2.1.

Introduction to Class, Methods and Objects

A class is a template, blueprint,or contract that defines what an object’s data fields and methods
will be. An object is an instance of a class. You can create many instances of a class.
A Java class uses variables to define data fields and methods to define actions. The attributes
and behaviours defined by a class are common to all objects of the same kind.

Declaration of Classes

A class is declared by the use of the “class” keyword. Class body is enclosed between curly
braces { and }. The data or variables defined within the class are called instance variables. The
code is contained within methods. Collectively, the methods and variables defined in a class are
called members of the class.

Finally we can say a class is a blue print of particular classification of objects.

Please refer to the below image for more details.

Here we can say there is a class Car.

Here we can say there is a class called Animal..
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.
Declaration of Instance Variables

Variables defined within a class are called instance variables because each instance of the class
(ie, each object of the class) contains its own copy of these variables. Thus, the data for one
object is seperate and unique from the data of another. Instance variables can be declared public
or private or default (no modifier). When we do not want our variables value to be changed
outside our class we should declare them private. Public variables can be accessed and
changed from outside the class. We will have more information about this on OOP tutorial.

Below find the syntax for declaring an instance variable.

Declaration of Methods

A method is a program module that contains a series of statements that carry out a task. To
execute a method, you invoke or call it from another method; the calling method makes a
method call, which invokes the called method. Any class can contain an unlimited number of
methods, and each method can be called an unlimited number of times.

The syntax for method declaration is as given below. Java main method is given as an example.
Objects or Instances

Consider Tiger from the above list,

Objects are made up of attributes(properties) and methods(behaviours). Attributes are the
characteristics that define an object; the values contained in attributes differentiate the objects of
the same class from one another.

To understand this in a better way, let's take an example of Mobile as an object. Mobile has
characteristics like model, manufacturer, cost, operating system etc. So if we create “Samsung”
mobile object and “iPhone” mobile object, we can distinguish them from their characteristics. The
values of the attributes of an object are also referred to as the object's state.
Objects need not be physical objects. It can be any entity. It can be account,an
organization etc.

We can say --- Object is an instance of a class.

Consider an object Car. What we know about a car defines its attributes. What a car can do
defines its behaviours/methods.
Always operations can alter the state of the attributes.

Consider the above start operation for a Car. When the car is started ,it is affecting the state of
the engine.
Creating an Object:

As mentioned previously, a class provides the blueprints for objects. So basically an object is
created from a class. In Java, the new key word is used to create new objects.

There are three steps when creating an object from a class:

Declaration: A variable declaration with a variable name with an object type.

Instantiation: The 'new' key word is used to create the object.

Initialization: The 'new' keyword is followed by a call to a constructor. This call initializes the
new object.

Example of creating an object is given below:

ClassName ObjectReferenceVariableName = new ConstructorName();

Vehicle car= new Vehicle();

Refer the below Vehicle class.

We are creating three objects truck, bike and a car from Vehicle class.
Accessing Instance Variables and Methods using Objects:
/* call a variable as follows */
ObjectReference.variableName;

/* Now you can call a class method as follows */

ObjectReference.MethodName();

How objects communicates each other?

2.2. Constructors, Access Specifiers and Use of this
Keyword
Constructors

Java constructors are special methods which are used to initialize objects. Constructor method
has the same name as that of class, they are called or invoked when an object of class is created
and can't be called explicitly. They are designed to perform initializing actions such as initializing
the data fields or objects.

A java constructor has the same name as the name of the class to which it belongs.
Constructor’s syntax does not include a return type, since constructors never return a value.

Constructors can be classified into two types, default constructors and parametrized
constructors.
If you don't define a constructor, then the compiler creates a default constructor. Default
constructors do not contain any parameters. Default constructors are created only if there are no
constructors defined by us. Java provides a default constructor which takes no arguments, when
no explicit constructors are provided. Parametrized constructors are required to pass parameters
on creation of objects.
Access Specifiers

Each object has members (members can be variables or methods) which can be declared to
have specific access.
Access Modifier - private:
Methods, Variables and Constructors that are declared private can only be accessed
within the declared class itself. Private access modifier is the most restrictive access level.

Variables that are declared private can be accessed outside the class if public getter
methods are present in the class. Using the private modifier is the main way that an object
encapsulates itself and hide data from the outside world.

Access Modifier - public:

Members (variables, methods and constructors) declared public (least restrictive) within a
public class are visible to any class in the java program, irrespective of whether these classes
are in the package or in another package.

Below program will give compilation Error.

Use of this Keyword
There can be a lot of usage of this keyword. In java, this is a reference variable that refers to the
current object.
Example on this keyword

If there is ambiguity between the instance variable and parameter, this keyword resolves the
problem of ambiguity.

Understanding the problem without this keyword

Let's understand the problem if we don't use this keyword by the example given below:
In the above example, parameter (formal arguments) and instance variables are same that is
why we are using this keyword to distinguish between local variable and instance variable.

Solution of the above problem by this keyword

Solution of the above problem by with out using this keyword

Static Keyword
Static variables are also known as Class variables. Static variables are declared with the static
keyword in a class, but outside a method, constructor or a block.

There would only be one copy of each class variable per class, regardless of how many objects
are created from it.Static variables are stored in static memory.

Static variables are created when the program starts and destroyed when the program stops.

Visibility is similar to instance variables. However, most static variables are declared public since
they must be available for users of the class.
Default values are same as instance variables. 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.

Static variables can be accessed by calling with the class name . ClassName.VariableName.

Consider the below class Vehicle, here manufacturteName is declared as static and
getManufactureName() method also declared as static.
OUTPUT is:

2.3. Packages, Import Statement and Java Libraries

Packages

A package is a namespace that organizes a set of related classes and interfaces, providing
access protection and name space management. Conceptually packages can be thought of as
similar to different folders on the computer. Packages are used in Java to prevent naming
conflicts, to control access, and to make searching/locating and usage of classes easier.

Java platform provides a very large library of classes and interfaces organized into different
packages known as “Application Programming Interface” or API. Some of the packages in Java
API Library are:

java.lang - bundles the fundamental classes

java.io - classes for input, output functions are bundled in this package
Because software written in Java can be composed of hundreds of individual classes,
programmers can define their own packages to group related classes together. It is a good
practice to organize by grouping related classes and interfaces into packages so that a
programmer can easily locate and find the classes he needs.

Since the package creates a new namespace there won't be any class name conflicts with other
class names in other packages.

Eg: Both java.awt and java.util packages have a class called “List”. There is no naming conflict
because the two “List” classes are part of two different packages.

Using packages, it is easier to provide access control and it is also easier to locate the related
classes.

Eg: Consider a scenario where a bank has many employees. New employees are added, some
may resign from bank, so those employees need to be removed from bank. Many customers
come to the bank to get services. Customers open account, deposit money to account, withdraw
money from account etc.

Here we have different objects and so different classes need to be created. If it is going to be a
large application, it will be difficult to manage all the files without using packages. Also if we want
to set different visibility, like Customer should not see the details of Employee, packages can be
used to organize and set visibility using access modifiers.

Implementation of Packages in Java

The package in Java is represented using the keyword 'package'. The package statement is
written with the keyword 'package' followed by the name of package and ends with a semi colon.

Syntax: package packagename ;

Eg: package employee ;
package com.tcs.employees ;

The package statement should be the first line in the source file. There can be only one package
statement in each source file, and it applies to all types in the file.

Creating packages in Eclipse IDE

Step1: Create a package in eclipse and provide a name for the package as shown below.
Package name can be a one word name or multiple words separated by a dot.
Eg: com.tcs.employees (or) employee
Step 2: Create classe(s) inside the employee package. The java class file should have package
statement as the first line. In the screenshot below you can see the employee package.

The classes Employee.java and TestEmployee.java are created under this package. You can
see that the first line in Employee.java is the package statement.

Import Statement
A package is to group related classes or other type of files together. The classes and other types
under a package are called as package members. So as we saw above, we have grouped all
files into different packages.

If a class wants to access/use another class/member from the same package, the class need not
be imported. Classes/members within the same package can access each other without
importing them.

But in the scenario where the classes belonging to different packages need to access each
other, the class belonging to the other package must be imported into the class that wants to use
it.

The classes are imported using import statements. Import keyword is used to import the classes
from different packages. Import keyword is followed by the fully qualified name of the class which
includes the package name under which the class is present.
Eg: import java.util.Date ;

In the example below the Employee class is imported into the TestEmployee class.

You can see in the above example, the TestEmployee class is under the test package. You can
also see the import statement to import Employee in TestEmployee class. This is there because
TestEmployee is using Employee class, which is part of a different package employee. However
even after the Employee class is imported into TestEmployee there are still errors in
Testemployee class. This is because the Employee class is not visible to classes outside its
package. Earlier when the TestEmployee class was inside employee package, it knew the
Employee class. But when it was moved into a different package, and even after Employee
class was imported the Employee class and its constructor are not visible. This is because only
public members of a package/class are visible to classes from other packages. So specify public
access specifier to the class, constructor and method which need to be accessed from outside.

In the below screen, you can see the changes made to access specifiers of Employee class and
its constructor and methods. They are all declared with public access modifier.

