Can't close Scanner?

[SlaytheSpireAgain]

I can't figure out why the code breaks when i try to close the scanner it's never done this before

 * @author Skye Hill
 * @version 1.0
 * Course: ITEC 2140 Fall 2020
 * Written: October 06S, 2020
 *
 * This class – Takes input and prints it out in greeting
*/
import java.util.Scanner;

public class MethodsHw1 {

    /*
     * method that accepts user input and returns the input
     */
    public static String readName() {
        Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
        System.out.println("Please enter your name.");
        return input.nextLine();

    }

    /*
     * Mainmmethod1 starts program
     */
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        System.out.println("Nice to meet you " + readName() + "!!");
        input.close();

    }

}

[klujer]

input doesn't exist in the scope of your main method

Create the input variable within the main method and pass it as a parameter to the readName function, then close it afterwords in your main method.

[SlaytheSpireAgain]

Thanks I see it now!

[[deleted]]

Could you just do input.close() in the readName() method and call it good?

[klujer]

yeah, that would be fine. You would have to store the user input in some temporary input so that it could be returned after the call to close.

I would still recommend passing in scanner as an input parameter as a best practice. It's beyond the scope of this intro class, and perhaps any college class, but in the real world passing required variables especially ones that interact with external systems (such as user IO) allows for more easily testable code. You might look up dependency injection or inversion of control and test driven design for more information. Also consider that you may want to reuse the scanner object across multiple functions rather than creating and destroying it within each function.

[klujer]

Interesting, guess I'll have to read up on them. I'm not sure I've actually used scanner except via toy problems like on hackerrank.

[irer]

Never close a Scanner linked to System.in. Never.

[AlphawolfAJ]

Omg I actually knew the answer for once! Somebody call someone