Tariq Daradkeh
Spring 2026
CS310 Advanced Programming Language – JAVA
Chapter 4 Mathematical Functions, Characters, and Strings
1
Motivations
Suppose you need to estimate the area enclosed by four
cities, given the GPS locations (latitude and longitude) of
these cities, as shown in the following diagram. How
would you write a program to solve this problem? You will
be able to write such a program after completing this
chapter.
2
Mathematical Functions
Java provides many useful methods in the Math class for performing common
mathematical functions.
3
The Math Class
▪ Class constants:
• PI
• E
▪ Class methods:
• Trigonometric Methods
• Exponent Methods
• Rounding Methods
• min, max, abs, and random Methods
4
Trigonometric Methods
▪sin(double a) Examples:
▪cos(double a)
[Link](0) returns 0.0
▪tan(double a) [Link]([Link] / 6)
▪acos(double a) returns 0.5
[Link]([Link] / 2)
▪asin(double a) returns 1.0
▪atan(double a) [Link](0) returns 1.0
[Link]([Link] / 6)
returns 0.866
[Link]([Link] / 2)
Radians returns 0
toRadians(90)
5
Exponent Methods
▪ exp(double a) Examples:
Returns e raised to the power of a.
▪ log(double a) [Link](1) returns 2.71
Returns the natural logarithm of a. [Link](2.71) returns 1.0
[Link](2, 3) returns 8.0
▪ log10(double a)
[Link](3, 2) returns 9.0
Returns the 10-based logarithm of
a. [Link](3.5, 2.5) returns
22.91765
▪ pow(double a, double b) [Link](4) returns 2.0
Returns a raised to the power of b. [Link](10.5) returns 3.24
▪ sqrt(double a)
Returns the square root of a.
6
Rounding Methods
▪ double ceil(double x)
x rounded up to its nearest integer. This integer is returned as a
double value.
▪ double floor(double x)
x is rounded down to its nearest integer. This integer is returned as a
double value.
▪ double rint(double x)
x is rounded to its nearest integer. If x is equally close to two integers,
the even one is returned as a double.
▪ int round(float x)
Return (int)[Link](x+0.5).
▪ long round(double x)
Return (long)[Link](x+0.5).
7
Rounding Methods Examples
[Link](2.1) returns 3.0
[Link](2.0) returns 2.0
[Link](-2.0) returns –2.0
[Link](-2.1) returns -2.0
[Link](2.1) returns 2.0
[Link](2.0) returns 2.0
[Link](-2.0) returns –2.0
[Link](-2.1) returns -3.0
[Link](2.1) returns 2.0
[Link](2.0) returns 2.0
[Link](-2.0) returns –2.0
[Link](-2.1) returns -2.0
[Link](2.5) returns 2.0
[Link](-2.5) returns -2.0
[Link](2.6f) returns 3
[Link](2.0) returns 2
[Link](-2.0f) returns -2
[Link](-2.6) returns -3
8
min, max, and abs
▪ max(a, b)and min(a, b) Examples:
Returns the maximum or
minimum of two parameters.
[Link](2, 3) returns 3
▪ abs(a)
[Link](2.5, 3) returns
Returns the absolute value of the
parameter. 3.0
[Link](2.5, 3.6)
▪ random()
returns 2.5
Returns a random double value
in the range [0.0, 1.0). [Link](-2) returns 2
[Link](-2.1) returns
2.1
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The random Method
Generates a random double value greater than or equal to 0.0 and
less than 1.0 (0 <= [Link]() < 1.0).
Examples:
Returns a random integer
(int)([Link]() * 10)
between 0 and 9.
50 + (int)([Link]() * 50) Returns a random integer
between 50 and 99.
In general,
a + [Link]() * b Returns a random number between
a and a + b, excluding a + b.
10
Case Study: Computing Angles of a Triangle
x2, y2
A = acos((a * a - b * b - c * c) / (-2 * b * c))
a B = acos((b * b - a * a - c * c) / (-2 * a * c))
B
c C = acos((c * c - b * b - a * a) / (-2 * a * b))
C
A x3, y3
b
x1, y1
Write a program that prompts the user to enter the x- and y-coordinates of
the three corner points in a triangle and then displays the triangle’s angles.