To use a public package member from outside its package any one of the following can be used
a) Refer to the class/member by its fully qualified name
b) Import specific class/member in a package
c) Import all members/classes in a package

Refer to the class/member by its fully qualified name

employee.Employee = new employee.Employee() ;

Import all members/classes in a package:

By using * wild card, we can import all the classes inside employee package.
import employee.* ;

Import specific members/classes in a package:

We can also specify only the needed classes in the import statement.
import employee.Employee ;

If a class in a package has same name as another class in another package and both packages
are imported then you must refer to each class by its qualified name to resolve any name
ambiguities.
More on Access Modifiers and Java Libraries
We have discussed about 2 access specifiers in the previous courses. Which are they?

Yes -> public and private.

In Java, there are 4 access specifiers, they are:

Private Access Modifier – private

Methods, Variables and Constructors that are declared private can only be accessed within the
declared class itself. Private access modifier is the most restrictive access level.

Variables that are declared private can be accessed outside the class if public getter methods
are present in the class. Using the private modifier is the main way that an object encapsulates
itself and hide data from the outside world.

Public Access Modifier – public

A class, method or constructor declared public can be accessed from any other class. Therefore
attributes or methods declared inside a public class can be accessed from any other Java class
which is inside the same package or inside another package. If the public class which we try to
access is in a different package, it needs to be imported first.

Default Access Modifier - No keyword

For default access modifier, we do not explicitly declare an access modifier for a class, field,
method, constructors etc.

A variable or method declared without any access control modifier is available to any other class
in the same package. Such members can be considered as package private.
We have already seen such a scenario when we discussed about import statements.

Eg: The constructor method in the following Java class is in default access.
class Employee {
private String name;
private String empNo;
private int age;
private double basicPay;
// Constructor
Employee(String name, String empNo, int age) {
this.name = name;
this.empNo = empNo;
this.age = age;
}
}
Protected Access Modifier – protected
Protected is related to inheritance (a parent child relation). Protected members in a class can be
accessed only by its child classes from same/different package as well as by any other classes in
the same package.

The child class can be anywhere, in other package or within the same package of the parent
class.
The protected access modifier can be applied only to methods or fields, not to class. We can see
more on it when we go through inheritance.

Java Libraries

Java differs from most other languages in that the number of classes and interfaces in its
standard libraries is very large. Many common tasks have already been implemented by these
libraries.

They are generally of high quality and are widely used. Implementing something which already
exists in the libraries is probably wasted effort. Significant changes and additions to the standard
libraries occur in each major release of Java, and it pays to keep current.

The most widely used packages are java.lang and java.util. There are other packages used for
working with data such as java.sql, javax.sql, java.io etc.
For graphical applications, see the Swing classes (javax.swing, and so on).

You should go through JDK documentation just to get an idea of what is available. Later, when a
specific need arises, you will often know which packages might be helpful.

2.4. Conditional Operations

Conditional Operations

There are many scenarios in our everyday life, where we need to take some decisions based on
some criteria or condition. Decision making is one of the major part of Java also.

Conditional logic is involved when different operations are to be performed based on whether a
decision is true or not. Conditional expressions consists of conditions that results in a boolean
value and performs actions based on the boolean result. There are three types of decision
making statements in Java. They are:

1. if – This statement is the most basic of all control flow statements. “if” statement has a certain
condition expression. It executes a certain section of code only if that particular condition is true.
If the condition is false, control jumps to the end of the if statement.
if(condition)
{
/* statement(s) will execute if the condition is true.
For example, a=5
Checking condition -
if(a>3)
{
This code will be executed because 'a' is greater than
5.
}
*/
}

2. If ... else – This statement provides a secondary path of execution when the condition
becomes false. There can be nested if then else statement also.
if(condition)
{
/* statement(s) will execute if the condition is true.*/
}
else
{
/* statement(s) will execute if the boolean condition is
false */
}

In the above example, if a=5 and condition is to check if a>6 then it will go to else block.

Flow Diagram:

3. switch – 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 given as input is checked for each case.
This statement helps to select one out of the many choices based on an integer or String value.
The conditions will accept only integer, character or String. The syntax is different from if else
statements. Here we are comparing the input value with different cases. We can set a default
case for inputs which does not satisfy any case.
The syntax of the switch statement is as follows.

switch (expression) {
case value_1 :
statement(s);
break;
case value_2 :
statement(s);
break;
.
.
.
 case value_n :
statement(s);
break;
default:
statement(s);
}

Failure to add a break statement after a case will not generate a compile error but may have
more serious consequences because the statements on the next case will be executed.

The following rules apply to a switch statement:

1. The variable used in a switch statement can only be a byte, short, int, char or String(It is
allowed from jdk 1.7 version.).

2. You can have any number of case statements within a switch. Each case is followed by the
value to be compared to and a colon.

3. The value for a case must be the same data type as the variable in the switch and it must be a
constant or a literal.

4. When the variable is found equal to a case, the statements following that case will execute
until a break statement is reached. When a break statement is reached, the switch terminates,
and the flow of control jumps to the next line following the switch statement. Not every case
needs to contain a break. If no break appears, the flow of control will fall through to subsequent
cases until a break is reached.

A switch statement can have an optional default case, which must appear at the end of the
switch. The default case can be used for performing a task when none of the cases is true. No
break is needed in the default case.

Ternary Operator and Conditional (Logical) Operators

Java supports another conditional operator that is known as the ternary operator "?:" and
basically is used for an if-then-else as shorthand

boolean expression ? operand1 : operand2;

The "?:" operator evaluates an expression which may also be an operand and returns operand1
if the expression is true; otherwise returns operand2, if the expression is false. We can
understand this thing with the help of a diagram shown as:

If we analyze this diagram then we find that, operand1 is returned, if the expression is true;
otherwise operand2 is returned in case of false expression.
Lets have an example implementing some Logical operators:
Output of the Program:

value of x is 5
value of y is greater than the value of x
The returned value is 5

Thus we can conclude the ternary operator can be considered as the short hand of if then else
statement.

Conditional (Logical) Operators

Conditional operators return a true or a false value based on the state of the variables i.e. the
operations using conditional operators are performed between the two boolean expressions.

I. AND (&) and Conditional-AND (&&) operators:

The AND(&)operator is similar to the Conditional-AND operator (&&).Both of its operands are of
boolean type, even these operands may be boolean expressions. Other Relational operators can
also be used with these operators.

Lets use a Truth Table to know the status of an output

If we analyze the table we find that result is always true only in case of first condition where both
operands(or expressions) are true. On the other hand result is always false in other conditions.
Note that this table works alike for & and && operators.

In case of "&" operator,if both operands or expressions are true,the result is always true,
otherwise it is false if either left-hand or right-hand operand is false.

In case of "&&" operator, the result is also true, if both operands or expressions are true.
But this operator evaluates only the left-hand operand. It doesn't evaluate the right-hand operand
if the left-hand operand is false then it will not jump to the right-hand operand to evaluate it, and
will come out from that statement and read the next statement. That's why this mechanism is
known as short-circuiting. Consider the following statements where the second expression
returns false after evaluating only the left-hand operand.

True && true = true;// both operands are

evaluated
false && true = false;// only left-operand is
evaluated

But the "&" operator always evaluates both of its operands whether the first operand is true or
false. Consider the following statements where the second expression returns false after
evaluating the right-hand operand.

true & true = true;// both operands are

true
true & false = false;// both operands are
evaluated

II. OR (|)and Conditional-OR (||)operators:

Likewise, the OR operator(|) is similar to the Conditional-OR operator (||) and returns true, if one
or another of its operand is true.
Lets use a Truth Table to know the status of an output that works alike for"|" and "||" operators.
If we analyze the table then we find that, result is always false only if both operands or
expression are false. On the other hand, result is always true in rest of the other conditions.

Still these exists a major difference in their mode of use:

The "|" operator always evaluates both of its operands and returns true if one or other of its
operand is true. Otherwise false if both the conditions are false. Consider the following
statements where the second expression returns alse after evaluating the right-hand operand.

true | false = true; // left operand is true but both are

evaluated
false | false = false;//both operands are evaluated

In case of "||" the result is also true, if one of the both operands is true. Otherwise it evaluates to
falseif both operands are false. But this operator conditionally evaluates the right-hand operand
only if the left-hand operands is false. Like the Conditional-AND operator, this mechanism is also
known as short-circuiting. Consider the following statements where the first expression returns
true after evaluating the right-hand operand.

false || true = true;// both operands are

evaluated
true || false = true;// only left-operand is
evaluated
III. NOT ("!") operator :
The NOT ("!") operator performs the boolean NOT operation on a single operand or an
expression. It checks the boolean status of a current operand or expression and reverses the
value of a boolean expression i.e. if the current value of an operand or expression is true then it
reverses as false; but if the value of an operand or expression is false then it reverses as true.

Consider the following example:

Output of the Program:

x is not greater than y: false

y is not greater than x: true

2.5. Arrays and Basic Iterations

Understand need of arrays in programming

We have seen how to declare variable in the previous section. int x; Here x is a variable of type
int, so x will be capable of storing an integer value. At any point of time a variable can hold only a
single value.

