Java Quick Reference
Java Quick Reference
Object - Objects have states and behaviors. Example: A dog has states-color, name, breed as well as behaviors -wagging, barking, eating. An object is an instance of a class. Class - A class can be defined as a template/ blue print that describe the behaviors/states that object of its type support. Methods - A method is basically a behavior. A class can contain many methods. It is in methods where the logics are written, data is manipulated and all the actions are executed. Instant Variables - Each object has its unique set of instant variables. An object.s state is created by the values assigned to these instant variables.
public class MyFirstJavaProgram{ /* This is my first java program. * This will print 'Hello World' as the output */ public static void main(String []args){ System.out.println("Hello World"); // prints Hello World } }
About Java programs, it is very important to keep in mind the following points.
Case Sensitivity - Java is case sensitive which means identifier Hello and hello would 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 words first letter should be in Upper Case.
names
should
start
with
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.
Example public void myMethodName() Program File Name - Name of the program file should exactly match the class name. When saving the file you should save it using the class name (Remember java is case sensitive) and append '.java' to the end of the name. (if the file name and the class name do not match your program will not compile). Example : Assume 'MyFirstJavaProgram' is the class name. Then the file should be saved as 'MyFirstJavaProgram.java' public static void main(String args[]) - java program processing starts from the main() method which is a mandatory part of every java program..
Java Identifiers:
All java components require names. Names used for classes, variables and methods are called identifiers. In java there are several points to remember about identifiers. They are as follows:
All identifiers should begin with a letter (A to Z or a to z ), currency character ($) or an underscore (-). After the first character identifiers can have any combination of characters. A key word cannot be used as an identifier. Most importantly identifiers are case sensitive. Examples of legal identifiers:age, $salary, _value, __1_value Examples of illegal identifiers : 123abc, -salary
Java Modifiers:
Like other languages it is possible to modify classes, methods etc by using modifiers. There are two categories of modifiers.
Access Modifiers : defualt, public , protected, private Non-access Modifiers : final, abstract, strictfp
We will be looking into more details about modifiers in the next section.
Java Variables:
We would see following type of variables in Java:
Local Variables Class Variables (Static Variables) Instance Variables (Non static variables)
Java Arrays:
Arrays are objects that store multiple variables of the same type. However an Array itself is an object on the heap. We will look into how to declare, construct and initialize in the upcoming chapters.
Java Enums:
Enums were introduced in java 5.0. Enums restrict a variable to have one of only a few predefined values. The values in this enumerated list are called enums. With the use of enums it is possible to reduce the number of bugs in your code. For example if we consider an application for a fresh juice shop it would be possible to restrict the glass size to small, medium and Large. This would make sure that it would not allow anyone to order any size other than the small, medium or large.
Example:
class FreshJuice{
enum FreshJuiceSize{ SIZE, MEDUIM, LARGE } FreshJuiceSize size; } public class FreshJuiceTest{ public static void main(String args[]){ FreshJuice juice = new FreshJuice(); juice.size = FreshJuice. FreshJuiceSize.MEDUIM ; } }
Note: enums can be declared as their own or inside a class. Methods, variables, constructors can be defined inside enums as well.
Java Keywords:
The following list shows the reserved words in Java. These reserved words may not be used as constant or variable or any other identifier names. abstract byte class do extends for import long private short switch throws volatile assert case const double final goto instanceof native protected static synchronized transient while boolean catch continue else finally if int new public strictfp this try break char default enum float implements interface package return super throw void
Comments in Java
Java supports single line and multi-line comments very similar to c and c++. All characters available inside any comment are ignored by Java compiler.
public class MyFirstJavaProgram{ /* This is my first java program. * This will print 'Hello World' as the output * This is an example of multi-line comments. */ public static void main(String []args){
// This is an example of single line comment /* This is also an example of single line comment. */ System.out.println("Hello World"); } }
Java Literals:
A literal is a source code representation of a fixed value. They are represented directly in the code without any computation. Literals can be assigned to any primitive type variable. For example:
/ % ++ --
Division - Divides left hand operand by right hand operand Modulus - Divides left hand operand by right hand operand and returns remainder Increment - Increase the value of operand by 1 Decrement - Decrease the value of operand by 1
>
<
Checks if the value of left operand is less than (A < B) is true. the value of right operand, if yes then condition becomes true. Checks if the value of left operand is greater than or equal to the value of right operand, if yes then condition becomes true. Checks if the value of left operand is less than or equal to the value of right operand, if yes then condition becomes true. (A >= B) is not true.
>=
<=
(A <= B) is true.
>>
>>>
value is moved right by the number of bits specified by the right operand and shifted values are filled up with zeros.
||
(A || B) is true.
