Java Tutorial

2013-14

Java program Compilation and

Interpretation

Basic Java program

// Choose a meaningful Classname. Save as
"Classname.java"
public class Classname {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Your programming statements here!
}
}

Primitive data types

Declaration &
Initialization

Primitive Data types

Type conversion and Type casting

Arrays
<elementType>[] <arrayName>;
int [] a;

<elementType> <arrayName>[];
int a [];

<arrayName>=new <elementType>[arraySize];
a=new int[10];

<elementType>[] <arrayName>=new <elementType>[arraySize];

int [] a=new int[10];
int [] a={1,2,3,4};
char language[]={j , a , v , a};

<arrayName>.length gives the number of elements in the array.

Arrays are passed to functions by reference, or as a pointer to the original.
This means anything you do to the Array inside the function affects the
original.

Multi dimensional arrays

int twoDArray[][] = new int[3][];
twoDArray[0] = new int[2];
twoDArray[1] = new int[3];
twoDArray[2] = new int[4];

final key word

You can declare a class, a variable or a method to be final.
A final class cannot be sub-classed (or extended).
A final variable cannot be re-assigned a new value.

A final variable of primitive type is a constant, whose value cannot be changed.

A final variable of a reference type (e.g., an instance of a class or an array) cannot be
re-assigned a new value (reference). That is, you can modify the content of the
instance, but cannot re-assign the variable to another instance.

An instance blank final variables must be initialized in all the constructors of a

class.
Static final variable must be initialized in static block of the class.
Final methods cannot be overridden but they can be overloaded.
Abstract classes and interfaces cannot be marked as final.

final and blank final

A final variable that is not initialized at the time of declaration is
known as blank final variable. It has to be initialized in all
constructors.
A static final variable that is not initialized at the time of
declaration is known as static blank final variable. It can be
initialized only in static block.
If you declare any formal parameter as final, you cannot change
the value of it.

final classes
final class BaseClass{}
// Error - The type DerivedClass cannot subclass the final
class BaseClass
public class DerivedClass extends BaseClass{
}

Garbage Collection

Garbage Collection

GC Phases
Mark Phase
Marks the live objects in the heap. Typically most of the GC
time is spent here.

Sweep Phase
Performs the actual garbage removal.

Compaction Phase
Compacts the heap to provide larger contiguous storage
areas.

GC Overview
GC manages the java Heap (default 512 MB)
GC only executes
When objects cannot be allocated with in the heap.
Requested via System.gc() call.

All other threads are stopped before GC runs.

static variable
It is a variable which belongs to the class and not to
object(instance)
Static variables are initialized only once , at the start of
the execution . These variables will be initialized first,
before the initialization of any instance variables
A single copy to be shared by all instances of the class
A static variable can be accessed directly by the class
name and doesnt need any object
Syntax : <class-name>.<variable-name>

static method
It is a method which belongs to the class and not to the
object(instance)
A static method can access only static data. It can not access
non-static data (instance variables)
A static method can call only other static methods and can not
call a non-static method from it.
A static method can be accessed directly by the class name and
doesnt need any object
Syntax : <class-name>.<method-name>
A static method cannot refer to this or super keywords in
anyway

static block
The static block, is a block of statement inside a Java class
that will be executed when the class is loaded into memory
by Class Loader of Java Virtual Machine.
class Test{
static {
//Code goes here
}
}

Class Loader
Every JVM has a built-in class loader (of type java.lang.ClassLoader) that is
responsible for loading classes into the memory of a Java program. Whenever a
class is referenced in the program, the class loader searches the classpath for
the class file, loads the bytecode into memory, and instantiates a
java.lang.Class object to maintain the loaded class.
The class loader loads a class only once, so there is only one java.lang.Class
object for each class that used in the program. This Class object stores the static
variables and methods.
During the class loading, the class loader also allocates the static variables, and
invokes the explicit initializers and static initializers (in the order of appearance).

Instantiation Process
The sequence of events when a new object is instantiated via the new
operator (known as the instantiation process) is as follows:
JVM allocates memory for the instance in the help.
JVM initializes the instance variables to their assigned values or default
values.
JVM invokes the constructor.
The first statement of the constructor is always a call to its immediate
superclass' constructor. JVM invokes the selected superclass' constructor.
JVM executes the instance initializers in the order of appearance.
JVM executes the body of the constructor.
The new operator returns a reference to the new object.

method call

Constructor
A constructor is different from an ordinary method in the following aspects:
The name of the constructor method is the same as the class name, and by class
name convention, begins with an uppercase.
Constructor has no return type (or implicitly returns void). Hence, no return statement
is allowed inside the constructor's body.
Constructor can only be invoked via the "new" operator. It can only be used once to
initialize the instance constructed.
You cannot call the constructor afterwards.
Constructors are not inherited (to be explained later).
A constructor with no parameter is called the default constructor, which initializes the
member variables to their default value.