Few more eg.

int age=20;
int score=70;

Say, I need to store scores of last 5 matches. What kind of data type do I take? May be I will
take 5 variables of type int.

int scoreMatch1;
int scoreMatch2;
int scoreMatch3;
int scoreMatch4;
int scoreMatch5;

Similarly, I need to record no. of kms I drove each day in last 5 days.

int kmsDay1;
int kmsDay2;
int kmsDay3;
int kmsDay4;
int kmsDay5;
 Similarly, I need to record the amount spent for each day in last 5 days.

double expenseDay1;
double expenseDay2;
double expenseDay3;
double expenseDay4;
double expenseDay5;

The above approach will not be efficient if the requirement(of recording data for a specific
period) changes from just last 5 days to last 30 days.

Array:
It is a single variable, capable of storing multiple values (of same data type). But an array
does not store the multiple values directly. It is a collection of more than one variable, of same
data type.

Declaring arrays:

The general syntax to declare an array is : data type variable name[]; The square brackets
indicate that the variable is an array of the data type declared.
Example:

int scores [];

int kmsTravelled [];
double expenses [];
char grades[];

Also, all the above arrays are just declared, and have not yet been initialized(not defined the
size).

Here scores is not just an int type variable. scores is an array of type int i.e. It is capable of
storing more than one int value.

int score = 70; Here the variable score holds a value 70.

Here the array scores do not hold the values directly. It is just a reference (pointing to) to the 5
variables score1 … score5. Hence arrays are called references or objects in Java.

If we do not initialize an int variable, its default value is 0. In case of array (as it does not
store value directly), if we do not initialize(do not say to which list of variables it refers to) it, the
default value is null. i.e. it does not point to any list of variables.
 Similarly, expenses is not just a double type variable. expenses is an array of type double
i.e. it is capable of storing more than one double value.

Similarly, grades is not just a char type variable. grades is an array of type char i.e. it is
capable of storing more than one char value.

Once an array is declared, you can think of multiple variables being generated automatically in a
sequential order i.e. if an array double[] expense is declared, the variable that stores the first
value will be expense[0], the variable that stores the second value will be expense[1] and so on.

Note: While talking about arrays, always remember two key things. One, about the array
itself, whether it is initialized or not. Two, about the element inside the array – whether it is
initialized or not.

Initializing arrays – using {} initializer:

Arrays have a specific length(or size). The length of the array cannot be changed after it has
been initialized. The elements in the array are put at index of the array. The first element in the
array is at index 0, and the last element is at the index length-1.

To declare and initialize an array at the same time, refer to the below syntax:

Example 1:

int[] scores = {55,15, 92,107,67}

{} is called an initializer block. The length (or size) of an array is equal to the no. of values
declared in the initializer block.

scores is an int array. Its size is 5. The value of first element is 55, value of second element
is 15, value of third element is 92, value of fourth element is 107 and value of fifth element is 67.

Example 2:

int[] expenses = {1000,1500,50,200,0}

expenses is an int array. It's size is 5. The value of first element is 1000, value of second
element is 1500, value of third element is 50, value of fourth element is 200 and value of fifth
element is 0.
Example 3:

String[] softDrinks = {"Coca-Cola", "Pepsi", "Sprite", "Mountain Dew"};

softDrinks is a String array. It's size is 4. The value of first element is Coca-Cola, value of
second element is Pepsi, value of third element is Sprite, value of fourth element is Mountain
Dew.

All the above examples, declare an array, initialize the array and also insert elements into
the array.

Initializing arrays – using new operator

int scores[];

The above statement just declares an array. It has not been initialized yet i.e. scores is null.
Let us initialize the array.
int scores[] = new int[5];

The above statement now initializes the array to size 5. But no elements are put into array.
Hence the elements of the array will have their default value. As the array is of type int, all the 5
elements in the array have the value of 0.

You don't need to mention the length(or size) of an array in [] if you are using the initializer
block.

int scores[] = new int[]{55,15, 92,107,67};

The above statement declares an array, initializes an array (of size 5) and also puts
elements into the array. The value of first element is 55, the value of second element is 15, the
value of third element is 92, the value of fourth element is 107 and the value of fifth element is
67.

Once the array is initialized, the length(or size) of an array can be known by the length
property. It is used after the dot operator on the array variable. Refer the syntax below:

array.length;

eg.

int scores[] = new int[]{55,15, 92,107,67};

System.out.println(scores.length);
You could either store it in an int variable eg. int size = scores.length;

Putting elements into array:

Step 1:
int scores[] = new int[5];

The above statement will declare an int array of length 5. The values in the array will be
initialized to the default values as per their data type.
Step 2:
The first value in the array is accessed by the code : scores[0]. To assign values to the first
element, use the assignment operator (=). The below statement assigns a value 55 to the first
element in the array. The remaining elements still have the default value.

scores[0] = 55;

Similarly, to assign value 15 to the second element.

scores[1] = 15;

The next line assigns a value 92 to the third element.

scores[2] = 92;

Accessing elements from the array:

int scores[] = new int[]{55,15, 92,107,67};

Assuming that the above array is initialized with the given values. The elements of the array are
accessed by their index. The first element of the array is stored at index 0 and the last element is
stored at index which is length-1.

To retrieve the value of the elements at index 0, use scores[0] which will return the value 55.

Similarly,

scores[1] will return the value 15

scores[2] will return the value 92
scores[3] will return the value 107
scores[4] will return the value 67

We can use a variable to store the value we retrieve from the array,
int x = scores[0]; as scores is an int array, scores[0] is going to return an int.

Creating array of custom types

Consider the case of library where it has list of books as inventory. So library will have
attributes like library name, address. It will also have list of books as an attribute. We could
model the Book class and Library class as follow.

The library class has an array of Book, i.e. the array will have multiple objects of Book
representing the real books in the library.

> Creating book objects:

Assuming the Book class has parameterized constructor.

Book b1 = new Book(101, “Head First Java”, “Author1”);

Book b2 = new Book(102, “Head First JSP”, “Author2”);
Book b3 = new Book(103, “Java Complete Reference”, “Author3”);

> Creating book array:

Book[] listOfBooks;

The above statement just declares the array variable. It is not initialized so the listOfBooks
is still null. Let us initialize the array.
listOfBooks = new Book[3];

The above statement just initialized the array itself, the elements have not yet been
initialized. Let us initialize the elements of the array by assigning the book object value.

> Putting book objects into the book array

listOfBooks[0] = b1;
listOfBooks[1] = b2;

listOfBooks[2] = b3;

The above 3 statement, initializes all the 3 elements to the value of objects b1, b2 and b3
respectively.

> Retrieving objects from the book array

listOfBooks[0] will return the objects b1

listOfBooks[1] will return the objects b2
listOfBooks[2] will return the objects b3

We can use a variable to store the value we retrieve from the array.

Book book = listOfBooks[0]; as listOfBooks is a Book array, listOfBooks[0] is going to return a

Book object.

Points to remember

 Arrays are objects(not primitive) in Java.

 You create an object of array either by using the initializer block {} or by using the new
operator.

 Arrays have a constant length, i.e. the length cannot increase dynamically at run time.

 The first index of an array is 0 and the last index is length-1. eg. if the array declared is of
size 4, the values are stored at index 0 to 3.

 The property length is used to find the length(or size) of an array.

 If the elements in an array are not assigned any value, the value will be the default value
depending on the type of array. eg. int[] will have value 0 at index where the value is not
initialized, String[] will have value null at index where the value is not initialized.

Loops and Iterations

Let us take a scenario where a teacher has to perform task of giving grades to the students
according to their percentage. He/she checks the percentage of first student and enters the
grade, then checks the percentage of second student and enters the grade, same procedure for
the next student as well. Here, the teacher has to perform the same task again and again. Don't
you think this is a laborious and error prone work? Yes it is.

One of the things computers are often used for is the automation of repetitive tasks.
Repeating identical or similar tasks without making errors is something that computers do well
and humans do poorly. In this chapter, we shall study in detail how the repeated tasks can be
automated using Java programming.

Let us see a simple java program to print first 10 natural numbers.

Program:

Output:
12345678910

In the above program, we wrote the same line of code 10 times to obtain output. This is nothing
but code redundancy(repetition) which makes our program an inefficient one. To eliminate this
we use loops and iterations in Java.
Loop is a block of code executed repeatedly until some condition is satisfied and one pass
through(execution of) the loop is called iteration.
Here condition is a boolean expression. A boolean expression is an expression written
using conditional operators(<, >, ==, <=,>= etc) and the result of it will always be either true or
false.

Loops in Java are mainly of three types :-

1. 'while' loop
2. 'do while' loop
3. 'for' loop

While loop:
A while loop is a control structure that allows you to repeat a task certain number of times.
In simple words, using while loop we can execute a set of statements several times based on a
condition.
Syntax:
while(condition)
{
//Statements
}
Here, “while” is a keyword and “condition” is a boolean expression and as long as this
condition yields true, the statements within the braces({}) are executed. You can almost read a
while statement as if it were English- “while condition is true, continue executing the Statements”.

Let us now write the same program(print first 10 natural numbers) using while loop.

Program:

Output:

12345678910

In the above code snippet, we eliminated those 9 repeated lines, clubbed them into a single
line and obtained the output using while. Here n is also called counter variable and it is used to
iterate through the loop.