ComputeAngles
ComputeAngles
11
Character Data Type
Four hexadecimal digits.
char letter = 'A'; (ASCII)
char numChar = '4'; (ASCII)
char letter = '\u0041'; (Unicode)
char numChar = '\u0034'; (Unicode)
NOTE: The increment and decrement operators can also be used
on char variables to get the next or preceding Unicode character.
For example, the following statements display character b.
char ch = 'a';
[Link](++ch);
12
Unicode Format
Java characters use Unicode, a 16-bit encoding scheme
established by the Unicode Consortium to support the
interchange, processing, and display of written texts in the
world’s diverse languages. Unicode takes two bytes,
preceded by \u, expressed in four hexadecimal numbers
that run from '\u0000' to '\uFFFF'. So, Unicode can
represent 65535 + 1 characters.
Unicode \u03b1 \u03b2 \u03b3 for three Greek
letters
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ASCII Code for Commonly Used Characters
Characters Code Value in Decimal Unicode Value
'0' to '9' 48 to 57 \u0030 to \u0039
'A' to 'Z' 65 to 90 \u0041 to \u005A
'a' to 'z' 97 to 122 \u0061 to \u007A
14
Escape Sequences for Special Characters
15
Appendix B: ASCII Character Set
ASCII Character Set is a subset of the Unicode from \u0000 to \u007f
16
ASCII Character Set, cont.
ASCII Character Set is a subset of the Unicode from \u0000 to \u007f
17
Casting between char and Numeric Types
int i = 'a'; // Same as int i = (int)'a';
char c = 97; // Same as char c = (char)97;
18
Comparing and Testing Characters
if (ch >= 'A' && ch <= 'Z')
[Link](ch + " is an uppercase letter");
else if (ch >= 'a' && ch <= 'z')
[Link](ch + " is a lowercase letter");
else if (ch >= '0' && ch <= '9')
[Link](ch + " is a numeric character");
19
Methods in the Character Class
Method Description
isDigit(ch) Returns true if the specified character is a digit.
isLetter(ch) Returns true if the specified character is a letter.
isLetterOfDigit(ch) Returns true if the specified character is a letter or digit.
isLowerCase(ch) Returns true if the specified character is a lowercase letter.
isUpperCase(ch) Returns true if the specified character is an uppercase letter.
toLowerCase(ch) Returns the lowercase of the specified character.
toUpperCase(ch) Returns the uppercase of the specified character.
20
The String Type
The char type only represents one character. To represent a string
of characters, use the data type called String. For example,
String message = "Welcome to Java";
String is actually a predefined class in the Java library just like the
System class and Scanner class. The String type is not a primitive
type. It is known as a reference type. Any Java class can be used as
a reference type for a variable. Reference data types will be
thoroughly discussed in Chapter 9, “Objects and Classes.” For the
time being, you just need to know how to declare a String
variable, how to assign a string to the variable, how to
concatenate strings, and to perform simple operations for strings.
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Simple Methods for String Objects
Method Description
length() Returns the number of characters in this string.
charAt(index) Returns the character at the specified index from this string.
concat(s1) Returns a new string that concatenates this string with string s1.
toUpperCase() Returns a new string with all letters in uppercase.
toLowerCase() Returns a new string with all letters in lowercase.
trim() Returns a new string with whitespace characters trimmed on both sides.
22
Simple Methods for String Objects
Strings are objects in Java. The methods in the preceding
table can only be invoked from a specific string instance.
For this reason, these methods are called instance methods.
A non-instance method is called a static method. A static
method can be invoked without using an object. All the
methods defined in the Math class are static methods. They
are not tied to a specific object instance. The syntax to
invoke an instance method is
[Link](arguments).
23
Getting String Length
String message = "Welcome to Java";
[Link]("The length of " + message + " is "
+ [Link]());
24
Getting Characters from a String
String message = "Welcome to Java";
[Link]("The first character in message is "
+ [Link](0));
25
Converting Strings
"Welcome".toLowerCase() returns a new string, welcome.
"Welcome".toUpperCase() returns a new string,
WELCOME.
" Welcome ".trim() returns a new string, Welcome.