Method overloading
Method overloading means that the same method name
can
have
different
implementations
(versions).
However, the different implementations must be
distinguishable by their argument list (either the
number of arguments, or the type of arguments, or their
order).

toString()
Every class should have a public method called toString() that returns a string description
of the object.
You can invoke the toString() method explicitly by calling an InstanceName.toString() or
implicitly via println() or String concatenation operator '+'.
Running println(anInstance) with an object argument invokes the toString() method of that
instance implicitly.

Copy by value and Copy by

reference
Java stores each primitive type in a fixed amount of memory and Java directly manipulates the values for
primitives.
However, objects and arrays do not have a standard size, and they can become quite large. Therefore,
Java manipulates these types by reference.
Although the reference types do not have a standard size, the references to reference types do have a
standard size.
Reference types differ from primitives in the way values are copied and compared.

When you work with a primitive data type, such as an integer, you are working directly with values and no
Java object is involved. So the statement x = y actually copies the value of y into x.
When you work with reference types (objects), the variable does not contain the object. The variable is a
reference to that object in memory.
So the statement x = y does not copy the object, but only copies the reference. There is still only one object,
but it now has two references.

OOP
In OOP, we often organize classes in hierarchy to avoid
duplication and reduce redundancy. The classes in the lower
hierarchy inherit all the variables (static attributes) and methods
(dynamic behaviors) from the higher hierarchies. A class in the
lower hierarchy is called a subclass (or derived, child, extended
class). A class in the upper hierarchy is called a superclass (or
base, parent class). By pulling out all the common variables and
methods into the superclasses, and leave the specialized
variables and methods in the subclasses, redundancy can be
greatly reduced or eliminated as these common variables and
methods do not need to be repeated in all the subclasses.

Inheritance

instanceof
Java provides a binary operator called instanceof which
returns true if an object is an instance of a particular
class. The syntax is as follows:
anObject instanceof aClass
An instance of subclass is also an instance of its
superclass.

Method overriding

A subclass instance can be assigned (substituted) to a superclass'

reference.

Once substituted, we can invoke methods defined in the superclass;

we cannot invoke methods defined in the subclass.

However, if the subclass overrides inherited methods from the

superclass, the subclass (overridden) versions will be invoked.

The "@Override" is known as annotation (introduced in JDK 1.5),

which asks compiler to check whether there is such a method in the
superclass to be overridden. This helps greatly if you misspell the
name of the method to be overridden. For example, suppose that
you wish to override method toString() in a subclass. If @Override is
not used and toString() is misspelled as TOString(), it will be treated
as a new method in the subclass, instead of overriding the
superclass. If @Override is used, the compiler will signal an error.

@Override annotation is optional, but certainly nice to have.

Annotations are not programming constructs. They have no effect

on the program output. It is only used by the compiler, discarded
after compilation, and not used by the runtime.

super
Recall that inside a class definition, you can use the keyword this to refer to this instance.
Similarly, the keyword super refers to the superclass, which could be the immediate parent or
its ancestor.
The keyword super allows the subclass to access superclass' methods and variables within the
subclass' definition. For example, super() and super(argumentList) can be used invoke the
superclass constructor. If the subclass overrides a method inherited from its superclass, says
getArea(), you can use super.getArea() to invoke the superclass' version within the subclass
definition. Similarly, if your subclass hides one of the superclass' variable, you can use
super.variableName to refer to the hidden variable within the subclass definition.
In the body of a constructor, you can use super(args) to invoke a constructor of its immediate
superclass. Note that super(args), if it is used, must be the first statement in the subclass'
constructor. If it is not used in the constructor, Java compiler automatically insert a super()
statement to invoke the no-arg constructor of its immediate superclass. This follows the fact
that the parent must be born before the child can be born. You need to properly construct the
superclasses before you can construct the subclass.
If the immediate superclass does not have the default constructor (it defines some constructors
but does not define a no-arg constructor), you will get a compilation error in doing a super() call.

Object class
The Object class, defined in the java.lang package, defines and implements behavior
common to all classesincluding the ones that you write. In the Java platform, many
classes derive directly from Object, other classes derive from some of those classes,
and so on, forming a hierarchy of classes. These common behaviors enable the
implementation of features such as multi-threading and garbage collectors.

