Basic Elements of Java
Basic Syntax
Case
Sensitivity -Java is case sensitive, which
means identifierHelloandhellowould have
different meaning in Java.
Class
Names -For all class names the first
letter should be in Upper Case.
If several words are used to form a name of the
class, each inner word's first letter should be in
Upper Case.
Exampleclass MyFirstJavaClass
Basic Syntax
Method
Names -All method names should start
with a Lower Case letter.
If several words are used to form the name of the
method, then each inner word's first letter should
be in Upper Case.
Examplepublic void myMethodName()
Program
File Name -Name of the program file
should exactly match the class name.
Basic Syntax
public
static void main(String
args[])
-Java program processing starts from
the main() method which is a mandatory
part of every Java program.
Package, Class, Method
A
package is a collection of related
classes
Class is used to create Java
programs
Method is a set of instructions
designed to accomplish a specific
task.
package java.util
class Scanner.
Package, Class, Method
This
and other mathematical
methods are contained in the class
Math.
The name of the package containing
the class Math is java.lang.
Package
Program Structure
Program Structure
To
use named constants and stream
objects in the method main, Java
requires that you declare the named
constants and the input stream
objects with the reserved word
static.
Program Structure
Hello World
A Java Program
Sample Run
Java Class
The
basic unit of a Java program is a
class.
A Java application program is,
therefore, a collection of one or more
classes.
Typically, every Java class consists
of one or more methods.
Roughly speaking, a method is a
sequence of statements or
instructions whose objective is to
Java class
Java Class
The
first line of the program is:
public class ASimpleJavaProgram
ASimpleJavaProgram
is the name of the
Java class.
The
second line of the program consists of
the left brace, which is matched with the
second right brace (the very last brace).
These braces together mark the beginning and
end of (the body of) the class
ASimpleJavaProgram.
Java Class
Method main
Method main
The
basic parts of the method main are
the heading and the body.
The first line of the method main:
public static void main(String[] args)
is called the heading of the method main.
The
statements enclosed between braces
( { and }) form the body of the method
main.
Method main
The
body of the method main contains two
types of statements:
Declaration statements
Executable statements
Declaration
statements are used to declare
things such as variables.
Executable
statements perform calculations,
manipulate data, create output, accept
input, and so on.
Basics of a Java Program
Two
types of Java programs
Java applets - Java applets are programs
designed to run on a Web browser.
Java application programs - Java
application programs do not require a
Web browser.
Basics of a Java Program
To
write meaningful programs, you must
learn the programming languages special
symbols, words, and syntax rules.
The programming languages rules,
symbols, special words, and their meanings
enable you to write programs to solve
problems.
Programming
language: A set of rules,
symbols, and special words used to
construct programs.
Comments
Typically,
comments can be used to
identify the authors of the program, give
the date when the program is written or
modified, give a brief explanation of the
program, and explain the meaning of
key statements in a program.
Comments
compiler.
are for the reader, not for the
Comments
ASimpleJavaProgram,
given in our
example, contains the following comments:
Two
common types of comments
single-line comments
multiple-line comments
Single-line Comments
Single-line
comments begin
with // and can be placed anywhere
in the line.
Everything encountered in that line
after // is ignored by the compiler
You can put comments at the end of
this line as follows:
System.out.println("7 + 8 = " + (7 + 8)); //prints:
7 + 8 = 15
Multiple-line Comments
Multiple-line
comments are enclosed
between /* and */.
The compiler ignores anything that
appears between /* and */.
For example, the following is an example
of a multiple-line comment:
/*
This is my first Java program
*/
Special Symbols
In
Java, commas are used
to separate items in a list.
Semicolons
are used to
end a Java statement.
The
third row consists of
tokens made up of two
characters, but which are
regarded as single
symbols. No character can
come between the two
characters in these
symbols, not even a blank.
Token: smallest individual unit
of a program Java
Reserved Words
(Keywords)
Reserved
words
are also called
keywords.
Reserved
words
cannot be
redefined within
any program;
that is, they
cannot be used
for anything
other than their
intended use.
