3.14.1: Warm up: Text message abbreviation decoder (Java)

[zatawave]

I'm working on this code for my programming class and I'm completely stuck. Here is what I have so far but I keep getting error messages.

import java.util.Scanner;

public class TextMsgAbbreviation {
   public static void main(String[] args)
   {
      String BFF ="best friends forever";
      String IMHO ="in my humble opinion";
      String TMI = "too much information";
      String LOL = "laughing out loud";
      String IDK="I don't know";
      
      Scanner=new Scanner(System.in);
      String textMsg="";
      
      System.out.println("Input an abbreviation:"+" ");
      
      textMsg=txtMsg.nextLine();
      
      if (textMsg.compareTo("BFF")==0)
   {
      System.out.println(BFF);
   }
      else if(textMsg.compareTo("IMHO")==0)
   {
      System.out.println(IMHO);
   }
      else if(textMsg.compareTo("TMI")==0)
   {
      System.out.println(TMI);
   }
      else if(textMsg.compareTo("LOL")==0)
   {
      System.out.println(LOL);
   }
      else if(textMsg.compareTo("IDK")==0)
   {
      System.out.println(IDK);
   }
      else
   {
      System.out.println("Unknown");
   }
      return;
   }
}

this is what I'm receiving once I run the code.

TextMsgAbbreviation.java:12: error: cannot find symbol
Scanner=new Scanner(System.in);
^
symbol: variable Scanner
location: class TextMsgAbbreviation
TextMsgAbbreviation.java:17: error: cannot find symbol
textMsg=txtMsg.nextLine();
^
symbol: variable txtMsg
location: class TextMsgAbbreviation
2 errors

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Evgeny.Makarov]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

Your problem is in the this line:

[m]Scanner=new Scanner(System.in);[/m]

Variable declaration and initialization looks as follows:

[m]ClassName varName = new ClassName(constructorArguments);[/m]

You omitted the variable name. Later you refer to this variable as [m]txtMsg[/m] in [m]txtMsg.nextLine()[/m], but I recommend naming it something like [m]input[/m]. It better conveys the idea that it stores the program's standard input, and it is less likely to be confused with [m]textMsg[/m].

Comparing strings with [m]compareTo[/m] is fine, but this method also compares strings lexicographically. You need only test for equality, so you could write

[m]if (textMsg.equals("BFF"))[/m]

You can also write the branching part as follows.

    switch (textMsg) {
      case "BFF": System.out.println(BFF); break;
      case "IMHO": System.out.println(IMHO); break;
      case "TMI": System.out.println(TMI); break;
      case "LOL": System.out.println(LOL); break;
      case "IDK": System.out.println(IDK); break;
      default: System.out.println("Unknown");
    }

Apparently, only string literals (i.e., string in quotes) can be used inside [m]switch[/m], but this is the case with your code.

Some hints for the future: write the whole question in the message body, not in the thread title. Also, you did well to include the precise error message rather than saying "It does not work", but in asking about a piece of code it is important to describe what it is supposed to do. It is also a good idea to shorten it as much as possible to keep the problem but exclude everything else. Determining what a piece of code does is what is called an undecidable problem: there is no computer algorithm that takes any code and determines what it does, whether it contains a logical error, etc. Naturally, it is hard for humans, too.