Scope

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Scope refers to the lifetime and accessibility of a variable. How large the scope is depends on where a variable is declared. For example, if a variable is declared at the top of a class then it will accessible to all of the class methods. If it’s declared in a method then it can only be used in that method.

For more information, have a look at the Understanding Variable Scope and Using Modifiers With Variables.

Examples:

For example, the scope of the variable

NUMBER_OF_HOURS_IN_A_DAY
is the whole class. Whereas the scope of
NUMBER_OF_DAYS_IN_A_WEEK
is just the
calculateHoursInWeeks


public class AllAboutHours{

 private final int NUMBER_OF_HOURS_IN_A_DAY = 24;

 public int calculateHoursInDays(int days)

 {

 return days * NUMBER_OF_HOURS_IN_A_DAY;

 }

 public int calculateHoursInWeeks(int weeks)

 {

 final int NUMBER_OF_DAYS_IN_A_WEEK = 7;

 return weeks * NUMBER_OF_DAYS_IN_A_WEEK * NUMBER_OF_HOURS_IN_A_DAY;

 }

}
Format
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Your Citation
Leahy, Paul. "Scope." ThoughtCo, Sep. 16, 2020, thoughtco.com/scope-2034287. Leahy, Paul. (2020, September 16). Scope. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/scope-2034287 Leahy, Paul. "Scope." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/scope-2034287 (accessed March 28, 2024).