26
String Concatenation
String s3 = [Link](s2); or String s3 = s1 + s2;
// Three strings are concatenated
String message = "Welcome " + "to " + "Java";
// String Chapter is concatenated with number 2
String s = "Chapter" + 2; // s becomes Chapter2
// String Supplement is concatenated with character B
String s1 = "Supplement" + 'B'; // s1 becomes SupplementB
27
Reading a String from the Console
Scanner input = new Scanner([Link]);
[Link]("Enter three words separated by spaces: ");
String s1 = [Link]();
String s2 = [Link]();
String s3 = [Link]();
[Link]("s1 is " + s1);
[Link]("s2 is " + s2);
[Link]("s3 is " + s3);
28
Reading a Character from the
Console
Scanner input = new Scanner([Link]);
[Link]("Enter a character: ");
String s = [Link]();
char ch = [Link](0);
[Link]("The character entered is " + ch);
29
Comparing Strings
Method Description
equals(s1) Returns true if this string is equal to string s1 .
equalsIgnoreCase(s1) Returns true if this string is equal to string s1 ; it is case insensitive.
compareTo(s1) Returns an integer greater than 0 , equal to 0 , or less than 0 to indicate whether
this string is greater than, equal to, or less than s1 .
compareToIgnoreCase(s1) Same as compareTo except that the comparison is case insensitive.
startsWith(prefix) Returns true if this string starts with the specified prefix.
endsWith(suffix) Returns true if this string ends with the specified suffix.
OrderTwoCities
OrderTwoCities
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Obtaining Substrings
Method Description
substring(beginIndex) Returns this string’s substring that begins with the character at the specified
beginIndex and extends to the end of the string, as shown in Figure 4.2.
substring(beginIndex, Returns this string’s substring that begins at the specified beginIndex and
endIndex) extends to the character at index endIndex – 1, as shown in Figure 9.6.
Note that the character at endIndex is not part of the substring.
31
Finding a Character or a Substring in a
String
Method Description
indexOf(ch) Returns the index of the first occurrence of ch in the string. Returns -1 if not
matched.
indexOf(ch, fromIndex) Returns the index of the first occurrence of ch after fromIndex in the string.
Returns -1 if not matched.
indexOf(s) Returns the index of the first occurrence of string s in this string. Returns -1 if
not matched.
indexOf(s, fromIndex) Returns the index of the first occurrence of string s in this string after
fromIndex. Returns -1 if not matched.
lastIndexOf(ch) Returns the index of the last occurrence of ch in the string. Returns -1 if not
matched.
lastIndexOf(ch, Returns the index of the last occurrence of ch before fromIndex in this
fromIndex) string. Returns -1 if not matched.
lastIndexOf(s) Returns the index of the last occurrence of string s. Returns -1 if not matched.
lastIndexOf(s, Returns the index of the last occurrence of string s before fromIndex.
fromIndex) Returns -1 if not matched.
32
Finding a Character or a Substring in a
String
int k = [Link](' ');
String firstName = [Link](0, k);
String lastName = [Link](k + 1);
33
Conversion between Strings and
Numbers
int intValue = [Link](intString);
double doubleValue = [Link](doubleString);
String s = number + "";
34
Problem: Guessing Birthday
The program can guess your birth date. Run
to see how it works.
GuessBirthday
GuessBirthday
35
Mathematics Basis for the Game
19 is 10011 in binary. 7 is 111 in binary. 23 is 11101 in binary
10000
10000 00110 1000
10 10 100
+ 1 + 1 + 1
10011 00111 11101
19 7 23
36
Case Study: Converting a Hexadecimal
Digit to a Decimal Value
Write a program that converts a hexadecimal digit into a decimal value.
HexDigit2Dec
HexDigit2Dec
37
Case Study: Revising the Lottery Program Using
Strings
A problem can be solved using many different
approaches. This section rewrites the lottery program in
Listing 3.7 using strings. Using strings simplifies this
program.
LotteryUsingStrings
LotteryUsingStrings
38
Formatting Output
Use the printf statement.
[Link](format, items);
Where format is a string that may consist of substrings and
format specifiers. A format specifier specifies how an item
should be displayed. An item may be a numeric value,
character, boolean value, or a string. Each specifier begins
with a percent sign.
39
Frequently-Used Specifiers
Specifier Output Example
%b a boolean value true or false
%c a character 'a'
%d a decimal integer 200
%f a floating-point number 45.460000
%e a number in standard scientific notation 4.556000e+01
%s a string "Java is cool"
int count = 5;
items
double amount = 45.56;
[Link]("count is %d and amount is %f", count, amount);
display count is 5 and amount is 45.560000
40
FormatDemo
The example gives a program that uses printf to display a
table.
FormatDemo
FormatDemo
41