Methods of Object class

Modifier and
Method and Description
Type
protected Object clone() Creates and returns a copy of this object.
boolean
equals(Objectobj) Indicates whether some other object is "equal to" this one.
finalize() Called by the garbage collector on an object when garbage collection
protected void
determines that there are no more references to the object.
Class<?>
getClass() Returns the runtime class of this Object.
int
hashCode() Returns a hash code value for the object.
void
notify() Wakes up a single thread that is waiting on this object's monitor.
void
notifyAll() Wakes up all threads that are waiting on this object's monitor.
String
toString() Returns a string representation of the object.
wait() Causes the current thread to wait until another thread invokes the notify()
void
method or the notifyAll() method for this object.
wait(longtimeout) Causes the current thread to wait until either another thread
void
invokes the notify() method or the notifyAll() method for this object, or a specified
amount of time has elapsed.
wait(longtimeout, intnanos) Causes the current thread to wait until another
thread invokes the notify() method or the notifyAll() method for this object, or
void
some other thread interrupts the current thread, or a certain amount of real time

finalize()
finalize() is called before Garbage collector reclaim the Object, its last chance for any object to perform cleanup
activity i.e. releasing any system resources held, closing connection if open etc.
Main issue with finalize method in java is its not guaranteed by JLS that it will be called by Garbage collector or
exactly when it will be called, for example an object may wait indefinitely after becoming eligible for garbage
collection and before its finalize() method gets called.
Similarly even after finalize gets called its not guaranteed it will be immediately collected.
Because of above reason it make no sense to use finalize method for releasing critical resources or perform any
time critical activity inside finalize
finalize method is called by garbage collection thread before collecting object and it is not intended to be called
like normal method.
There is one way you can guarantee running of finalize method by calling System.runFinalization() and
Runtime.getRuntime().runFinalization(). These methods ensures that JVM call finalize() method of all object
which are eligible for garbage collection and whose finalize has not yet called.
Any Exception thrown by finalize method is ignored by GC thread and it will not be propagated further, in fact I
doubt if you find any trace of it.

finalize()
One of the most important point of finalize method is
that its not automatically chained like constructors. If you
are overriding finalize method then its your responsibility
to call finalize() method of super-class, if you forgot to
call then finalize of super class will never be called.
Best way to call super class finalize method is to call
them in finally block as shown in below example. this will
guarantee that finalize of parent class will be called in all
condition except when JVM exits

Method and variable hiding

A subclass inherits all the member variables and
methods from its superclasses (the immediate parent
and all its ancestors). It can use the inherited methods
and variables as they are. It may also override an
inherited method by providing its own version, or hide
an inherited variable by defining a variable of the same
name.

Upcasting
Substituting a subclass instance for its superclass is
called "upcasting". This is because, in a UML class
diagram, subclass is often drawn below its superclass.
Upcasting is always safe because a subclass instance
possesses all the properties of its superclass and can do
whatever its superclass can do. The compiler checks for
valid upcasting and issues error "incompatible types"
Circle c1 = new Cylinder(); // Compiler checks to ensure that R-value is a
otherwise.
subclass of L-value.
Circle c2 = new String();

// Compilation error: incompatible types

Downcasting
Substituting a subclass instance for its superclass is called "upcasting". You can
revert a substituted instance back to a subclass reference. This is called
"downcasting".
Downcasting requires explicit type casting operator in the form of prefix operator
(new-type). Downcasting is not always safe, and throws a runtime
ClassCastException if the instance to be downcasted does not belong to the
correct subclass. A subclass object can be substituted for its superclass, but the
reverse is not true. Compiler may not be able to detect error in explicit cast,
which will be detected only at runtime.
Circle c1 = new Cylinder(5.0);
// upcast is safe
Cylinder aCylinder = (Cylinder) c1; // downcast needs the casting operator
Circle c1 = new Circle(5); Point p1 = new Point(); c1 = p1; // compilation error: incompatible
types (Point is not a subclass of Circle) c1 = (Circle)p1; // runtime error:
java.lang.ClassCastException: Point cannot be casted to Circle

inheritance, abstract class and

interface

abstract method and abstract class

A class containing one or more abstract methods is called an
abstract class. An abstract class must be declared with a class-modifier
abstract.
An abstract method is a method with only
signature (i.e., the method name, the list of
arguments and the return type) without
implementation (i.e., the methods body).
You use the keyword abstract to declare an
abstract method.
An abstract method cannot be declared final, as
final method cannot be overridden. An abstract
method, on the other hand, must be overridden
in a descendent before it can be used.
An abstract method cannot be private (which
generates a compilation error). This is because
private method are not visible to the subclass

