declaring method inside a constructor - methods

Question

when i declare the method inside a constructor i'm getting error "; expected". Not sure why. could you please help me understand
public class Reservation {
Date arrivalDate = new Date();
Date departDate = new Date();
Reservation(Date arrDate, Date deptDate)
{
arrivalDate = arrDate;
departDate = deptDate;
long nightsStay();
}
void nightsStay()
{
long days = (departDate.getTime()-arrivalDate.getTime())/(24*60*60*1000);
}
I'm getting error on the line where I declared long nightsStay();

Answer 1

You can't do
long nightsStay();
If you define a variable you need a name and then you can point a value to it, but you are missing the name.
public class Reservation {
Date arrivalDate = new Date();
Date departDate = new Date();
long nightsStay; // add that line
Reservation(Date arrDate, Date deptDate)
{
arrivalDate = arrDate;
departDate = deptDate;
nightsStay = nightsStay(); // change that line
}
long nightsStay()
{
long days = (departDate.getTime()-arrivalDate.getTime())/(24*60*60*1000);
}
}
Examples:
long l = 5; //variable l gets value 5;
l = nightsStay(); // calling method nightsStay and storing the result in l;
long nightsStay(); // is neither one
And if you want the method nightsStay() to return something then you must change the return type from void to the type you like to return, which is long in your case.