What you'll do
- Set up a dance-off between two robots.
What you'll learn
- How to create values without using literals.
- What extra information and abilities the
String type has.
- How to find out more about any type.
Key vocabulary
Introduction
Types allow you to understand what each value in your code represents, and type safety makes sure you use values of the right type in the right place. But types describe additional things too. Values of a certain type can give specific information or do specific things. In this lesson you’ll learn about some of the extra features of the types you’ve already used, and how to find out about new types.
Go Build
Open the Instances, Methods, and Properties.playground file in your course resources and follow the instructions.
Reflection Questions
Think about an appliance—such as a TV, refrigerator, or washing machine—in or near your home.
What are some functions that are associated with it?
Do any functions take input from the user about how it should do its job?
Summary
Instances are a powerful way to hold values, because their separate identities let you track and manipulate each piece of information independently.
Depending on their type, different kinds of instances can store different information and perform different tasks. Since it's tough to remember all the capabilities of every type, API authors usually publish documentation or guides about the methods and properties contained in each type. Learning to read and make sense of this documentation is one of the most important skills a programmer can acquire.
In the next lesson, you'll learn how to use loops to do the same work with many items without writing a ton of repetitive code.
