies[1] = new Fuzzy();Now you can work with the Fuzzies in the array (as long as you stay within the bounds of the array):
arrayOfFuzzies[0].setName( "Wuzzy" );
arrayOfFuzzies[1].setName( "Bear" );If you want to create the 2 Fuzzies and the array at the same time, you can do the following:
Fuzzy [] arrayOfFuzzies = { new Fuzzy(), new Fuzzy() };