Test Apex Class Error: Error: Compile Error: Expression cannot be assigned at line -1 column -1

Question

I am playing around SFDC and wrote a trigger to count the total Contacts in the system. I wrote the test class and when I am trying to save the class I get the following error:

Error: Compile Error: Expression cannot be assigned at line -1 column -1

This is my test class:

@isTest
public class TestCountContacts{
  static testMethod void TestCountcontacts(){

    Contact newContact = new Contact();

    Contact.FirstName = 'John';
    Contact.LastName = 'Jones';

    insert newContact;

    List<Contact> total = [SELECT Id From Contact];

    System.assetEquals(total.size(),1);
  }
}

Answer 1

You need to use the instance variable not the class!

Contact.FirstName = 'John';
Contact.LastName = 'Jones';

Should be:

newContact.FirstName = 'John';
newContact.LastName = 'Jones';