Flow of control(while loop):

 Flowchart of while loop

The flow of execution for a while statement is as follows:

1. Evaluate the condition, whether the result is true or false.
2. If the result is false, exit the while statement and and execute the first statement after the while
loop.
3. If the result is true, execute the set of statements within the curly braces, and then go back to
step 1.

Example:

/*Program to automate the grade generation of five students based on their percentage using
while loop */

Output:
Roll no 1: Grade is B
Roll no 2: Grade is B
Roll no 3: Grade is C
Roll no 4: Grade is A
Roll no 5: Grade is A
Flow of the above program:
1. Initialize an integer array of percentage.
2. Initialize an integer variable rollNo=0; which is used to iterate through the array.

3. Since we need to generate grades for only those students whose percentage is given, we are
specifying the condition in while as rollNo<percentage.length. We have learned in the previous
topic that .length property gives the size of array which is 4 in the above program. rollNo points to
the index of the array. So before entering while loop, the value of rollNo is checked.
4. If the condition is satisfied(if rollNo<percentage.length) go to step 5 else go to step 6.
5. Now control is sent to the body of loop
• In the body of while loop, if-else conditions are specified to check the percentage of student
marks. Based on those conditions respective grade is printed.
• Increment rollNo.
• Go to Step 4.
6. End.

Do... While loop:

It is very similar to the 'while' loop shown above. The only difference being, in a 'while' loop,
the condition is checked beforehand, but in a 'do... while' loop, the condition is checked after one
execution of the loop. Hence, the body of do... while loop is executed at least once.

Syntax:
do
{
//statements
}while(condition);
Here, “while” and “do” are keywords and “condition” is a boolean expression. Each iteration
of the do-while loop first executes the statements and then evaluates the condition. If the result of
this condition is true, the loop will repeat. Otherwise, the loop terminates. Notice, there is
semicolon at the end of while(); in do... while loop.
Let us now write the same program(print first 10 natural numbers) using do... while loop.
Program:

Output:
12345678910
 Now you may get a question as why “do.. while” when we already have “while” and when
both are giving the same output? We shall study about it in detail.

Why do... while and how it differs from while?

If the condition controlling a while loop is initially false, then the body of the loop will not be
executed at all. However, sometimes it is desirable to execute the body of a while loop at least
once, even if the conditional expression is false to begin with. In other words, there are times
when you would like to test the condition at the end of the loop rather than at the beginning.

Fortunately, Java supplies a loop that does just that: the do-while. The do-while loop always
executes its body at least once, because its condition is at the bottom of the loop. Therefore,
while is called entry-called loop whereas do...while is called exit-controlled loop.
The difference is best illustrated using the programs below:

/*Program to demonstrate difference between while and do..while*/

Do-while example:

Output:
do-while: 11

While example:
Output:(no output)

Flow of control(do...while loop):

The flow of execution for a do... while statement is as follows:

1. Execute the set of statements.
2. Evaluate the condition, whether the result is true or false.
3. If the result is false, exit the while statement and execute the first statement after the do...
while loop.
4. If the result is true, go back to step 1.

Example:

/*Program to generate the grade for five students of a class based on their percentage using do...
while loop */
Output:
Roll no 1: Grade is B
Roll no 2: Grade is B
Roll no 3: Grade is C
Roll no 4: Grade is A
Roll no 5: Grade is A

Flow of the above program:

1. Initialize an integer array of percentage.
2. Initialize an integer variable rollNo=0; which is used to iterate through the array
3. Execute step 4.

4. Now control is sent to the body of loop

i. In the body of do... while loop, if-else conditions are specified to check the percentage of
student marks. Based on those conditions respective grade is printed.
ii. Increment rollNo.
5. Since we need to generate grades for only those students whose percentage is given, we are
specifying the condition in while as rollNo<percentage.length. We have learned in the previous
topic that .length property gives the size of array which is 4 in the above program. So before
proceeding with the next iteration, the value of rollNo is checked.
6. If the condition is satisfied(if rollNo<percentage.length) go to step 3 else go to step 7.
7. End

For loop:
A for loop is a repetition control structure that allows you to efficiently write a loop that needs
to execute a specific number of times. A for loop is useful when you know how many times a task
is to be repeated.

Syntax:
for(initialization; condition; increment/decrement)
{
//Statements
}
Here,the initialization step is executed first, and only once. This step allows you to declare
and initialize any loop control variables. Next, the condition is evaluated. If it is true, the
statements are executed, else control comes out of for loop and the next statement after the
loop is executed.

Increment/decrement is an update statement which gets executed after the execution of

body of loop.
Let us now write the same program(print first 10 natural numbers) using for loop.

Program:

Output:

12345678910

Flow of control(for loop):

The flow of execution for a while statement is as follows:
1. Initialize the variable. Initialization step is executed first, and only once.
2. Evaluate the condition, whether the result is true or false.
3. If the result is false, exit the for loop and and execute the first statement after the for
loop.

4. If the result is true, execute the set of statements within the curly braces, and then go to
increment/decrement statement.
5. Go to step 2.

Example:
/*Program to generate the grades for five students based on their percentage using for loop */
Output:
Roll no 1: Grade is B
Roll no 2: Grade is B
Roll no 3: Grade is C
Roll no 4: Grade is A
Roll no 5: Grade is A

Flow of the above program:

1. Initialize an integer array of percentage.
2. Declare an integer variable rollNo; which is used to iterate through the array
3. Initial value of rollNo is 0 and this statement is executed only once in the entire cycle of for
loop.
4. Since we need to generate grades for only those students whose percentage is given, we are
specifying the condition as rollNo<percentage.length. We have learned in the previous topic that
.length property gives the size of array which is 4 in the above program. So before entering into
the for loop, the value of rollNo is checked.
5. If the condition is satisfied(if rollNo<percentage.length) go to step 6 else go to step 7.
6. Now control is sent to the body of loop
i. In the body of while loop, if-else conditions are specified to check the percentage of
numbers. Based on those conditions respective grade is printed.
ii. Increment rollNo.
iii. Go to Step 5.
7. End.

Advanced for loop:

This is an enhanced for loop which mainly used for arrays. Advanced for loop is also called
'for each' loop.

Syntax:
for(declaration : expression)
{
//Statements
}
Declaration: The newly declared block variable, which is of a type compatible with the elements
of the array you are accessing. The variable will be available within the for block and its value
would be the same as the current array element.
Expression: This evaluates to the array you need to loop through. The expression can be an
array variable or method call that returns an array.

Let us take the same example of grade generation and see how it works in advanced for loop.

Example:
/*Program to generate the grades of 5 students based on their percentage using advanced for
loop */
Output:
Percentage is 50: Grade is B
Percentage is 46: Grade is B
Percentage is 32: Grade is C
Percentage is 98: Grade is A
Percentage is 75: Grade is A

In the above program, eachPercentage is a variable that is of the same data type as array of
percentage. In the previous program rollNo takes the index value whereas here eachPercentage
takes value at index. Therefore, initially the value of eachPercentage is percentage[0] which is 50
and in the second iteration eachPercentage will take the value percentage[1] which is 46 and so
on.

Nested loops:

We have seen the advantages of using various methods of iteration, or looping. Now let's
take a look at what happens when we combine looping procedures. The placing of one loop
inside the body of another loop is called nesting.

When you "nest" two loops, the outer loop takes control of the number of complete
repetitions of the inner loop. While all types of loops may be nested, the most commonly nested
loops are for loops.

Let us look at an example on nested loops:

/*Program to print the following pattern
1
12
123
1234
12345
*/

Output:

12
 123

1234

12345

In the above program, outer loop is used to determine the no.of digits to be
printed in a line whereas the inner loop is used to print the digits. We have used print() within the
body of inner loop because we want the digits to be displayed in the same line and after the inner
loop is executed, we go to the next line using println() statement.

Finite and Infinite Loops

A finite loop ends itself i.e control comes out of the loop at certain point of time. For example, the
for loop in the previous program that displays multiples of 3 is a finite loop because the loop exits
if n>10.
In other case,a loop becomes an infinite loop if a condition never becomes false. The for
loop is traditionally used for this purpose. Since none of the three expressions that form the for
loop are required, you can make an endless loop by leaving the conditional expression empty.

Example for infinite loop:

Output:
Tata Consultancy Services
Tata Consultancy Services
Tata Consultancy Services
.
.
.
.
This goes on printing until we forcefully stop the execution. The above program is an
example of implementing infinite loop using for loop. Similarly, you can implement an infinite loop
using while and do... while as follows.

Infinite loop using while:

while(true)
{
// your code goes here
}
Infinite loop using do... while:
do{
// your code goes here

} while(true);

Break & Continue Keyword

The break keyword is used to stop the entire loop. Using break we can leave a loop even if the
condition for its end is not fulfilled. It can be used to end an infinite loop, or to force it to end
before its natural end.

Syntax:

break;

Example: Write a program to print a list of numbers until 3 is encountered

Program:

Output:
x is 1
x is 2
Break the loop
Exit

In the above example if the value of x is 3 then the control enters into the loop and when
break statement is encountered, it comes out of the for loop and executes the first statement
after the for loop. The break statement can be used in terminating all three loops for, while and
do...while.

Working of break statement:

 The continue keyword can be used in any of the loop control structures. Continue statement
skips the current iteration of a for, while or do while loop. It causes the loop to immediately jump
to the next iteration of the loop.