+=
C += A is equivalent to C = C + A
-=
C -= A is equivalent to C = C - A
*=
C *= A is equivalent to C = C * A
/=
C /= A is equivalent to C = C / A
%=
C %= A is equivalent to C = C % A
C <<= 2 is same as C = C << 2 C >>= 2 is same as C = C >> 2 C &= 2 is same as C = C & 2 C ^= 2 is same as C = C ^ 2 C |= 2 is same as C = C | 2
Misc Operators
There are few other operators supported by Java Language.
Conditional Operator ( ? : ):
Conditional operator is also known as the ternary operator. This operator consists of three operands and is used to evaluate boolean expressions. The goal of the operator is to decide which value should be assigned to the variable. The operator is written as :
instanceOf Operator:
This operator is used only for object reference variables. The operator checks whether the object is of a particular type(class type or interface type). instanceOf operator is wriiten as:
(class/interface type)
Syntax:
The syntax of a while loop is:
while(Boolean_expression) { //Statements }
Syntax:
The syntax of a do...while loop is:
do { //Statements }while(Boolean_expression);
Syntax:
The syntax of a for loop is:
Syntax:
The syntax of enhanced for loop is:
In a for loop, the continue keyword causes flow of control to immediately jump to the update statement. In a while loop or do/while loop, flow of control immediately jumps to the Boolean expression.
Syntax:
The syntax of a continue is a single statement inside any loop:
continue;
The if Statement:
An if statement consists of a Boolean expression followed by one or more statements.
Syntax:
The syntax of an if statement is:
Syntax:
if(Boolean_expression){ //Executes when the Boolean expression is true }else{ //Executes when the Boolean expression is false }
Syntax:
The syntax of a if...else is:
if(Boolean_expression 1){ //Executes when the Boolean expression 1 is true }else if(Boolean_expression 2){ //Executes when the Boolean expression 2 is true }else if(Boolean_expression 3){ //Executes when the Boolean expression 3 is true }else { //Executes when the one of the above condition is true. }
An if can have zero or one else's and it must come after any else if's. An if can have zero to many else if's and they must come before the else. Once an else if succeeds, none of he remaining else if's or else's will be tested.
Syntax:
The syntax for a nested if...else is as follows:
if(Boolean_expression 1){ //Executes when the Boolean expression 1 is true if(Boolean_expression 2){ //Executes when the Boolean expression 2 is true } }
A switch statement allows a variable to be tested for equality against a list of values. Each value is called a case, and the variable being switched on is checked for each case.
Syntax:
The syntax of enhanced for loop is:
switch(expression){ case value : //Statements break; //optional case value : //Statements break; //optional //You can have any number of case statements. default : //Optional //Statements }
Java Methods:
A Java method is a collection of statements that are grouped together to perform an operation. When you call the System.out.println method, for example, the system actually executes several statements in order to display a message on the console. In general, a method has the following syntax:
Modifiers: The modifier, which is optional, tells the compiler how to call the method. This defines the access type of the method. Return Type: A method may return a value. The returnValueType is the data type of the value the method returns. Some methods perform the desired operations without returning a value. In this case, the returnValueType is the keyword void. Method Name: This is the actual name of the method. The method name and the parameter list together constitute the method signature. Parameters: A parameter is like a placeholder. When a method is invoked, you pass a value to the parameter. This value is referred to as actual parameter or argument. The parameter list refers to the type, order, and number of the parameters of a method. Parameters are optional; that is, a method may contain no parameters. Method Body: The method body contains a collection of statements that define what the method does.
public class Dog{ String breed; int age; String color; void barking(){ } void hungry(){ } void sleeping(){ } }
A class can contain any of the following variable types.
Local variables . variables defined inside methods, constructors or blocks are called local variables. The variable will be declared and initialized within the method and the variable will be destroyed when the method has completed. Instance variables . Instance variables are variables within a class but outside any method. These variables are instantiated when the class is loaded. Instance variables can be accessed from inside any method, constructor or blocks of that particular class. Class variables . Class variables are variables declared with in a class, outside any method, with the static keyword.
Exceptions Handling:
A method catches an exception using a combination of the try and catch keywords. A try/catch block is placed around the code that might generate an exception. Code within a try/catch block is referred to as protected code, and the syntax for using try/catch looks like the following:
try { //Protected code }catch(ExceptionType1 e1) { //Catch block }catch(ExceptionType2 e2) { //Catch block }catch(ExceptionType3 e3) { //Catch block }finally { //The finally block always executes. }
Hello, World.
Integers.
Floating-point numbers.
Booleans.
Comparison operators.
Math library.
Type conversion.
Break statement.
Do-while loop.
Switch statement.
Arrays.
Compile-time initialization.
Two-dimensional arrays.
Compile-time initialization.
Ragged arrays.
Functions.
Libraries of functions.
Using an object.
Constructors.
Instance methods.
Classes.
Object-oriented libraries.