Is java keyword "this" redundant in this code?

Question

I'm studying a tutorial and got in doubt about the use of "this" keyword. In the constructor of the class, isn't this.mContext a redundant use of the referred keyword? Wouldn't be the same to use simply mContext?

//package org.harrix.sqliteexample;
import android.database.SQLException;
import android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabase;
import android.database.sqlite.SQLiteOpenHelper;
import android.content.Context;

import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.io.OutputStream;
import java.io.File;

public class DatabaseHelper extends SQLiteOpenHelper {
  private static String DB_NAME = "info.db";
  private static String DB_PATH = "";
  private static final int DB_VERSION = 1;

  private SQLiteDatabase mDataBase;
  private final Context mContext;
  private boolean mNeedUpdate = false;

  public DatabaseHelper(Context context) {
    super(context, DB_NAME, null, DB_VERSION);
    if (android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 17)
      DB_PATH = context.getApplicationInfo().dataDir + "/databases/";
    else
      DB_PATH = "/data/data/" + context.getPackageName() + "/databases/";

    this.mContext = context;
    copyDataBase();
    this.getReadableDatabase();
  }

}

The only time using `this` to access a class member isn't strictly redundant is when you're avoiding a local scope member with the same name, though good programming practices should prevent that situation from ever taking place anyway. — Abion47, Oct 18 '19 at 21:16

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 18 '19 at 21:42

Yes it is redundant But if we follow the proper Java naming convention it is needed

 private final Context mContext;

normally should be

private final Context context;
public DatabaseHelper(Context context) {
    this.context = context
}

Here it is needed so that instance variable gets assigned with parameter value.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 18 '19 at 21:29

0

"The only time using this to access a class member isn't strictly redundant is when you're avoiding a local scope member with the same name, though good programming practices should prevent that situation from ever taking place anyway."

@Abion47

answered Oct 18 '19 at 21:29

Cícero Augusto

105
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Is java keyword "this" redundant in this code?

2 Answers2