Why interfaces?
An interface is a contract (or a protocol, or a common understanding) of what the classes can
do. When a class implements a certain interface, it promises to provide implementation to all the abstract
methods declared in the interface. Interface defines a set of common behaviors. The classes implement
the interface agree to these behaviors and provide their own implementation to the behaviors. This allows
you to program at the interface, instead of the actual implementation. One of the main usage of interface
is provide a communication contract between two objects. If you know a class implements an interface,
then you know that class contains concrete implementations of the methods declared in that interface, and
you are guaranteed to be able to invoke these methods safely. In other words, two objects can
communicate based on the contract defined in the interface, instead of their specific implementation.
Secondly, Java does not support multiple inheritance (whereas C++ does). Multiple inheritance
permits you to derive a subclass from more than one direct superclass. This poses a problem if two direct
superclasses have conflicting implementations. (Which one to follow in the subclass?). However, multiple
inheritance does have its place. Java does this by permitting you to "implements" more than one interfaces
(but you can only "extends" from a single superclass). Since interfaces contain only abstract methods
without actual implementation, no conflict can arise among the multiple interfaces. (Interface can hold
constants but is not recommended. If a subclass implements two interfaces with conflicting constants, the
compiler will flag out a compilation error.)

interface
A Java interface is a 100% abstract superclass which define a set of
methods its subclasses must support. An interface contains only public
abstract methods (methods with signature and no implementation) and possibly
constants (public static final variables). You have to use the keyword "interface" to
define an interface (instead of keyword "class" for normal classes). The keyword
public and abstract are not needed for its abstract methods as they are mandatory.
An interface is a contract for what the classes can do. It, however, does not specify
how the classes should do it.
An interface that have no member is known as marker or tagged interface. For
example: Serializable, Cloneable, Remote etc. They are used to provide some
essential information to the JVM so that JVM may perform some useful operation.

interface
An interface is similar to a class in the following ways:

An interface can contain any number of methods.

An interface is written in a file with a .java extension, with the name of the interface matching
the name of the file.

The bytecode of an interface appears in a .class file.

Interfaces appear in packages, and their corresponding bytecode file must be in a directory
structure that matches the package name.

interface
However, an interface is different from a class in several ways, including:

You cannot instantiate an interface.

An interface does not contain any constructors.

All of the methods in an interface are abstract.

An interface cannot contain instance fields. The only fields that can appear in an interface
must be declared both static and final.

An interface is not extended by a class; it is implemented by a class.

An interface can extend multiple interfaces.

interface
When overriding methods defined in interfaces there are several rules to be
followed:

Checked exceptions should not be declared on implementation methods other than the
ones declared by the interface method or subclasses of those declared by the interface
method.

The signature of the interface method and the same return type or subtype should be
maintained when overriding the methods.

An implementation class itself can be abstract and if so interface methods need not be
implemented.

interface
To implement interfaces there are several rules:
A class can implement more than one interface at a time.

A class can extend only one class, but implement many interfaces.

An interface can extend another interface, similarly to the way that

a class can extend another class.

implements

 The java compiler adds public and abstract keywords

before the interface method and public, static and final
keywords before data members
.

A file of Java source code has the extension .java. It consists of an optional package statement
followed by any number of import statements followed by one or more class or interface
definitions. (The package and import statements will be introduced shortly.) If more than one class
or interface is defined in a Java source file, only one of them may be declared public (i.e., made
available outside of the package), and the source file must have the same name as that public
class or interface, plus the .java extension.
Each class or interface definition in a .java file is compiled into a separate file. These files of
compiled Java byte-codes are known as "class files," and must have the same name as the class or
interface they define, with the extension .class appended. For example, the class SoundEffects
would be stored in the file SoundEffects.class.
Class files are stored in a directory that has the same components as the package name. If the
fully qualified name of a class is david.games.tetris.SoundEffects, for example, the full path of the
class file must be david/games/tetris/SoundEffects.class. This filename is interpreted relative to
the Java "class path," described below

Package
A package is a collection of related Java entities (such as classes, interfaces, exceptions, errors and
enums). Packages are used for:
Resolving naming conflict of classes by prefixing the class name with a package name.

For example, com.zzz.Circle and com.yyy.Circle are two distinct classes. Although they share the same class name
Circle, but they belong to two different packages: com.zzz and com.yyy. These two classes can be used in the same
program and distinguished using the fully-qualified class name - package name plus class name. This mechanism is
called Namespace Management.

Access Control: Besides public and private, Java has two access control modifiers protected and
default that are related to package. A protected entity is accessible by classes in the same package
and its subclasses. An entity without access control modifier (i.e., default) is accessible by classes in
the same package only.
For distributing a collection of reusable classes, usually in a format known as Java Archive (JAR) file.

Package Naming Convention

A package name is made up of the reverse of the Internet
Domain Name (to ensure uniqueness) plus your own
organization's internal project name, separated by dots '.'.
Package names are in lowercase.
For example, suppose that your Internet Domain Name is "zzz.com",
you can name your package as "com.zzz.project1.subproject2".

The prefix "java" and "javax" are reserved for core Java
packages and Java extensions, respectively.

Package Name & the Directory

Structure
The package name is closely associated with the directory structure used to store the
classes. The classes (and other entities) belonging to a specific package are stored
together in the same directory. Furthermore, they are stored in a sub-directory
structure specified by its package name.

