Notes for Java(part a)

 

Notes for Java

一、fundamentals

Comments

•         Comments are an important part of every program

–         are purely for documentation purposes

–        ie they are ignored by the compiler

–        can be used anywhere in a program

•         Essential comments are:

–        Program header

•         Program name, author, date written, program description

–        Statement description

•         To describe a particular statement eg a mathematical formula that may not be clear to someone reading the program

•         Space precludes using adequate comments in lecture examples

•         Java comments can take two main forms:

// this comment runs to the end of the line

/*  this comment runs to the terminating

    symbol, even across line breaks        */

Initialising Variables

•         Initialising a variable means to assign a value to the variable for the first time.

                        int total;

                        total = 0;

•         Variables can be initialised at the time they’re declared

                        int total = 0;

                        int rate = 0, value = 100;

Trying to use uninitialized variables will generate a Syntax Error when the code is compiled

Primitive Data Types

•         There are eight primitive (or simple) data types in Java

•         Four of them represent integers:

–       byte, short, int, long

•         Two of them represent floating point numbers:

–       float, double

•         One of them represents characters:

–       char

•         And one of them represents boolean values:

–       boolean

Numeric Primitive Data

•         The difference between the various numeric primitive types is their size, and therefore the values they can store

•         We will predominantly use int and double

Characters

•         A char variable stores a single character

•         Character literals are delimited by single quotes:

'a'   'X'    '7'    '$'    ','    ‘ ‘

            char charVariable = 'X‘;

            char anotherCharVariable = ‘&‘;

Boolean

•         A boolean value represents a true or false condition

•         The reserved words true and false are the only valid values for a boolean type

            boolean invalidInput = false;

            boolean repeatLoop = true;

Identifiers

•         Identifiers are the words you devise to use in a program ie.

–        variables, constants, methods or the program name

                                    total, countTotalParts, DemoProgram

•         Use letters, digits, the underscore (_), and the dollar sign

•         An identifier cannot begin with a digit

•         Java is case sensitive, therefore Total and total are different identifiers

•         There is no length limit

–        make the identifier name understandable

Conventions

•         A rule that we agree to follow, even though it’s not required by the language, is said to be a convention

–        capitalise the first letter of each word after the first.

•         begin a program (class) name with an uppercase letter :

                        DemoProgram

•         Variable names should begin with a lower case letter

                        firstName

                        totalSalesValue

Variable Names

•         Variable names should be descriptive.

•         Descriptive names allow the code to be more readable; therefore, the code is more maintainable.

•         Which of the following is more descriptive?

double tr = 0.0725;

double salesTaxRate = 0.0725;

•         Java programs should be self-documenting.

•         More Java naming conventions can be found at:

http://java.sun.com/docs/codeconv/html/CodeConventions.doc8.html

 

Arithmetic Operators

Operator          Meaning           Type    Example

+          Addition           Binary  total = cost + tax;

-           Subtraction       Binary  cost = total – tax;

*          Multiplication    Binary  tax = cost * rate;

/           Division            Binary  salePrice = original / 2;

%         Modulus           Binary  remainder = value % 5;

 

Increment and Decrement Operators

•         Shortcuts – use them sparingly

•         The increment operator (++) adds one to its operand

•         The decrement operator (--) subtracts one from its operand

     count++;      is equivalent to      count = count + 1;

Constants

•         A constant is a type of variable, but one whose value doesn’t change during the execution of a program.

•         Constants can be named by assigning them to variables:

                        double base = 32.0;

                        double conversionFactor = 5.0 / 9.0;

•         To prevent a constant from being changed, the reserved word final can be added to its declaration:

                        final double base = 32.0;

                        final double conversionFactor = 5.0 / 9.0;

Naming Constants

•         A convention

•         The names of constants are written entirely in uppercase letters, with underscores used to indicate boundaries between words:

                        final double BASE = 32.0;

                        final double CONVERSION_FACTOR = 5.0 / 9.0;

•         Programs are easier to read and modify

•         Inconsistencies and typographical errors are less likely

Input and Output

•         Programs use both input and output

•         Input is any data the program requires

–        It can be already stored in the program or

–        Entered by a user or

–        Obtained from a file or other input device

•         Output is any data produced by the program

–        It can be displayed to the terminal or

–        Written to a file or

–        Used to operate devices

Displaying output on the screen

System.out.println( )