Identifiers
A
third category of tokens is identifiers. Identifiers
are names of things, such as variables, constants,
and methods, that appear in programs.
Identifier:
A Java identifier consists of letters,
digits, the underscore character (_), and the dollar
sign ($) and must begin with a letter, underscore,
or the dollar sign.
key word cannot be used as an identifier.
Most
importantly identifiers are case sensitive.
Identifiers
The
following are legal identifiers in Java:
first
conversion
payRate
counter1
$Amount
Identifiers
For
names of classes, capitalize the first letter of the
class name
ThisIsAnExampleOfClassName
For
names of methods and variables, the first letter of
the word should start with a small letter. For example:
thisIsAnExampleOfVariable
In
case of multi-word identifiers, use capital letters to
indicate the start of the word except the first word for
variables
charArray, fileNumber, ClassName
Avoid
using underscores at the start of the identifier
Data Types
The
objective of a Java program is to
manipulate data.
Data
type: A set of values together
with a set of operations on those
values.
Primitive data types
The
primitive data types are the
fundamental data types in Java. There are
three categories of primitive data types:
Integral, which is a data type that deals with
integers, or numbers without a decimal part
(and characters)
Floating-point, which is a data type that
deals with decimal numbers
Boolean, which is a data type that deals with
logical values
Integral Data Types
Integral
data types are further classified into
five categories:
char
byte
short
int
long
Which
data type you use depends on how big
a number your program needs to deal with.
Integral Data Types
int Data Types
Positive
integers do not require a +
sign in front of them.
No
commas are used within an
integer.
Recall
that in Java, commas are used
for separating items in a list. Thus,
36,782 is interpreted as two
integers: 36 and 782.
char Data Types
The
main purpose of this data type is to represent
single charactersthat is, letters, digits, and special
symbols.
When
using the char data type, you enclose each
character represented within single quotation marks.
'A', 'a', '0', '*', '+', '$', '&', ' '
Note
that a blank space is a character and is written
as ' ', with a space between
The
data type char allows only one symbol to be
placed between the single quotation marks. Thus, the
value 'abc' is not of type char.
boolean Data Types
The
data type boolean has only two
values: true and false.
true and false are called the logical
(Boolean) values
Default value: false
The
primary purpose of this data type is
to manipulate logical (Boolean)
expression.
An expression that evaluates to true or false
is called a logical (Boolean) expression.
Floating-point Data
Types
To
deal with decimal numbers, Java
provides the floating-point data type.
Java provides two data types to
represent decimal numbers:
float
double
float vs double
float:
The data type float is used in Java to represent
any real number between 3.4E+38 and 3.4E+38. The
memory allocated for the float data type is 4 bytes.
double:
The data type double is used in Java to
represent any real number between 1.7E+308 and
1.7E+308. The memory allocated for the double data
type is 8 bytes.
number
of decimal places
float values is 6 or 7.
double type is typically 15.
class String
String
is a sequence of zero or more
characters.
Strings in Java are enclosed in double
quotation marks (not in single quotation
marks, as are the char data types).
To process strings effectively, Java
provides the class String.
the class String contains various operations to
manipulate a string.
the class String is not a primitive type
String
Null
or empty string - a string that
contains no characters
The
following are examples of
strings. Note that "" is the empty
string.
Liza"
Hello World"
Position in the String
Every
character in a string has a specific position in the string.
The position of the first character is 0, the position of the second
character is 1, and so on.
The length of a string is the number of characters in it.
When
determining the length of a string, you must also count
any spaces contained in the string.
For example, the length of the string "It is a beautiful day." is 22.
Strings and the Operator
+
One
of the most common operations performed
on strings is the concatenation operation,
which allows a string to be appended at the end
of another string.
The
operator + can be used to concatenate (or
join) two strings as well as a string and a
numeric value or a character.
The
associativity of the operator + is from left
to right, so the operator + is evaluated from left
to right.