For example, the class Circle of package com.zzz.project1.subproject2 is stored as

"$BASE_DIR\com\zzz\project1\subproject2\Circle.class", where $BASE_DIR denotes the base
directory of the package. Clearly, the "dot" in the package name corresponds to a sub-directory of
the file system.

The base directory ($BASE_DIR) could be located anywhere in the file system. Hence,
the Java compiler and runtime must be informed about the location of the $BASE_DIR
so as to locate the classes. This is accomplished by an environment variable called
CLASSPATH. CLASSPATH is similar to another environment variable PATH, which is used
by the command shell to search for the executable programs.

 There is no such concept of sub-package in Java (i.e.,

java.awt.event is not a sub-package of java.awt). Two
distinct packages may share
common prefix and
directory structure.
For example java.awt and java.awt.event. They are two
distinct packages sharing some common directory structures
and prefix. The classes belonging to the package java.awt are
stored in directory "$BASE_DIR\java\awt\" while the classes of
package
java.awt.event
are
stored
in
directory
"$BASE_DIR\java\awt\event\".

Creating Packages
To make a class as part of a package, you have to
include the package statement as the first statement in
the source file.
It is a good practice to store the source codes and the
classes in separate directories, to facilitate the
distribution of classes without the source codes.

Package
// d:\myJavaProject\src\com\yyy\Circle.java
package com.yyy;

// Package statement should be the first executable statement

public class Circle {

private double radius;
public Circle(double radius) {
this.radius = radius;
}
public double getRadius() {
return radius;
}

To compile the source using JDK, we need to use the -d option to

specify the package base directory of the compiled class
d:\myJavaProject\classes as follows
(-d defaulted to the current directory):
> javac -d d:\myJavaProject\classes
d:\myJavaProject\src\com\yyy\Circle.java
The compiled class will be kept in
d:\myJavaProject\classes\com\yyy\Circle.class. Directory "com.yyy"
will be created automatically.

public void setRadius(double radius) {

this.radius = radius;
}

Instead of absolute path, we could also use relative path.

Package
d:\myOtherProject> javac TestCircle.java
package com.yyy does not exist
// d:\myOtherProject\TestCircle.javaTestCircle.java:1:
import com.yyy.Circle;
^
import com.yyy.Circle;
We need to use the -cp (or -classpath) option to specify
the base directory of the package com.yyy, in order to
public class TestCircle {
locate com.yyy.Circle.
public static void main(String[] args)
{
d:\myOtherProject>
javac -cp d:\myJavaProject\classes
TestCircle.java

Circle c = new Circle(1.23);

d:\myOtherProject> java -cp d:\myJavaProject\classes

System.out.println(c.getRadius());
TestCircle Exception in thread "main"

}
}

java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: TestCircle
But now, the JRE can't even find the TestCircle class,
which is located in the current directory. This is because if
CLASSPATH is not explicitly set, it defaulted to the current
directory. However, if CLASSPATH is explicitly set, it does
not include the current directory unless the current
directory is included. Hence, we need to include current
directory (denoted as '.') in the CLASSPATH, together with

Suppose that the TestCircle class is in a package com.abc, and save as

d:\myOtherProject\src\com\abc\TestCircle.java.
// d:\myOtherProject\src\com.abc\TestCircle.java
package com.abc;
import com.yyy.Circle;
public class TestCircle {

d:\myOtherProject> javac -d classes -cp

d:\myJavaProject\classes src\com\abc\TestCircle.java
-- To run TestCircle, need to include the base directory of TestCircle
and Circle in classpath.
-- Also need to use the fully-qualified name (package name plus
class name) for TestCircle
d:\myOtherProject> java -cp classes;d:\myJavaProject\classes
com.abc.TestCircle

......
}

package com.zzz.project1.subproject2;
public class MyClass3 {
private MyClass4 myClass4;
public MyClass3 () { // constructor
System.out.println("MyClass3 constructed");
myClass4 = new MyClass4(); // use
MyClass4 in the same package
}
// main() included here for testing
public static void main(String[] args) {
new MyClass3();
}
}

Inner Class
Inner classes are class within Class. Inner class instance has
special relationship with Outer class. This special relationship
gives inner class access to member of outer class as if they
are the part of outer class. Inner class instance has access to
all member of the outer class(Public, Private & Protected).
Types of Inner Classes

Static
Method Local
Anonymous
Member class

Normal Inner Class

//outer class
class OuterClass {
//inner class
class InnerClass {
}
}
When we compile the above code, we get two class files. We cant
directly execute the inner classs .class file with java command.
OuterClass.class
InnerClass$OuterClass.class

Access normal Inner Class

From with in outer class, Outer class can create instance of the inner class
in the same way as you create a class instance.
InnerClass i1 = new InnerClass();

From Outside Outer Class, Create outer class instance and then inner
class instance.
// Creating outer class instance
OuterClass outerclass = new OuterClass();
// Creating inner class instance
OuterClass.InnerClass innerclass = outerclass.new InnerClass();
OR
OuterClass.InnerClass innerClass = new OuterClass.new InnerClass();

In case of Inner class this keyword will refer the currently executing
inner class Object. But to get this for outer class use OuterClass.this.