–       Prints what is contained in the argument ie. between (  )

–       println() always advances to the next line after displaying its argument

System.out.print( )

–        Does not advance to the next line after displaying its argument

Displaying output

•         Strings are any characters contained within  double quotes

•         They are often displayed  as output

                        System.out.println(“This string will be displayed”);

•          System.out.println( ) and System.out.print( ) can only display arguments of a single type egs Strings or variables

                        System.out.println(fahrenheitTemp);  //displays the value of the variable

•         To display mixed types we need to concatenate or join numeric types into a string

The plus operator

•         So the plus operator (+) is used for addition and concatenation

•         The function that the + operator performs depends on the type of the information on which it operates

•         If both operands are strings, or if one is a string and one is a number, it performs string concatenation

•         If both operands are numeric, it adds them

•         The + operator is evaluated left to right

•         Parentheses can be used to force the operation order

Escape Sequences

•         Escape sequences start with / followed by a character and are inserted in a string being displayed to alter the display

 

•       /n to start a new line:

                        System.out.println("A hop,/nand a jump");

                        A hop,

                        and a jump

•       /t          represents a tab space

                        System.out.println("John’s total:/t " + salesTotal);

                        John’s total:                  225

二、classes, objects, methods

String class

•         The String class is one of the most important prewritten classes that come with Java

•         Every character string delimited by double quotation marks, represents a String object

•         Note that class names always start with a capital letter

•         A variable either holds

–        a primitive type, int totalValue;

–        or it holds an object String title;

•         A class name can be thought of as a type to declare an object

                        String title;

                        title =  "Java Software Solutions”;

•         Or just like primitive variables, combine the 2 steps

                        String title = "Java Software Solutions";

Methods

•         Methods are easy to recognise –

–        An identifier that is always followed by ( )

•         Once an object has been created, we can do things to it by calling the methods in the object’s class

•         In general a method call takes this form:

            object . method-name (parameters)

•         Parameters (or arguments) are data that the method requires

•         Methods may require

–        no parameter, one parameter, many parameters

Class Methods

•         Some methods can be invoked through the class name, instead of through an object of the class

•         These methods are called class methods or static methods

•         The Math class contains many static methods, providing various mathematical functions, such as

–        absolute value, trigonometry functions, square root, etc.

•         These methods are invoked by the class name

                        Class . method-name (parameters)

Using the Result of a Method Call

•         The value returned by a method can be saved in a variable:

                        double y = Math.abs(x);

•         Or use the result returned by a method directly, without first saving it in a variable.

                        double z = Math.sqrt(Math.abs(x));

                        System.out.println(Math.sqrt(2.0));

Packages/Classes

Classes are in packages

•         Import the classes you need at the start of the program

            import javax.swing.JOptionPane;           or

             import javax.swing.*;

Dialog Boxes

•         A dialog box is a graphical window that pops up on top of any currently active window for the user

•         Import the  JOptionPane class from the swing package

                        import javax.swing.JOptionPane;    or

                        import javax.swing.*;

Getting Input

To display a dialog box with the specified message and an input text field. The contents of the text field are returned.

•         For example

String numStr = JOptionPane.showInputDialog ("Enter an integer:");

Displaying an Output Message

•         To display a dialog box containing the specified message. (null centres the box on the screen)

•         For example

JOptionPane.showMessageDialog (null, result);

Arithmetic promotion

•         Arithmetic promotion happens automatically when operators in expressions are different data types

•         Java converts operands to a type that will safely accommodate both values

•         For expressions using integer and floating-point values:

anInteger = aDouble * anInteger;

–        The integer value is temporarily converted to a double type

–        The operation is performed

–        The result is a double

–        It is stored according to the receiving variable type

Wrapper Classes

•         Contain static methods that convert Strings to the associated type  eg.

                        static int parseInt (String str)

                        static double parseDouble (String str)

•         eg Integer and Double classes methods convert an integer or double stored in a String :

                        String aString = “ 123” ;

                        int num1 = Integer.parseInt (aString);

                        String anotherString = “ 123.999” ;

                        double num2 = Double.parseDouble(anotherString);

 

-- fundamentals of java