In a for loop, the continue keyword causes flow of control to immediately jump to the
increment/decrement statement.
In a while loop or do/while loop, flow of control immediately jumps to the condition.

Syntax:

continue;

Example: Write a program to print numbers between 1 to 5 except 3.

Output:
x is 1
x is 2
Continue the loop
x is 4
x is 5
Exit

In the above example if the value of x is 3 then the control enters into the loop and when
continue statement is encountered, it jumps to the next iteration without executing the rest of the
statements within the loop.
Working of continue statement:

2.6. Practice Problems on arrays using iterations

1./*Program to search for an element in the given array*/
In the program below we are searching for 90.

Output: Element is not present in the given set of numbers.

2./*Program to copy elements from one array to the other using for loop*/
Output:

3. Practice problems on arrays using iterations:

/*Program to find the costliest book in a library*/

Output:Costliest Book in the Library is: Head First JSP with cost of rupees 980.0

Points to remember:

Iterations

 Iterations are used to execute repetitive tasks.

 Condition in the while,do... while and for should give result as false after several
iterations to terminate the loop.

 A loop control variable used to count the iterations is called counter variable.

 Do not forget to update the counter variable. Ex:n++,i-- etc.

 In do while loop, there is a semicolon after while statement.

 In for each loop, declared variable and array should be of same data type.

 The break statement would stop the execution.

 The continue statement skips the current iteration.

 2.7. String-Purpose with Problem Scenario

 Strings receive special treatment in Java, because they are used frequently in a program.
Hence, efficiency (in terms of computation and storage) is crucial.
 The designers of Java decided to retain primitive types in an object-oriented language,
instead of making everything an object, so as to improve the performance of the
language. Primitives are stored in the call stack, which require less storage spaces and
are cheaper to manipulate. On the other hand, objects are stored in the program heap,
which require complex memory management and more storage spaces.
For performance reason, Java's String is designed to be in between a primitive and a
class.
 Introduction:
 A Java string is a series of characters gathered together, like the word "Hello", or the
phrase "practice makes perfect".
The String class is commonly used for holding and manipulating strings of text in Java
programs.
In its simplest form, you use the String class by typing some text surrounded by double
quotes. This is called a String literal.
Example: "This is a Java String"
 Anywhere you need a String object, you can type a String literal as in:
System.out.println("This is a Java String");
 String is associated with string literal in the form of double-quoted texts such as "Hello,
world!".
String- Detailed Explanation: Strings are Objects in Java:
 In Java, Strings are objects and not a primitive type. Even string constants are actually
String objects.
 For example
System.out.println (“Welcome to Java World”);
 The string “Welcome to Java World” is a String constant or String literal or String object.
Whenever it encounters a string literal/object in your code, the compiler creates a String
object with its value—in this case “Welcome to Java World”.
 String represents combinations of character literals that are enclosed in double quotes,
i.e.) any character(s) inside double quotes. Each character in a string is a 16-bit Unicode
character, to provide a rich, international set of characters.
 String is a class built into the Java language defined in the java.lang package. String is
one of the widely used java classes. It is special in java as it has some special
characteristics than a usual java class.
 String Construction:
 String can be created in number of ways, here are a few ways of creating string object.
 1.Using a String literal: String literal is a simple string enclosed in double quotes " ". A
string literal is treated as a String object.
String str1 = "Hello";
2.Using another String object:
String str2 = new String(str1);
3.Using new Keyword:
String str3 = new String("Java");
4.Using + operator (Concatenation):
String str4 = str1 + str2;
or,
String str5 = "hello"+"Java";
 Each time you create a String literal, the JVM checks the string pool first. If the string
literal already exists in the pool, a reference to the pool instance is returned. If string does
not exist in the pool, a new string object is created, and is placed in the pool. String
objects are stored in a special memory area known as String constant pool inside the
heap memory
 String pool (String intern pool) is a special storage area in Java heap. When a string is
created and if the string already exists in the pool, the reference of the existing string will
be returned, instead of creating a new object and returning its reference.
 Any good programming language is to make efficient use of memory, As applications
grow, it's very common for String literals to occupy large amounts of a program's
memory, and there is often a lot of redundancy within the universe of String literals for a
program.
 To make Java more memory efficient, the JVM sets aside a special area of memory
called the "String constant pool."When the compiler encounters a String literal, it checks
the pool to see if an identical String already exists. If a match is found, the reference to
the new literal is directed to the existing String, and no new String literal object is created.
(The existing String simply has an additional reference.)
 String Object and how they are stored:
 When we create a new string object using string literal, that string literal is added to the
string pool, if it is not present there already


 String str= "Hello";
 And, when we create another object with same string, then a reference of the string literal
already present in string pool is returned.
 

 String str2=str;

 But if we change the new string, its reference gets modified.

 str2=str2.concat("world");

 String Literal vs. String Object:

 Java has provided a special mechanism for keeping the String literals - in a so-called
string common pool. If two string literals have the same contents, they will share the
same storage inside the common pool. This approach is adopted to conserve storage for
frequently-used strings. On the other hand, String objects created via the new operator
 and constructor are kept in the heap. Each String object in the heap has its own storage
just like any other object. There is no sharing of storage in heap even if two String objects
have the same contents.

 For Example:
String s1="Hello"; // String literal
String s2="Hello"; // String literal
String s3 = s1; // same reference
String s4 = new String("Hello"); // String object
String s5 = new String("Hello"); // String object

String is immutable:

 Since string literals with the same contents share storage in the common pool, Java's
String is designed to be immutable. That is, once a String is constructed, its contents
cannot be modified. Otherwise, the other String references sharing the same storage
location will be affected by the change, which can be unpredictable and therefore is
undesirable.

 Because String is immutable, it is not efficient to use String if you need to modify your
string frequently (that would create many new Strings occupying new storage areas).

 For example,
// inefficient codes
String str = "Hello";
for (int i = 1; i < 1000; ++i) {
str = str + i;

 If the contents of a String have to be modified frequently, use the StringBuffer or

StringBuilder class instead. Let us explore in details by considering the below code
Snippet:
 public class ImmutableStringObjects {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String s1 = "iByte"; //Statement 1
String s2 = s1; //Statement 2
s2 = s1.concat("Code's"); //Statement 3
s2 = s2 + " JavaWorld"; //Statement 4
System.out.println("s1 = " + s1);

 System.out.println("s2 = " + s2);

}
}

 How many String objects and reference variables are created?

 Two Reference Variables: s1 and s2

 Five String Objects/literals: “iByte”,“Code’s”,“iByteCode’s”,“Java

World”,“iByteCode’sJava World”


 

 Totally two references variables and five objects are created.

 Why Strings are Immutable:

 Normally immutability in java is achieved through following steps :
a. Don’t provide mutator methods for any field
b. Make all fields final and private
c. Don’t allow subclasses by declaring the class final itself
d. Return deep cloned objects with copied content for all mutable fields in class

 Note: Immutable objects have a very compelling list of positive qualities, they are among
the simplest and most robust kinds of classes you can possibly build. When you create
immutable classes, entire categories of problems simply disappear.

 Java also has its share of immutable classes which are primarily String class and
wrapper classes. In this post, we will understand the need of immutability for String class.

 1) Security : The first and undeniably most important reason is security. Well, its not only
about your application, but even for JDK itself. Java class loading mechanism works on
class names passed as parameters, then these classes are searched in class path.
Imagine for a minute, Strings were mutable, then anybody could have injected its own
class-loading mechanism with very little effort and destroyed or hacked in any application
in a minute.

 2) Performance : As already discussed Java uses string pool for achieving better
performance of Strings. But at the same time if string is not immutable, changing the
string with one reference will lead to the wrong value for the other references which could
lead to erroneous results. Hence indirectly immutability is required to achieve better
performance.

 3) Thread safety: The word thread safe, means multiple threads trying to change the
properties of a single object, To make this happen with String(which is immutable) is
highly impossible. You can't change the properties of string object once it is created. If
you want to do any operations over String, it will create a new string. So strings are
thread safe(Immutable objects are safe when shared between multiple threads in mulch-
threaded applications).

 String Functions:

 The following methods are some of the most commonly used methods of String class:

 a. charAt(int index) : It
a. returns the character at the specified index.
b. An index ranges from 0 to length() - 1.
c.The first character of the sequence is at index 0, the next at index 1, and so on, as for
array indexing.
Example: String str = "Strings are Immutable";
System.out.println(str.charAt(2));
Output: r

 b. equalsIgnoreCase() : determines the equality of two Strings, ignoring thier case

(upper or lower case doesn't matters with this function ).
 Example: String str = "java";
System.out.println(str.equalsIgnoreCase("JAVA"));
Output: true

 c. length() : function returns the number of characters in a String.

 Example : String str = "Count me";

System.out.println(str.length());
Output : 8

 d. replace(char oldChar, char newChar): returns a new string resulting from replacing
all occurrences of oldChar in this string with newChar.
Example : String str = "Change me";
System.out.println(str.replace('m','M'));
Output: Change Me

 e. substring(): method returns a part of the string. substring() method has two forms,
public String substring(int begin);
public String substring(int begin, int end);

 The first argument represents the starting point of the subtring. If the substring() method
is called with only one argument, the subtring returned, will contain characters from
specified starting point to the end of original string.