Modifiers applied
Normal inner class will be treated like member of the
outer class so it can have several Modifiers as opposed
to Class.

final
abstract
public
private
protected
strictfp

Method Local Inner Class

When an inner class is defined inside the method of Outer Class it
becomes Method local inner class.
Method local inner class can be instantiated within the method where it is
defined and no where else.
Because objects (and their methods) created from this class may persist
after the method returns, a local inner class may not refer to parameters
or non-final local variables of the method. But it can use the instance
variable.
If method local variable is Final, method local inner class can use it.(*
Now variable is Final).
Method local inner classes are eligible for modifiers like local variable so an
method local inner class can have final or abstract.

Static member class

An inner class qualified with static keyword.
Despite its position inside another class, a static
member class is actually an "outer" class--it has no
special access to names in its containing class.
To refer to the static inner class from a class outside the
containing
class,
use
the
syntax
OuterClassName.InnerClassName.
A static member class may contain static fields and
methods.

 An anonymous inner class is one that is declared and used to create

one object (typically as a parameter to a method), all within a single
statement.
An anonymous inner class may extend a class:
new SuperClass(parameters){ class body }

Here, SuperClass is not the name of the class being defined, but
rather the name of the class being extended. The parameters are the
parameters to the constructor for that superclass.
An anonymous inner class may implement an interface:
new Interface(){ class body }

Anonymous inner classes are almost always used as event listeners

enum
Enums are type-safe!
Enums provide their namespace.
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 userfriendly 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.
All constants defined in an enum are public static final. Since they are static, they can be
accessed via EnumName.instanceName.
You do not instantiate an enum, but rely the constants defined.
Enums can be used in a switch-case statement, just like an int.

Wrapper classes
The designers of Java language retain the primitive types in
an object-oriented language, instead of making everything
object, so as to improve the runtime performance.
However, in some situations, an object is required instead of a
primitive value.
The data structures in the Collection framework, such as
the "dynamic array" ArrayList and Vector, stores only
objects (reference types) and not primitive types.
Object is needed to support synchronization in
multithreading.
Objects are needed, if you wish to modify the arguments
passed into a method (because primitive types are passed
by value).
JDK provides the so-called wrapper classes that wrap primitive
values into objects, for each primitive type as shown in the
class diagram. Each of the wrapper classes contains a private
member variable that holds the primitive value it wraps. The
wrapped value cannot be changed.

Wrap via constructors

Wrap an int primitive value into an Integer object
Integer aIntObj = new Integer(5566);

Wrap a double primitive value into a Double object

Double aDoubleObj = new Double(55.66);

Wrap a char primitive value into a Character object

Character aCharObj = new Character('z');

Wrap a boolean primitive value into a Boolean object

Boolean aBooleanObj = new Boolean(true);

All wrapper classes, except Character, also have a constructor that

takes a String, and parse the String into the primitive value to be
wrapped.

Number class
The following methods are declared in Number class, which are
implemented in concrete subclasses Byte, Short, Integer, Long,
Float, Double.

public
public
public
public
public
public
public
public

byte byteValue()
short
shortValue()
abstract int intValue()
abstract long longValue()
abstract float floatValue()
abstract double doubleValue()
char charValue()
boolean
booleanValue()

Exception Handling
Older programming languages such as C have some drawbacks in exception handing.
For example, suppose the programmer wishes to open a file for processing:
The programmers are not made to be aware of the exceptional conditions. For
example, the file to be opened may not necessarily exist. The programmer therefore
did not write codes to test whether the file exists before opening the file.
Suppose the programmer is aware of the exceptional conditions, he/she might decide
to finish the main logic first, and write the exception handling codes later this
"later", unfortunately, usually never happens. In other words, you are not force to
write the exception handling codes together with the main logic.
Suppose the programmer decided to write the exception handling codes, the
exception handling codes intertwine with the main logic in many if-else statements.
This makes main logic hard to follow and the entire program hard to read. For
example,

Exception Handling
Java overcomes these drawbacks by building the
exception handling into the language rather than
leaving it to the discretion of the programmers:
You will be informed of the exceptional conditions that
may arise in calling a method - Exceptions are declared
in the method's signature.
You are forced to handle exceptions while writing the
main logic and cannot leave them as an afterthought Your program cannot compiled without the exception
handling codes.

