If the class is defined inside a package, then the package statement should be the first statement in the
source file.
If import statements are present then they must be written between the package statement and the class
declaration. If there are no package statements then the import statement should be the first line in the source
file.
Import and package statements will imply to all the classes present in the source file. It is not possible to
declare different import and/or package statements to different classes in the source file.
Classes have several access levels and there are different types of classes; abstract classes, final classes, etc. I will
be explaining about all these in the access modifiers chapter.
Apart from the above mentioned types of classes, Java also has some special classes called Inner classes and
Anonymous classes.
Java Package:
In simple, it is a way of categorizing the classes and interfaces. When developing applications in Java, hundreds of
classes and interfaces will be written, therefore categorizing these classes is a must as well as makes life much
easier.
Import statements:
In Java if a fully qualified name, which includes the package and the class name, is given, then the compiler can
easily locate the source code or classes. Import statement is a way of giving the proper location for the compiler to
find that particular class.
For example,the following line would ask compiler to load all the classes available in directory
java_installation/java/io
import [Link].*;
A Simple Case Study:
For our case study, we will be creating two classes. They are Employee and EmployeeTest.
First open notepad and add the following code. Remember this is the Employee class and the class is a public
class. Now, save this source file with the name [Link].
The Employee class has four instance variables name, age, designation and salary. The class has one explicitly
defined constructor, which takes a parameter.
import [Link].*;
public class Employee{
String name;
int age;
String designation;
double salary;
// This is the constructor of the class Employee
public Employee(String name){
[Link] = name;
}
// Assign the age of the Employee to the variable age.
public void empAge(int empAge){
age = empAge;
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}
/* Assign the designation to the variable designation.*/
public void empDesignation(String empDesig){
designation = empDesig;
}
/* Assign the salary to the variable salary.*/
public void empSalary(double empSalary){
salary = empSalary;
}
/* Print the Employee details */
public void printEmployee(){
[Link]("Name:"+ name );
[Link]("Age:"+ age );
[Link]("Designation:"+ designation );
[Link]("Salary:"+ salary);
}
}
As mentioned previously in this tutorial, processing starts from the main method. Therefore in-order for us to run this
Employee class there should be main method and objects should be created. We will be creating a separate class
for these tasks.
Given below is the EmployeeTest class, which creates two instances of the class Employee and invokes the
methods for each object to assign values for each variable.
Save the following code in [Link] file
import [Link].*;
publicclassEmployeeTest{
publicstaticvoid main(String args[]){
/* Create two objects using constructor */
Employee empOne =newEmployee("James Smith");
Employee empTwo =newEmployee("Mary Anne");
// Invoking methods for each object created
[Link](26);
[Link]("Senior Software Engineer");
[Link](1000);
[Link]();
[Link](21);
[Link]("Software Engineer");
[Link](500);
[Link]();
}
}
Now, compile both the classes and then run EmployeeTest to see the result as follows:
C :> javac [Link]
C :> vi [Link]
C :> javac [Link]
C :> java EmployeeTest
Name:JamesSmith
Age:26
Designation:SeniorSoftwareEngineer
Salary:1000.0
Name:MaryAnne
Age:21
Designation:SoftwareEngineer
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Salary:500.0
What is Next?
Next session will discuss basic data types in Java and how they can be used when developing Java applications.
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5
CHAPTER
Java Basic Data Types
V ariables are nothing but reserved memory locations to store values. This means that when you create a
variable you reserve some space in memory.
Based on the data type of a variable, the operating system allocates memory and decides what can be stored in
the reserved memory. Therefore, by assigning different data types to variables, you can store integers, decimals,
or characters in these variables.
There are two data types available in Java:
Primitive Data Types
Reference/Object Data Types
Primitive Data Types:
There are eight primitive data types supported by Java. Primitive data types are predefined by the language and
named by a keyword. Let us now look into detail about the eight primitive data types.
byte:
Byte data type is an 8-bit signed two's complement integer.
Minimum value is -128 (-2^7)
Maximum value is 127 (inclusive)(2^7 -1)
Default value is 0
Byte data type is used to save space in large arrays, mainly in place of integers, since a byte is four times
smaller than an int.
Example: byte a = 100, byte b = -50
short:
Short data type is a 16-bit signed two's complement integer.
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Minimum value is -32,768 (-2^15)
Maximum value is 32,767(inclusive) (2^15 -1)
Short data type can also be used to save memory as byte data type. A short is 2 times smaller than an int
Default value is 0.
Example: short s= 10000, short r = -20000
int:
int data type is a 32-bit signed two's complement integer.
Minimum value is - 2,147,483,648.(-2^31)
Maximum value is 2,147,483,647(inclusive).(2^31 -1)
Int is generally used as the default data type for integral values unless there is a concern about memory.
The default value is 0.
Example: int a = 100000, int b = -200000
long:
Long data type is a 64-bit signed two's complement integer.
Minimum value is -9,223,372,036,854,775,808.(-2^63)
Maximum value is 9,223,372,036,854,775,807 (inclusive). (2^63 -1)
This type is used when a wider range than int is needed.
Default value is 0L.
Example: int a = 100000L, int b = -200000L
float:
Float data type is a single-precision 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point.
Float is mainly used to save memory in large arrays of floating point numbers.
Default value is 0.0f.
Float data type is never used for precise values such as currency.
Example: float f1 = 234.5f
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double:
double data type is a double-precision 64-bit IEEE 754 floating point.
This data type is generally used as the default data type for decimal values, generally the default choice.
Double data type should never be used for precise values such as currency.
Default value is 0.0d.
Example: double d1 = 123.4
boolean:
boolean data type represents one bit of information.
