I've created a Point3d
class which contains x, y, and z coordinates for a point. My next task is to create a method within my class (which I shall call "distanceTo") that calculates the distance between two points.
How do I go about creating the method distanceTo
that calculates the distance between two points by taking in the x,y,z coordinates? I assume my answer will have something to do with sqrt((x1-x2)^2+(y1-y2)^2+(z1-z2)^2)
but I do not know how I can write that in my method in my main class if my points are not defined until my second test point class
So far I only have two points, but I am looking for a more general answer (so that if I created three points, p1 p2 and p3, I could calculate the distance between p1 and p2 or the distance between p2 and p3 or the distance between p1 and p3.
My class:
package divingrightin;
public class Point3d {
private double xCoord;
private double yCoord;
private double zCoord;
public Point3d(double x, double y, double z){
xCoord = x;
yCoord = y;
zCoord = z;
}
public Point3d(){
this (0,0,0);
}
public double getxCoord() {
return xCoord;
}
public void setxCoord(double xCoord) {
this.xCoord = xCoord;
}
public double getyCoord() {
return yCoord;
}
public void setyCoord(double yCoord) {
this.yCoord = yCoord;
}
public double getzCoord() {
return zCoord;
}
public void setzCoord(double zCoord) {
this.zCoord = zCoord;
}
// public double distanceTo(double xCoord, double yCoord, double zCoord ){
//
// }
}
My class with the test points:
package divingrightin;
public class TestPoints {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Point3d firstPoint = new Point3d();
firstPoint.setxCoord(2.2);
firstPoint.setyCoord(1);
firstPoint.setzCoord(5);
Point3d secondPoint = new Point3d();
secondPoint.setxCoord(3.5);
secondPoint.setyCoord(22);
secondPoint.setzCoord(20);
}
}
As @Dude pointed out in the comments, you should write a method:
public double distanceTo(Point3d p) {
return Math.sqrt(Math.pow(x - p.getxCoord(), 2) + Math.pow(y - p.getyCoord(), 2) + Math.pow(z - p.getzCoord(), 2));
}
Then if you want to get the distance between 2 points you just call:
myPoint.distanceTo(myOtherPoint);
//or if you want to get the distance to some x, y, z coords
myPoint.distanceTo(new Point3d(x,y,z);
You could even make the method static and give it 2 points to compare:
public static double getDistance(Point3d p1, Point3d p2) {
return Math.sqrt(Math.pow(p1.getxCoord() - p2.getxCoord(), 2) + ...
}