Exceptions must be Declared

As an example, suppose that you want to use a java.util.Scanner
to perform formatted input from a disk file. The signature of the
Scanner's constructor with a File argument is given as follows:
public Scanner(File source) throws FileNotFoundException;

The method's signature informs the programmers that an

exceptional condition "file not found" may arise. By declaring the
exceptions in the method's signature, programmers are made to
aware of the exceptional conditions in using the method.

Exceptions must be Handled

If a method declares an exception in its signature, you
cannot use this method without handling the exception you can't compile the program.
To use a method that declares an exception in its
signature, you MUST either:
provide exception handling codes in a "try-catch" or "trycatch-finally" construct, or
not handling the exception in the current method, but declare
the exception to be thrown up the call stack for the next
higher-level method to handle.

Main logic is separated from the

exception handling codes

Main logic is separated from the

exception handling codes

Exception propagation
When an exception occurs inside a Java method,
the method creates an Exception object and
passes the Exception object to the JVM (in Java
term, the method "throw" an Exception).
The Exception object contains the type of the
exception, and the state of the program when
the exception occurs.
The JVM is responsible for finding an exception
handler to process the Exception object.
It searches backward through the call stack until
it finds a matching exception handler for that
particular class of Exception object (in Java term,
it is called "catch" the Exception).
If the JVM cannot find a matching exception
handler in all the methods in the call stack, it
terminates the program.

Hierarchy of the Exception classes

Error vs Exception class

The Error class describes internal system errors (e.g.,
VirtualMachineError, LinkageError) that rarely occur. If
such an error occurs, there is little that you can do and
the program will be terminated by the Java runtime.
The Exception class describes the error caused by your
program (e.g. FileNotFoundException, IOException).
These errors could be caught and handled by your
program (e.g., perform an alternate action or do a
graceful exit by closing all the files, network and
database connections).

Exception handling mechanism

try {
// main logic, uses methods that may throw Exceptions
......
} catch (Exception1 ex) {
// error handler for Exception1
......
} catch (Exception2 ex) {
// error handler for Exception1
......
} finally { // finally is optional
// clean up codes, always executed regardless of exceptions
......
}

assert
Assertion enables you to test your assumptions about your program
logic (such as pre-conditions, post-conditions, and invariants).
The assert statement has two forms:

assert booleanExpr;
assert booleanExpr : errorMessageExpr;

When the runtime execute the assertion, it first evaluates the

booleanExpr. If the value is true, nothing happens. If it is false, the
runtime throws an AssertionError, using the no-argument constructor (in
the first form) or errorMessageExpr as the argument to the constructor
(in the second form).
If an object is passed as the errorMessageExpr, the object's toString()
will be called to obtain the message string.

Uses of assert statement

Assertion can be used for verifying:
Internal Invariants: Assert that a value is within a certain constraint, e.g., assert x > 0.
Class Invariants: Assert that an object's state is within a constraint. What must be true
about each instance of a class before or after the execution of a method? Class
invariants are typically verified via private boolean method, e.g., an isValid() method
to check if a Circle object has a positive radius.
Control-Flow Invariants: Assert that a certain location will not be reached. For
example, the default clause of a switch-case statement.
Pre-conditions of methods: What must be true when a method is invoked? Typically
expressed in terms of the method's arguments or the states of its objects.
Post-conditions of methods: What must be true after a method completes
successfully?

Java Strings are full-fledged objects, but they

have some properties in common with
primitive types. They can have literal values
and they can be used in assignment
statements. + Operator is overloaded
internally in Java language for String.

Overriding and Overloading Methods

An overriding method must have the same argument list and return-type (or
subclass of its original from JDK 1.5). An overloading method must have
different argument list, but it can have any return-type.
An overriding method cannot have more restricted access. For example, a
method with protected access may be overridden to have protected or public
access but not private or default access. This is because an overridden
method is considered to be a replacement of its original, hence, it cannot be
more restrictive.
An overriding method cannot declare exception types that were not declared
in its original. However, it may declare exception types are the same as, or
subclass of its original. It needs not declare all the exceptions as its original. It
can throw fewer exceptions than the original, but not more.
An overloading method must be differentiated by its argument list. It cannot
be differentiated by the return-type, the exceptions, and the modifier, which is
illegal. It can have any return-type, access modifier, and exceptions, as long

String class
String s1 = "Hello";
String s2 = "Hello";
String s3 = s1;
String s4 = new
String("Hello");
String s5 = new
String("Hello");
s1 == s1;
s1 == s2;
s1 == s3;
s1.equals(s3);
s1 == s4;
s1.equals(s4);
s4 == s5;

The StringBuffer class

provides several methods
that are useful for string
processing. The constructor
method,StringBuffer(String)
, makes it easy to convert
a String into a
StringBuffer. Similarly,
once you are done
processing the buffer, the
toString() method makes it
easy to convert a
StringBuffer back into a
String.

