Playing Card Class - is this right?

The Art and Science of Java, a course book that uses the ACM library, has an exercise that reads like this:


Implement a new class called Card that includes the following entries:


• Named constants for the four suits (CLUBS, DIAMONDS, HEARTS, SPADES)
and the four ranks that are traditionally represented in words (ACE,
JACK, QUEEN, KING). The values of the rank constants should be 1, 11,
12, and 13, respectively.


• A constructor that takes a rank and a suit and returns a Card with
those values. • Accessor methods getRank and getSuit to retrieve the
rank and suit components of a card.


• An implementation of the toString method that returns the complete
name of the card.

Now, this question is a little hard to understand, but nevertheless I've done a class that I think answers this:

```
/** Ficheiro: Carta.java
*
* Classe que vai representar os diferentes valores e naipes de uma carta de um baralho normal
* de 52 cartas. Exercício para construir uma classe completa juntamente com construtores,
gets de Valores e Naipes e de método toString. /

public class Carta {

// Constantes do Naipe (Rank) das Cartas
public static final String AS = "Ás";
public static final String REI = "Rei";
public static final String DAMA = "Dama";
public static final String VALETE = "Valete";

// Constantes do Valor Facial (Suit) das Cartas
public static final String COPAS = "Copas";
public static final String PAUS = "Paus";
public static final String OUROS = "Ouros";
public static final String ESPADAS = "Espadas";

/**
* Cria uma nova carta de um baralho regular de 52 cartas.
* @param valor O valor facial da carta (ex. Ás, Rei, 10...)
* @param naipe O naipe da carta
*/

public Carta (int valor, int naipe) {
valorCarta = valor;
numNaipe = naipe;
}

/**
* Obtém o valor facial da carta (existem 13 valores faciais)
* @return O valor facial da carta em String
*/

public String getValorCarta() {
switch (valorCarta) {
case 1: return AS;

Enums

Java enums have been around for a long time, so it's really a waste not to be using them at this point.

However, I understand that this may simply be an exercise, to test and build your understanding of Java, one step at a time. If that is the case, (or maybe if the exercises are given in a specific order, and you haven't yet progressed to the Chapter on enums) then maybe you are intended to avoid them. I'll work on that assumption (no enums).

Representation


Named constants for the four suits (CLUBS, DIAMONDS, HEARTS, SPADES)
and the four ranks that are traditionally represented in words (ACE,
JACK, QUEEN, KING).

A named constant simply means that in code, your Java can refer to constant values with variable names that are meaningful. It does not mean that those constants must be Strings, and usually, they should not be. If you have:

public class Carta {

    public static final int REI = 11;

then, this code is using a named constant:

int rank = REI;

while this code is not:

int rank = 11;

The values of the rank constants should be 1, 11, 12, and 13, respectively.

This clearly is requesting an implementation where the constants are integer types, not String objects:

public static final int AS = 1;      // Ace
public static final int VALETE = 11; // Jack
public static final int DAMA = 12;   // Queen
public static final int REI = 13;    // King

(you'll have to double check my values .. I don't speak Portuguese, and I think I recognize the word Rei and Dama, but not the others)

These constants are in addition to the other cards, ranked 2 through 10.

Specification Terminology


... that are traditionally represented in words

This language may be confusing, I understand. When they say "words", they're not asking for String constants. They are referring to the fact that, outside of JACK/QUEEN/KING/ACE, the other cards are 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 ... which are numbers.

Comments

You have some comments here (again, with my limited understanding of Portuguese), that I believe are backwards:

// Constantes do Naipe (Rank) das Cartas
public static final String AS = "Ás";

// Constantes do Valor Facial (Suit) das Cartas
public static final String COPAS = "Copas";

As (or Ace) is not a Naipe, it is a Valor (value, or rank). Even if the code is correct, it's important in software development to make the comments correct, too.

toString()

Finally, concerning the specification for toString(), I believe that your existing code satisfies the requirement. But, remember, the constants really should be implemented as integers, not String constants. So, if you rewrite the class to represent values as integers, you'll then need a new method to convert integer values to Strings.

A HashMap would probably work for that purpose. If you haven't gotten to using generics yet, even an array of strings (String[]) could be used to map int values to String, as long as you keep track of the 0 index, or use the 0 index element as an Invalid value.

StackExchange Code Review Q#25285, answer score: 11