 But, if the call to substring() method has two arguments, the second argument specify the
end point of substring.

 Note:If end parameter is missing, then the extraction starts from the starting position to
the rest of the string.
Example : String str = "0123456789";
System.out.println(str.substring(4));
Output: 456789

 Example-1 : System.out.println(str.substring(4,7));

 Output : 456

 f.toLowerCase() : method returns string with all uppercase characters converted to

lowercase.
Example : String str = "ABCDEF";
System.out.println(str.toLowerCase());
Output: abcdef

 g. valueOf() : function is used to convert primitive data types into Strings. Overloaded
version of valueOf() method is present in String class for all primitive data types and for
type Object

 But for objects, valueOf() method calls toString() function.

 The java toString() method is used when we need a string representation of an object. It
is defined in Object class. This method can be overridden to customize the String
representation of the Object.
Example : public class Car {
 public static void main(String args[])
{
Car c=new Car();
System.out.println(c);
}
public String toString()
{
return "This is my car object";
}
}
Output : This is my car object

 Whenever we will try to print any object of class Car, its toString() function will be called.
toString() can also be used with normal string objects.

 Example :String str = "Hello World";

System.out.println(str.toString());
Output : Hello World

 h. toString() with Concatenation: Whenever we concatenate any other primitive data

type, or object of other classes with a String object, toString() function or valueOf()
function is called automatically to change the other object or primitive type into string, for
successful concatenation.

 Example: int age = 10;

String str = "He is" + age + "years old.";
In above case 10 will be automatically converted into string for concatenation using
valueOf() function.

 I. toUpperCase() : This method returns string with all lowercase character changed to
uppercase.
Example : String str = "abcdef";
System.out.println(str.toLowerCase());
Output : ABCDEF

 j. trim() : This method returns a string from which any leading and trailing white spaces
has been removed.
Example: String str = " hello ";
System.out.println(str.trim());
Output : hello

 k. equals() - The equals() method compares two objects for equality and returns true if
they are equal and the result is true if and only if the argument is not null and is a String
object that represents the same sequence of characters as this object.

 public boolean equals(Object anObject)

 Example:
String obj1 = new String("xyz");
String obj2 = new String("xyz");
if(obj1.equals(obj2))
 System.out.printlln("obj1==obj2 is TRUE");
else
System.out.println("obj1==obj2 is FALSE")

 Output: obj1==obj2 is TRUE

 “==” operator:
In Java, when the “==” operator is used to compare 2 objects, it checks to see if the
objects refer to the same place in memory. In other words, it checks to see if the 2 object
names are basically references to the same memory location. A very simple example will
help clarify this:
Example:

 String obj1 = new String("xyz");

String obj2 = new String("xyz");
if(obj1 == obj2)
System.out.println("obj1==obj2 is TRUE");
else
System.out.println("obj1==obj2 is FALSE");

 Output: obj1==obj2 is FALSE

 Conclusion: == Operator compares the references. Though the objects, obj1 and obj2
are same internally, they differ on using this operation as we compare references.
equals() on the other hand compares the values. Hence, the comparison between obj1
and obj2 would pass.

 l. compareTo() - Compares two strings lexicographically(dictionary order).

The result is a negative integer if this String object lexicographically precedes the
argument string. The result is a positive integer if this String object lexicographically
follows the argument string.

 The result is zero if the strings are equal.

compareTo returns 0 exactly when the equals(Object) method would return true.

 public int compareTo(String anotherString)

public int compareToIgnoreCase(String str)

 Example :Suppose s1 and s2 are two string variables. If:

s1 == s2 :0
s1 > s2 :positive value
s1 < s2 :negative value
class SimpleExample{
public static void main(String args[]){
String s1="Sachin";
String s2="Sachin";
String s3="Ratan";
System.out.println(s1.compareTo(s2));//0
System.out.println(s1.compareTo(s3));//1(because s1>s3)
System.out.println(s3.compareTo(s1));//-1(because s3 < s1 )
 }
}

 Output:0 1 -1

 String Constructors:

 String class provides many constructors to create a new String object from character
array, byte array, String Buffer, String Builder, etc.

 2.8. StringBuffer and StringBuilder

 StringBuffer
 As explained earlier, Strings are immutable because String literals with same content
share the same storage in the string common pool. Modifying the content of one String
directly may cause adverse side-effects to other Strings sharing the same storage.
 JDK provides two classes to support mutable strings: StringBuffer and StringBuilder (in
core package java.lang) . A StringBuffer or StringBuilder object is just like any ordinary
object, which are stored in the heap and not shared, and therefore, can be modified
without causing adverse side-effect to other objects.
 StringBuilder class was introduced in JDK 1.5. It is the same as StringBuffer class,
except that StringBuilder is not synchronized for multi-thread operations. However, for
 single-thread program, StringBuilder, without the synchronization overhead, is more
efficient.
 1.StringBuffer : StringBuffer class is used to create a mutable string object. It represents
growable and writable character sequence. As we know that String objects are
immutable, so if we do a lot of changes with String objects, we will end up with a lot of
memory leak.
 So StringBuffer class is used when we have to make lot of modifications to our string. It is
also thread safe i.e multiple threads cannot access it simultaneously.
 StringBuffer Constructors:
 StringBuffer defines 4 constructors. They are
 1.StringBuffer():creates an empty string buffer and reserves room for 16 characters
2.StringBuffer(int size): creates an empty string and takes an integer argument to set
capacity of the buffer
3.StringBuffer(String str): allocates room for 16 additional characters when no specific
buffer length is requested, because reallocation is a costly process in terms of time. Also,
frequent reallocations can fragment memory. By allocating room for a few extra
characters, StringBuffer reduces the number of reallocations that takes place.
4.StringBuffer(charSequence ch[]) : Constructs a string buffer that contains the same
characters as the specified CharSequence.
 Example showing difference between String and StringBuffer
 class Test {
public static void main(String args[])
{
String str = "Java";
str.concat("World");
System.out.println(str); // Output: Java
StringBuffer strB = new StringBuffer("Java");
strB.append("World");
System.out.println(strB); // Output: JavaWorld
}
}
 StringBuffer Functions:
 The following methods are some most commonly used methods of StringBuffer class.
 a. append() : This method will concatenate the string representation of any type of data
to the end of the invoking StringBuffer object.
append() method has several overloaded forms.
StringBuffer append(int n)
StringBuffer append(String str)
StringBuffer append(Object obj)
 The string representation of each parameter is appended to StringBuffer object.
Example: StringBuffer str = new StringBuffer("test");
str.append(123);
System.out.println(str);
Output : test123
 b. insert() : This method inserts one string into another. Here are few forms of insert()
method.
 StringBuffer insert(int n)
StringBuffer insert(String str)
StringBuffer insert(Object obj)
Here the first parameter gives the index at which position the string will be inserted and
string representation of second parameter is inserted into StringBuffer object.
Example : StringBuffer str = new StringBuffer("test");
str.insert(4, 123);
System.out.println(str);
Output: test123
 c. reverse() : This method reverses the characters within a StringBuffer object.
Example : StringBuffer str = new StringBuffer("Hello");
str.reverse();
System.out.println(str);
Output : olleH
 d. replace(): This method replaces the string from specified start index to the end
index.
Example: StringBuffer str = new StringBuffer("Hello World");
str.replace( 6, 11, "java");
System.out.println(str);
Output : Hello java
 e. capacity() : This method returns the current capacity of StringBuffer object.
Example : StringBuffer str = new StringBuffer();
System.out.println( str.capacity() );
Output: 16
 f. ensureCapacity() : This method is used to ensure minimum capacity of StringBuffer
object.
Example : StringBuffer str = new StringBuffer("hello");
str.ensureCapacity(10);
 StringBuilder:
 StringBuilder is identical to StringBuffer except for one important difference it is not
synchronized, which means it is not thread safe. Its because StringBuilder methods are
not synchronised.
 StringBuffer class is a mutable class unlike the String class which is immutable. Both the
capacity and character string of a StringBuffer Class. StringBuffer can be changed
dynamically. String buffers are preferred when heavy modification of character strings is
involved (appending, inserting, deleting, modifying etc).
 In other words, if multiple threads are accessing a StringBuilder instance at the same
time, its integrity cannot be guaranteed. However, for a single-thread program (most
commonly), doing away with the overhead of synchronization makes the StringBuilder
faster.
 StringBuilder is API-compatible with the StringBuffer class, i.e., having the same set of
constructors and methods, but with no guarantee of synchronization. It can be a drop-in
replacement for StringBuffer under a single-thread environment.
 StringBuilder Constructors:
 StringBuilder( ) Creates an empty string builder with a capacity of 16 (16 empty
elements).
 StringBuilder(int size) Creates an empty string builder with the specified initial capacity.
StringBuilder (String str ) Creates a string builder whose value is initialized by the
specified string, plus an extra 16 empty elements trailing the string.
StringBuilder(CharSequence cs) Constructs a string builder containing the same
characters as the specified CharSequence, plus an extra 16 empty elements trailing the
CharSequence.
 StringBuilder Functions:
 StringBuilder is API-compatible with the StringBuffer class, i.e., having the same set of
constructors and methods, but with no guarantee of synchronization. It can be a drop-in
replacement for StringBuffer under a single-thread environment.
 The StringBuilder class has some methods related to length and capacity that the String
class does not have:


 A number of operations (for example, append(), insert(), or setLength()) can increase the
length of the character sequence in the string builder so that the resultant length() would
be greater than the current capacity(). When this happens, the capacity is automatically
increased.
 For example, the following code
// creates empty builder, capacity 16
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
// adds 9 character string at beginning
sb.append("Greetings");

 will produce a string builder with a length of 9 and a capacity of 16:

 Difference between StringBuffer and StringBuilder class


 Example: public class StringBuilderDemo {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String palindrome = "Dot saw I was Tod";
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(palindrome);
sb.reverse(); // reverse it
System.out.println(sb);
}
}
Output: doT saw I was toD

 Choose your string class wisely:

 Choosing the wrong string class can cause undesirable results. For example, you can
easily append the letter X to a String object: String s = s + "X". But this concatenation
operation inside a loop is inefficient. That is because the String class happens to create a
StringBuilder (or StringBuffer) object to do the concatenation work. Creating this object
every time is costly.