Strings and the Operator
+
Expression
Evaluation
"Sunny" + " Day"
"Sunny Day"
"Amount Due = $" + 576.35
"Amount Due = $576.35"
"The sum = " + 12 + 26
"The sum = 1226"
"The sum = " + (12 + 26)
"The sum = 38"
12 + 26 + " is the sum"
"38 is the sum"
Sample Program
Output of the Program
Allocating Memory with Named
Constants and Variables
When
you instruct the computer to allocate memory,
you tell it what names to use for each memory
location and what type of data to store in those
locations.
Named constant: A memory location whose content
is not allowed to change during program execution.
To
allocate memory, we use Javas declaration
statements. The syntax to declare a named constant
is:
Named Constant
Variables
In
Java, memory cells whose contents can be
modified during program execution are called
variables.
Variable:
A memory location whose content
may change during program execution.
The syntax for declaring one variable or
multiple variables is:
Variable Types
There
are three kinds of variables in
Java:
Local variables
Instance variables
Class/static variables
Local vs Instance vs
Class
Local vs Instance vs
Class
Sample Program: Local
Variable
Sample Program
In
this example:
side1,side2areinstance variables. Any
method inTwoSidescan access these
variables directly.
side1Squared,side2Squared,
andhypSquared
are local variables
intestRightTriangle. They are only
valid intestRightTriangle.
Variables
Initialize
your variables as you
declare them.
Use descriptive names for your
variables.
For naming variables, the first
letter of the word should start
with a small letter
In case of multi-word, use capital
letters to indicate the start of the
word
Declaring and Initializing
Variables
Putting Data into
Variables
The
two common ways to place data
into a variable are:
1. Use an assignment statement.
2. Use input (read) statements.
Assignment Statement
Assignment Statements
SAMPLE
PROGRAM
Output of the Program
Assignment Statements
Values of the Variables
num1, num2, and num3
Values of the Variables
num1, num2, and num3
Assignment Statement
Output Statements
In
Java, output on the standard output
device is accomplished by using the
standard output object System.out.
The object System.out has access to two
methods, print and println, to output a
string on the standard output device.
The syntax to use the object System.out
and the methods print and println is:
Output Statements
System.out.println();
or System.out.print("\n");
only positions the insertion point at the beginning of the next
line.
Commonly Used Escape
Sequences
In
Java, \ is called the escape character and \n is called
the newline escape sequence
Programming Style and
Form
Every
Java application program must
satisfy certain language rules.
It must also satisfy the syntax rules,
which, like grammar rules, tell what is
correct and what is incorrect, and what
is legal and what is illegal in the
language.
Other rules give precise meaning to the
language; that is, they support the
languages semantics semantic rules
Syntax
Errors
in syntax are detected during compilation. Consider
the following Java statements:
int x;
//Line 1
int y
//Line 2
double z; //Line 3
y = w + x; //Line 4
When
these statements are compiled, a compilation error
will occur at Line 2and Line 4
Note
that compilers not only discover syntax errors, but
also provide hints and sometimes tell the user where the
syntax errors are and how to fix them.
USE OF SEMICOLONS,
BRACES, AND COMMAS
In
Java, a semicolon is used to terminate a
statement. The semicolon is also called a
statement terminator.
Note that braces, { and }, are not Java
statements. Braces are delimiters
because they enclose the body of a
method and set it off from other parts of
the program.
Commas are used to separate items in a
list
Semantics
The
set of rules that gives meaning to a language is
called semantics.
For
example, the following two expressions are both
syntactically correct expressions, but they have
different meanings:
2+3*5
(2 + 3) * 5
If
you substitute one of these expressions for the
other in a program, you will not get the same results
even though the numbers are the same, the
semantics are different.
Prompt Lines
Prompt
lines are executable
statements that inform the user
what to do.
Consider the following Java
statements, in which num is an int
variable:
System.out.println("Please enter a
number:);
num = console.nextInt();
Form and Style
The
program should be easier to
read
The program that you write should
be properly indented and formatted
To document the variables,
programmers typically declare one
variable per line
Always put a space before and after
an operator
DebuggingCode Walkthroughs
As
you write programs, you will
create unintentional bugs.
Every programmer creates bugs.
Bugs are aspects of programs that
cause the programs to do other than
what you intended.
To detect the inconsistency between
what you intended to code and what
you actually coded.