GUI Components cannot be added directly to a JFrame. They must be

added to its content pane. For a content pane, the default layout
manager is a BorderLayout.

Java's Container class has several add()

methods that can be used to insert
components into the container:
add(Component comp)
// add
add(Component comp, int index) // add
add(String region, Component comp) //

comp to end of container

comp at index
add comp at region

State
Description
State
Description
Ready The thread is ready to run and
waiting for the CPU.
Ready The
thread
is ready
to run and
waiting
Running
The
thread
is executing
on the
CPU. for the CPU.
Running
The thread
is executing
the CPU.
Waiting
The thread
is waiting
for someonevent
to happen.
Waiting
The
thread
is
waiting
for
some
event
to happen.
Sleeping
The thread has been told to sleep for
a time.
Sleeping
The
thread
has
been
told
to
sleep
for
a time.
BlockedThe thread is waiting for I/O to finish.
BlockedThe
threadisisterminated.
waiting for I/O to finish.
Dead
The thread
Dead The thread is terminated.

Defau Size(bits
Type Description
lt
)

Min/Max

boole
an

true/false

false

char

Unicode
character

\u0000

16

byte

Signed
integer

short

Signed
integer

16

-32768
32767

int

Signed
integer

32

-2147483648
2147483647

long

Signed
integer

64

-9223372036854775808
9223372036854775807

float

IEEE 754
Floating point

0.0

32

+/- 1.40239846E-45
+/- 3.40282347E+38

doubl
e

IEEE 754
floating point

0.0

64

Not applicable
\u0000
\uFFFF
-128
127

+/4.94065645841246544E324
+/1.79769313486231570E-

Preceden Java Operator Operands

ce

Asso
c.

Description

++
-+
~
!
(type)

Arithmetic
Arithmetic
Arithmetic
Integral
Boolean
Any

Right
Right
Right
Right
Right
Right

Unary
Unary
Unary
Unary
Unary
cast

Arithmetic

Left

Multiplication, division and remainder

+
+

Arithmetic
String

Left
Left

Addition and subtraction

String concatenation

<<
>>
>>>

Integral
Integral
Integral

Left
Left
Left

Left shift
Right shift with sign extension
Right shift with zero extension

<
<=
>
>=
instanceof

Arithmetic
Arithmetic
Object,

Left
Left
Left

Less than, less than or equal

Greater than, greater than or equal
Type comparison

pre/post decrement
pre/post decrement
plus and minus
bitwise complement
logical complement

Precede
nce

Java Operator

Operands

Asso
c.

Description

==
!=
==
!=

Primitive
Primitive
Object
Object

Left
Left
Left
Left

Equality test (value)

Inequality test
(value)
Equality (refer to the
same object)
Inequality (refer to
different objects)

&
&

Integral
Boolean

Left
Left

Bitwise AND
Boolean AND

^
^

Integral
Boolean

Left
Left

Bitwise XOR
Boolean XOR

|
|

Integral
Boolean

Left
Left

Bitwise OR
Boolean OR

10

&&

Boolean

Left

Conditional AND

11

||

Boolean

Left

Conditional OR

12

?:

Boolean, any, Righ

any
t

Conditional ternary

13

=
*=

Variable, any
Variable, any

Assignment
Assignment with

/=

%/

+=

-=

<<=

>>=

Righ
t

Inner Classes
This features lets you define a class as part of another class, just as fields
and methods are defined within classes. Java defines four types of inner
classes.
A nested top-level class or interface is a static member of an enclosing
top-level class or interface.
A member class is a nonstatic inner class. As a full-fledged member of
its containing class, a member class can refer to the fields and methods of
the containing class, even the private fields and methods. Just as you would
expect for the other instance fields and methods of a class, all instances of a
member class are associated with an instance of the enclosing class.
A local class is an inner class defined within a block of Java code, such
as within a method or within the body of a loop. Local classes have local
scope they can only be used within the block in which they are defined. Local
classes can refer to the methods and variables of their enclosing classes.
They are used mostly to implement adapters, which are used to handle
events.
An anonymous class is a local class whose definition and use are

When Java compiles a file containing a named inner class, it creates separate
class files for them with names that include the nesting class as a qualifier.
For example, if you define an inner class named Metric inside a top-level
class named Converter, the compiler will create a class file named
Converter$Metric.class for the inner class. If you wanted to access the inner
class from some other class (besides Converter), you would use a qualified
name: Converter.Metric.
An
anonymous
class
ConverterFrame$1.class.

bytecode

Eg1: Inner Classes Example Program

Eg2: Local Class
Eg3: Anonymous Class

files

are

given

names

like

Dynamic Polymorphism
If a base class reference is used to call a method, the
method to be invoked is decided by the JVM, depending
on the object the reference is pointing to.
The keyword super can be used to access any data
member or methods of the super class in the sub class.