 A better choice for this example is the StringBuilder class. For example, we can simply
append the letter X to the StringBuilder object: sbd.append('X'). This is much faster than
the previous example. In sample testing (200,000 iterations), the previous example took
almost one minute to complete while StringBuilder took less than a second.

 If you add a requirement for multiple threads, then StringBuffer becomes the better
choice. But in sample testing (one million iterations), StringBuffer was five times slower
than StringBuilder. However StringBuffer guarantees thread safety, whereas
StringBuilder does not. In other words, you can get unpredictable results when using
StringBuilder objects in multithreaded programs.

 2.9. Practise Problems -

String,StringBuffer,StringBuilder
 The following program compare the times taken to reverse a long string via a String
object and a StringBuffer.
 // Reversing a long String via a String vs. a StringBuffer
public class StringsBenchMark {
public static void main(String[] args) {
long beginTime, elapsedTime;
// Build a long string
String str = "";
int size = 16536;
char ch = 'a';
beginTime = System.nanoTime(); // Reference time in nanoseconds
for (int count = 0; count < size; ++count) {
str += ch;
++ch;
if (ch > 'z') {
ch = 'a';
}
 }
elapsedTime = System.nanoTime() - beginTime;
System.out.println("Elapsed Time is " + elapsedTime/1000 + " usec (Build String)");
 // Reverse a String by creating a StringBuffer with the given String and invoke its
reverse()
beginTime = System.nanoTime();
StringBuffer sBufferReverseMethod = new StringBuffer(str);
sBufferReverseMethod.reverse(); // use reverse() method
elapsedTime = System.nanoTime() - beginTime;
System.out.println("Elapsed Time is " + elapsedTime/1000 + " usec (Using
StringBuffer's reverse() method)");
 // Reverse a String by creating a StringBuilder with the given String and invoke its
reverse()
beginTime = System.nanoTime();
StringBuffer sBuilderReverseMethod = new StringBuffer(str);
sBuilderReverseMethod.reverse();
elapsedTime = System.nanoTime() - beginTime;
System.out.println("Elapsed Time is " + elapsedTime/1000 + " usec (Using
StringBuidler's reverse() method)");
}
}
 Output: Elapsed Time is 332100 usec (Build String)
Elapsed Time is 847 usec (Using StringBuffer's reverse() method)
Elapsed Time is 836 usec (Using StringBuidler's reverse() method)

Try it Yourself
 I. Creating Empty String:
 public class CreatingStringsUsingConstrutcor {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String s = new String();
System.out.println("Length = " + s.length()); } }
 Output: Length=0
 
 II. Creating a String object with value: You can create a new String object that
contains the same character sequence as another String object
 String str = new String(" Java World");
System.out.println("str = " + str);
Output: Java World
 III. Char array to String: You can create a String object from character array. The
contents of the character array are copied; subsequent modification of the character
array does not affect the newly created string.
 public class CreatingStringsUsingConstrutcor {
public static void main(String[] args) {
char chars[] = { 'i', 'B', 'y', 't', 'e', 'C', 'o', 'd', 'e'};
String s2 = new String(chars);
String s3 = new String(chars, 1, 4);
System.out.println("s2 = " + s2);
System.out.println("s3 = " + s3);
}
}
Output:
s2 = iByteCode
s3 = Byte
 IV. byte array to String:You can create a String object from byte array.
 byte byteAscii[] = {65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70 };
String strAscii = new String(byteAscii);
System.out.println("strAscii = " + strAscii);
Output: strAscii = ABCDEF
 V. Passing byte as parameter for String creation :
  Scenario I:byte bytes[] = { 'w', 'o', 'r', 'l', 'd' };
String s4 = new String(bytes);
System.out.println("s4 = " + s4);
s4 = world
 Output: s4=world
 VI. Scenario II:byte bytes[] = { 'w', 'o', 'r', 'l', 'd' };
 String s5 = new String(bytes, 1, 3);
System.out.println("s5 = " + s5);
Output :s5 = orl
 VII. Scenario III byte bytes[] = { 'w', 'o', 'r', 'l', 'd' };
 try {
String s7 = new String(bytes, 1, 3, "UTF-8");
System.out.println("s7 = " + s7);
} catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
Output: s7 = orl
 VIII. Constructing String from StringBuffer
 You can create a new String from a string buffer. The contents of the string buffer are
copied; subsequent modification of the string buffer does not affect the newly created
string.
 StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer("Welcome to Java World");
String s8 = new String(sb);
System.out.println("s8 = " + s8);
Output : s8 = Welcome to Java World
 IX. Constructing String from StringBuilder
 You can create a new String from a StringBuilder. The contents of the StringBuilder are
copied to String and subsequent modification of the string builder does not affect the
newly created string.
 StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder("Welcome to Java World");
String s9 = new String(builder);
System.out.println("s9 = " + s9);
Output : s9 = Welcome to Java World

2.10. String - Additional Information and Best

Practices
Additional Information:

The processing of text often consists of parsing a formatted input string. Parsing is the division of
text into a set of discrete parts, or tokens, which in a certain sequence can convey a semantic
meaning. The StringTokenizer class provides the first step in this parsing process, often called
the lexer (lexical analyzer) or scanner. StringTokenizer implements the Enumeration interface.
Therefore, given an input string, you can enumerate the individual tokens contained in it using
StringTokenizer.
To use StringTokenizer, you specify an input string and a string that contains delimiters.
Delimiters are characters that separate tokens. Each character in the delimiters string is
considered a valid delimiter—for example, ",;:" sets the delimiters to a comma, semicolon, and
colon. The default set of delimiters consists of the whitespace characters: space, tab, newline,
and carriage return.

StringTokenizer Constructors:

StringTokenizer(String , String, boolean) Constructs a StringTokenizer on the specified String,

using the specified delimiter set.
StringTokenizer(String, String) Constructs a StringTokenizer on the specified String, using the
specified delimiter set.
StringTokenizer(String) Constructs a StringTokenizer on the specified String, using the default
delimiter set (which is " \t\n\r").

Following are the methods available in StringTokenizer Class

a.countTokens() Returns the next number of tokens in the String using the current deliminter set.
b.hasMoreElements() Returns true if the Enumeration has more elements.
c. hasMoreTokens() Returns true if more tokens exist.
d.nextElement() Returns the next element in the Enumeration.
e. nextToken() Returns the next token of the String.
f. nextToken(String) Returns the next token, after switching to the new delimiter set.

Example usage:
String s = "this is a test";
StringTokenizer st = new StringTokenizer(s);
while (st.hasMoreTokens()) {
println(st.nextToken());
}

Prints the following on the console:

this
is
a
test

Note: StringTokenizer is a legacy class that is retained for compatibility reasons although its use
is discouraged in new code. It is recommended that anyone seeking this functionality use the
split() method of String or the java.util.regex package instead.

Best Practices :

 Create strings as literals instead of creating String objects using 'new' key word
whenever possible

 + operator gives best performance for String concatenation if Strings resolve at compile
time

 StringBuffer with proper initial size gives best performance for String concatenation if
Strings resolve at run time.
  When performing String transformation operations such as removing, inserting, replacing
or appending characters, concatenating or splitting Strings use either the StringBuilder or
the StringBuffer class. The StringBuilder class is introduced in Java 1.5 and is the non–
synchronized counterpart of the StringBuffer class. Thus if only one Thread will be
performing the String transformation operations then favor the StringBuilder class
because is the best performer

 The Java String, StringBuilder and StringBuffer classes are not interchangeable. Pick the
string class that addresses your needs, or else your programs will be inefficient or even
incorrect.