There are only two possible values: true and false.
This data type is used for simple flags that track true/false conditions.
Default value is false.
Example: boolean one = true
char:
char data type is a single 16-bit Unicode character.
Minimum value is '\u0000' (or 0).
Maximum value is '\uffff' (or 65,535 inclusive).
Char data type is used to store any character.
Example: char letterA ='A'
Reference Data Types:
Reference variables are created using defined constructors of the classes. They are used to access objects.
These variables are declared to be of a specific type that cannot be changed. For example, Employee, Puppy,
etc.
Class objects and various types of array variables come under reference data type.
Default value of any reference variable is null.
A reference variable can be used to refer to any object of the declared type or any compatible type.
Example: Animal animal = new Animal("giraffe");
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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:
byte a =68;
char a ='A'
byte, int, long, and short can be expressed in decimal(base 10),hexadecimal(base 16) or octal(base 8) number
systems as well.
Prefix 0 is used to indicate octal and prefix 0x indicates hexadecimal when using these number systems for literals.
For example:
int decimal=100;
int octal =0144;
int hexa =0x64;
String literals in Java are specified like they are in most other languages by enclosing a sequence of characters
between a pair of double quotes. Examples of string literals are:
"Hello World"
"two\nlines"
"\"This is in quotes\""
String and char types of literals can contain any Unicode characters. For example:
char a ='\u0001';
String a ="\u0001";
Java language supports few special escape sequences for String and char literals as well. They are:
Notation Character represented
\n Newline (0x0a)
\r Carriage return (0x0d)
\f Formfeed (0x0c)
\b Backspace (0x08)
\s Space (0x20)
\t Tab
\" Double quote
\' Single quote
\\ Backslash
\ddd Octal character (ddd)
\uxxxx Hexadecimal UNICODE character (xxxx)
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What is Next?
This chapter explained you various data types, next topic explains different variable types and their usage. This will
give you a good understanding about how they can be used in the Java classes, interfaces, etc.
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6
CHAPTER
Java Variable Types
A variable provides us with named storage that our programs can manipulate. Each variable in Java has a
specific type, which determines the size and layout of the variable's memory; the range of values that can be
stored within that memory; and the set of operations that can be applied to the variable.
You must declare all variables before they can be used. The basic form of a variable declaration is shown here:
data type variable [ = value][, variable [= value] ...] ;
Here data type is one of Java's datatypes and variable is the name of the variable. To declare more than one
variable of the specified type, you can use a comma-separated list.
Following are valid examples of variable declaration and initialization in Java:
int a, b, c; // Declares three ints, a, b, and c.
int a = 10, b = 10; // Example of initialization
byte B = 22; // initializes a byte type variable B.
double pi = 3.14159; // declares and assigns a value of PI.
char a = 'a'; // the char variable a iis initialized with value 'a'
This chapter will explain various variable types available in Java Language. There are three kinds of variables in
Java:
Local variables
Instance variables
Class/static variables
Local variables:
Local variables are declared in methods, constructors, or blocks.
Local variables are created when the method, constructor or block is entered and the variable will be destroyed
once it exits the method, constructor or block.
Access modifiers cannot be used for local variables.
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Local variables are visible only within the declared method, constructor or block.
Local variables are implemented at stack level internally.
There is no default value for local variables so local variables should be declared and an initial value should be
assigned before the first use.
Example:
Here, age is a local variable. This is defined inside pupAge() method and its scope is limited to this method only.
public class Test{
public void pupAge(){
int age = 0;
age = age + 7;
[Link]("Puppy age is : " + age);
}
public static void main(String args[]){
Test test = new Test();
[Link]();
}
}
This would produce the following result:
Puppy age is: 7
Example:
Following example uses age without initializing it, so it would give an error at the time of compilation.
public class Test{
public void pupAge(){
int age;
age = age + 7;
[Link]("Puppy age is : " + age);
}
public static void main(String args[]){
Test test = new Test();
[Link]();
}
}
This would produce the following error while compiling it:
[Link]:variable number might not have been initialized
age = age + 7;
^
1 error
Instance variables:
Instance variables are declared in a class, but outside a method, constructor or any block.
When a space is allocated for an object in the heap, a slot for each instance variable value is created.
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Instance variables are created when an object is created with the use of the keyword 'new' and destroyed when
the object is destroyed.
Instance variables hold values that must be referenced by more than one method, constructor or block, or
essential parts of an object's state that must be present throughout the class.
Instance variables can be declared in class level before or after use.
Access modifiers can be given for instance variables.
The instance variables are visible for all methods, constructors and block in the class. Normally, it is
recommended to make these variables private (access level). However visibility for subclasses can be given for
these variables with the use of access modifiers.
Instance variables have default values. For numbers the default value is 0, for Booleans it is false and for object
references it is null. Values can be assigned during the declaration or within the constructor.
Instance variables can be accessed directly by calling the variable name inside the class. However within static
methods and different class ( when instance variables are given accessibility) should be called using the fully
qualified name . [Link].
Example:
import [Link].*;
public class Employee{
// this instance variable is visible for any child class.
public String name;
// salary variable is visible in Employee class only.
private double salary;
// The name variable is assigned in the constructor.
public Employee (String empName){
name = empName;
}
// The salary variable is assigned a value.
public void setSalary(double empSal){
salary = empSal;
}
// This method prints the employee details.
public void printEmp(){
[Link]("name : " + name );
[Link]("salary :" + salary);
}
public static void main(String args[]){
Employee empOne = new Employee("Ransika");
[Link](1000);
[Link]();
}
}
This would produce the following result:
name : Ransika
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