How to pass an arraylist to the Constructor

I'm a beginner at java and I am trying to do a program to introduce myself.
Below is my script.

    class Description 
    { 
    // Instance variable 
    private String name, national, dob;
	private ArrayList<String> hobbies = new ArrayList<String>();  
	
	public Description()
	{
		
	}
	
	// Other Constructor 
	public Description(String name, String national, String dob)
	{
		this.name = name; 
		this.national = national;
		this.dob = dob;
	}
	
	// Copy Constructor 
	
	
	// Accessor Method
	private String getname()
	{
		return name; 
	}

	private String getnational()
	{
		return national; 
	}

	private String getdob()
	{
		return dob;
	}
	
	private ArrayList geHobbies(){
	    return hobbies;
	}
	
	// Mutator Method
	public void setHobbies(ArrayList hobbies)
	{
	    this.hobbies = hobbies;
	}
	
	
	
	public void printInfo()
	{	
		System.out.println("My Information");
		System.out.printf("Name: %s%n", getname()); 
		System.out.printf("National: %s%n", getnational());
		System.out.printf("Date of birth: %s%n", getdob());
		
		System.out.printf("I have %d hobbies %n", hobbies.size());
		System.out.printf("  1: %s%n", hobbies.get(0));
		System.out.printf("  2: %s%n", hobbies.get(1));
	}
}
	

Main class:-

	class Lab_1 
	{
		
		public static void main (String [] args)
		{
	
			Description ds = new Description("Daniel ", "Singapore",  "01-01-2020"); 
			ArrayList <Description> hobbies = new ArrayList <Description> ();
			hobbies.add("Studying");
			hobbies.add("Coding");
		
			ds.printInfo();
			
		}
	}

However I received error: incompatible types: String cannot be converted to Description when I tried to run the script. Can any expert out there guide me on how I can solve this issue. Thank you! I am also required to create another arraylist call wishes, and include 4 wishes. while I'm still stuck at hobbies, I can't proceed and work on the other arraylist.

You got the error because you are trying to add strings to the ArrayList but the ArrayList has not been declared to store String values.

Replace

ArrayList <Description> hobbies = new ArrayList <> ();

with

ArrayList <String> hobbies = new ArrayList <> ();

and then do the following

hobbies.add("Studying");
hobbies.add("Coding");
ds.setHobbies(hobbies);

You are adding a String object ("Studying") to a collection that holds Description objects. Square peg, round hole.

The error message String cannot be converted to Description is quite clear on this matter.

This:

    Description ds = new Description("Ron ", "Singapore",  "01-01-2020"); 
    ArrayList <Description> hobbies = new ArrayList <Description> ();
    hobbies.add("Studying");

…should be:

    Description ds = new Description("Ron ", "Singapore",  "01-01-2020"); 

    ArrayList <Description> descriptions = new ArrayList <Description> ();
    descriptions.add( ds ) ;

To add a list of hobbies to the Description object, pass the list to the setHobbies method you wrote.

    Description ds = new Description("Ron ", "Singapore",  "01-01-2020"); 
    List< String > hobbies = List.of( "Studying" , "Coding" ) ;
    ds.setHobbies( hobbies ) ;

    ArrayList <Description> descriptions = new ArrayList <Description> ();
    descriptions.add( ds ) ;

We can tighten up that code.

    Description ds = new Description( "Ron " , "Singapore" ,  "01-01-2020" ) ; 
    ds.setHobbies( List.of( "Studying" , "Coding" ) ) ;

    List < Description > descriptions = new ArrayList <> () ;
    descriptions.add( ds ) ;

You are adding hobbies of string type to Description Type.

ArrayList <Description> hobbies = new ArrayList <Description> ();

Change it to String and then set these hobbies with the object ds of Description

  ArrayList<String> hobbies=new ArrayList<String>(); // Create ArrayList of type String not Description
  hobbies.add("Studying");
  hobbies.add("Coding");
  ds.setHobbies(hobbies); // set the hobbies with the description object
  ds.printInfo();

OUTPUT:-

My Information
Name: Ron 
National: Singapore
Date of birth: 01-01-2020
I have 2 hobbies 
  1: Studying
  2: Coding

Your hobbies object is suppose to be of type ArrayList<String>
To it pass to your Description class constructor you can do it like this

// Other Constructor 
public Description(String name, String national, String dob,ArrayList<String> hobbies)
{
    this.name = name; 
    this.national = national;
    this.dob = dob;
    this.hobbies=hobbies;
}

Here is your full class with constructor changes

class Description 
{ 
// Instance variable 
private String name, national, dob;
private ArrayList<String> hobbies = new ArrayList<String>();  

public Description()
{

}

// Other Constructor 
public Description(String name, String national, String dob,ArrayList<String> hobbies)
{
    this.name = name; 
    this.national = national;
    this.dob = dob;
    this.hobbies=hobbies;
}

// Copy Constructor 


// Accessor Method
private String getname()
{
    return name; 
}

private String getnational()
{
    return national; 
}

private String getdob()
{
    return dob;
}

private ArrayList geHobbies(){
    return hobbies;
}

// Mutator Method
public void setHobbies(ArrayList hobbies)
{
    this.hobbies = hobbies;
}



public void printInfo()
{   
    System.out.println("My Information");
    System.out.printf("Name: %s%n", getname()); 
    System.out.printf("National: %s%n", getnational());
    System.out.printf("Date of birth: %s%n", getdob());

    System.out.printf("I have %d hobbies %n", hobbies.size());
    System.out.printf("  1: %s%n", hobbies.get(0));
    System.out.printf("  2: %s%n", hobbies.get(1));
}
}

Here is your main Method

public static void main(String []args){
        
        ArrayList <String> hobbies = new ArrayList <String> ();
        hobbies.add("Studying");
        hobbies.add("Coding");
        Description ds = new Description("Ron ", "Singapore",  "01-01-2020", hobbies); 
        ds.printInfo();
     }