 Favor the creation of literal strings and string–valued constant expressions rather than
creating new String Objects using one of the String constructor methods

 Utilizing character arrays to perform String transformation operations yields the best
performance results but is the less flexible approach

Take Away Points:

1. The String class is commonly used for holding and manipulating strings of text in Java
programs. It is found in the standard java.lang package which is automatically imported, so you
don't need to do anything special to use it.
2. The String class is immutable, so that once it is created a String object cannot be changed.
The String class has a number of methods, that appear to modify strings. Since strings are
immutable, what these methods really do is create and return a new string that contains the
result of the operation.
3. Strings are more efficient if they are not modified (because they are shared in the string
common pool). However, if you have to modify the content of a string frequently (such as a status
message), you should use the StringBuffer class (or the StringBuilder described below) instead.
4. For performance reason, Java's String is designed to be in between a primitive and a class.
5. String is immutable, it is not efficient to use String if you need to modify your string frequently
6. String class provides many constructors to create a new String object from character array,
byte array, StringBuffer, StringBuilder, etc.
7. StringBuffer class is used to create a mutable string object.
8. StringBuffer class is used when we have to make lot of modifications to our string. It is also
thread safe i.e multiple threads cannot access it simultaneously.
9. StringBuilder is not synchronized.

2.11. Enums
Enums are lists of constants. When you need a predefined list of values which do not represent
some kind of numeric or textual data, you should use an enum.

For instance, in a chess game you could represent the different types of pieces as an enum:

enum ChessPiece {
PAWN,
ROOK,
KNIGHT,
BISHOP,
QUEEN,
KING;
}

You should always use enums when a variable (especially a method parameter) can only take
one out of a small set of possible values. Examples would be things like type constants (contract
status: “permanent”, “temp”, “apprentice”), or flags (“execute now”, “defer execution”).

Introduction

Enumerations already existed in other languages like C, C++, SmallTalk etc. Hence Java Enums
are not something very new to programmers. Enums are used primarily to handle a collection of
logically grouped constants. In Java, for ages we have been handling constants (number
constants here) through separate Java files, sometimes by encapsulating those in relevant
POJOs, and even using a wrong design style of implementing an interface containing all
constants.

We used these constants in conditions implemented using ‘if’ statement or switch cases also.
First thing you can notice about all these approaches is that this made the code look clumsy.
Usage of interfaces made the code unnecessarily complex. Next, though the constants had
something common, the language hardly provided anything to treat them as an object. List of
drawbacks doesn’t end here. Let us take an example below and see what other drawbacks are

public class StatusWithoutEnums {

public static final int STATUS_OPEN = 0;

public static final int STATUS_STARTED = 1;
public static final int STATUS_INPROGRESS = 2;
public static final int STATUS_ONHOLD = 3;
public static final int STATUS_COMPLETED = 4;
public static final int STATUS_CLOSED = 5;

Drawbacks of This Approach:

The solution to above problem is Enum data type in Java 5. Concept of Enum is obtained from
the counterpart technologies like C, C++, C# etc.

An enum type, also called enumeration type, is a type whose fields consist of a fixed set of
constants.

Detailed Explanation:

The Java programming language contains the enum keyword, which represents a special data
type that enables for a variable to belong to a set of predefined constants. The variable must be
equal to one of the values that have been predefined for it.

The values defined inside an enum are constants and shall be typed in uppercase letters. Also,
these values are implicitly static and final and cannot be changed, after their declaration. If an
enum is a member of a class, then it is implicitly defined as static. Finally, you should use an
enum, when you need to define and represent a fixed set of constants.

A very basic enum declaration

Syntax:

access-modifier enum enum-name

{
enum_type_1,
 enum_type_2 //(optional semi colon)
}

The most common example of a simple enum includes the days of the week, as shown below

Some Examples:

Note:Whenever an enum is defined, a class that extends java.lang.Enum is created. Hence,

enum cannot extend another class or enum. The compiler also create an instance of the class for
each constants defined inside the enum.

The java.lang.Enum has these methods:

public final String name(); // Returns the name of this enum constant, exactly as declared in its
enum declaration.

// You could also override the toString() to provide a more user-friendly description.

public String toString(); // Returns the name of this enum constant, as contained in the
declaration.
// This method may be overridden.

public final int ordinal(); // Returns the ordinal of this enumeration constant.
Defining Enums

The enum can be defined within or outside the class because it is similar to a class.

Example of enum that is defined outside the class:

enum Season { WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER, FALL }

class EnumExample2{
public static void main(String[] args) {

Season s=Season.WINTER;
System.out.println(s);

}}

Output:WINTER

Example of enum that is defined within the class:

class EnumExample2{
enum Season { WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER, FALL; }//semicolon(;) is optional here

public static void main(String[] args) {

Season s=Season.WINTER;//enum type is required to access WINTER
System.out.println(s);

}}

Output:WINTER
Note: Every time you create enum in java you are creating a fully-fledged enum type or class
and by default they provide basic implementation of all Object class methods. In addition to
getting a complete enum type in your code, they are also Comparable and Serializable.

After your enum is created you can declare variables of enum type to store one of the enum
predefined variable.

Initializing specific value to the enum constants:

The enum constants have initial value that starts from 0, 1, 2, 3 and so on. But we can initialize
the specific value to the enum constants by defining fields and constructors. As specified earlier,
Enum can have fields, constructors and methods.

Example of specifying initial value to the enum constants

Output:WINTER 5
SPRING 10
SUMMER 15
FALL 20

Example of applying enum on switch statement

Example 2: enum using for loop

If you need to iterate through all the constant fields in a Java enum, you can do this pretty
easily in a Java 5 for loop. You just need to use the values method of the enum type in the for
loop, as shown in this Java enum for loop example:

Example 3:enum using if/then example

You can also use a Java enum type in an if/then statement. While the example below might be
better implemented as a switch/case statement, it does provide an enum if/then example:
Benefits of enum:

1) Enums in Java are type-safe, It means your enum will have a type for example "Currency" in
below example and you can not assign any value other than specified in Enum Constants.

public enum Currency {PENNY, NICKLE, DIME, QUARTER};

Currency coin = Currency.PENNY;

coin = 1; //compilation error

2) Enum has its own name-space,we can use enum field only with class name(refer to the below
Currency example)

3) Best feature of Enum is you can use Enum in Java inside Switch statement like int or char
primitive data type.We will also see example of using java enum in switch statement in this java
enum tutorial.

4) Adding new constants on Enum in Java is easy and you can add new constants without
breaking existing code.

Important points about Enum in Java

1/Enum in Java are reference type like class or interface and you can define constructor,
methods and variables inside java Enum which makes it more powerful than Enum in C and C++
.

2.You can specify values of enum constants at the creation time as shown in below example:
But for this to work you need to define a member variable and a constructor because PENNY (1)
is actually calling a constructor which accepts int value , see below example.

public enum Currency {

PENNY(1), NICKLE(5), DIME(10), QUARTER(25);
private int value;

private Currency(int value) {

this.value = value;
}

public static void main(String[] args){

int i = 1;
for (Currency curr: Currency.values())
{
System.out.printf("Currency %s = %s\n", i++, curr); }

Code Snippets:

1.

2.The following example defines a string Enums values and use switch expression to control
decision based on Enum values
The output of the above ENUM example
java code
?
1
This type is new

2.12. Enums - Additional Information and Best

Practices
Using CompareTo to compare two Enum Values:

The java.lang.Enum.compareTo() method compares this enum with the specified object for
order.Enum constants are only comparable to other enum constants of the same enum type.

public final int compareTo(E object1)

This method returns a negative integer, zero, or a positive integer as this object is less than,
equal to, or greater than the specified object.
The output is : The two enum values are different and parameter is less ordered

Enum Type Constructor:

Note that the Enum's constructor has to be private , and you can't access it , this private
constructor defines the constants listed in the beginning of the Enum body:

You may need to know how to access a value of Enum.For example the following code snippet
shows you how to access car Enum in the main class:
public class EnumTest {
static CarEnum mycar;
public static void main(String args[])
{
System.out.println(mycar.BMW.getCarType());
}
}

To print all values of a specific Enum Type:

For each ENUM class type a values functions is auto generated which can be used to print all
the ENUMs available.

public class Main {

public static void main(String[] args) {

// To print all the values of enum type :
for (CarEnum carType : CarEnum.values()) {
System.out.println("Car type:- " + carType);
}
}
}

enum CarEnum {
BMW("BMW"), TOYOTA("TOYOTA"), FIAT("FIAT");
private String CarType;
private CarEnum(String CarType) {
this.CarType = CarType;
}
public String getCarType() {
return CarType;
}
}

Using valueOf function to return Enum:

Return enum constant type if a specific declared Enum constant identifier matches the string
passed to valueOf() function.

public class Main {

public static void main(String[] args) {

System.out.print(CarEnum.valueOf("BMW"));
}
}
enum CarEnum {
BMW("Bavarian Motor Works"),
TOYOTA("Too Often Yankees Overprice This Auto"),
FIAT("Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino");
private String CarType;
 private CarEnum(String CarType) {
this.CarType = CarType;
}
public String getCarType() {
return CarType;
}
}

The output of this program is :BMW

Best Practices:

You should use enum types any time you need to represent a fixed set of constants. That
includes natural enum types such as the planets in our solar system and data sets where you
know all possible values at compile time—for example, the choices on a menu, command line
flags, and so on.

Take Aways :

 Java 5 added an enum type to the language.

 enum can be traversed

 enum can have fields, constructors and methods

 enum may implement many interfaces but cannot extend any class because it internally
extends Enum class

 Enumerated values are used to represent a set of named values.

 Historically in Java (and other languages), these were often stored as constants.

 In its simplest form, it contains a comma separated list of names representing each of the
possible options.

Test your knowledge by taking this Sample Quiz.