Chapter 1 – Introduction

Java Foundations:
Introduction to Programming and Data Structures

by John Lewis,
Peter DePasquale and Joseph Chase

Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley

 Introduction

• We begin by examining a very basic Java program and

using it to explore some initial programming concepts
• Chapter 1 focuses on
– Introducing the Java programming language
– Describing the steps involved in program compilation and
execution
– Exploring the issues related to problem solving in general
– Discussing the activities involved in the software development
process
– Presenting an overview of object-oriented principles

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 Outline

• The Java Programming Language

• Program Development
• Problem Solving
• Software Development Activities
• Object-Oriented Programming

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 1.1 – The Java Programming Language

• A computer is made up of hardware and software

• hardware – the physical, tangible pieces that support the
computing effort
• program – a series of instructions that the hardware
executes one after another
• Programs are sometimes called applications
• software – consists of programs and the data those
programs use

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 1.1 – The Java Programming Language

• A programming language specifies the words and

symbols that we can use to write a program
• A programming language employs a set of rules that
dictate how the words and symbols can be put together to
form valid program statements
• The Java programming language was created by Sun
Microsystems, Inc.
• It was introduced in 1995 and it's popularity has grown
quickly since

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 1.1 – A Java Program

• In the Java programming language

– a program is made up of one or more classes
– a class contains one or more methods
– a method contains program statements

• These terms will be explored in detail throughout the

course
• A Java application always contains a method called main

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 1.1 – Lincoln.java
//********************************************************************
// Lincoln.java Java Foundations
//
// Demonstrates the basic structure of a Java application.
//********************************************************************

public class Lincoln

{
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
// Prints a presidential quote.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
public static void main (String[] args)
{
System.out.println ("A quote by Abraham Lincoln:");

System.out.println ("Whatever you are, be a good one.");

}
}

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 1.1 – Java Program Structure
// comments about the class
public class MyProgram
{
class header

class body

Comments can be placed almost anywhere

}

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 1.1 – Java Program Structure
// comments about the class
public class MyProgram
{

// comments about the method

public static void main (String[] args)
{
method header
method body
}

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 1.1 – Comments
• Comments in a program are called inline documentation
• They should be included to explain the purpose of the
program and describe processing steps
• They do not affect how a program works
• Java comments can take three forms
// this comment runs to the end of the line

/* this comment runs to the terminating

symbol, even across line breaks */

/** this is a javadoc comment */

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 1.1 – Identifiers

• Identifiers are the words a programmer uses in a program

– can be made up of letters, digits, the underscore character ( _ ), and the
dollar sign
– cannot begin with a digit

• Java is case sensitive - Total, total, and TOTAL are

different identifiers
• By convention, programmers use different case styles for different
types of identifiers, such as
– title case for class names - Lincoln
– upper case for constants - MAXIMUM

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 1.1 – Identifiers

• Sometimes we choose identifiers ourselves when writing

a program (such as Lincoln)

• Sometimes we are using another programmer's code, so

we use the identifiers that he or she chose (such as
println)

• Often we use special identifiers called reserved words that

already have a predefined meaning in the language

• A reserved word cannot be used in any other way

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 1.1 – Reserved Words
• The Java reserved words
abstract else interface switch
assert enum long synchronized
boolean extends native this
break false new throw
byte final null throws
case finally package transient
catch float private true
char for protected try
class goto public void
const if return volatile
continue implements short while
default import static
do instanceof strictfp
double int super

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 1.1 – White Space
• Spaces, blank lines, and tabs are called white space
• White space is used to separate words and symbols in a
program
• Extra white space is ignored
• A valid Java program can be formatted many ways
• Programs should be formatted to enhance readability,
using consistent indentation

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 1.1 – Lincoln2.java
//********************************************************************
// Lincoln2.java Java Foundations
//
// Demonstrates a poorly formatted, though valid, program.
//********************************************************************

public class Lincoln2{public static void main(String[]args){

System.out.println("A quote by Abraham Lincoln:");
System.out.println("Whatever you are, be a good one.");}}

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 1.1 – Lincoln3.java
//********************************************************************
// Lincoln3.java Java Foundations
//
// Demonstrates another valid program that is poorly formatted.
//********************************************************************

public class
Lincoln3
{
public
static
void
main
(
String
[]
args )
{
System.out.println (
"A quote by Abraham Lincoln:" )
; System.out.println
(
"Whatever you are, be a good one."
)
;
}
}

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 Outline

• The Java Programming Language

• Program Development
• Problem Solving
• Software Development Activities
• Object-Oriented Programming

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 1.2 – Program Development

• The mechanics of developing a program include several

activities
– writing the program in a specific programming language (such
as Java)
– translating the program into a form that the computer can
execute
– investigating and fixing various types of errors that can occur

• Software tools can be used to help with all parts of this

process

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 1.2 – Language Levels

• There are four programming language levels

– machine language
– assembly language
– high-level language
– fourth-generation language

• Each type of CPU has its own specific machine language

• The other levels were created to make it easier for a

human being to read and write programs

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 1.2 – Programming Languages
• Each type of CPU executes only a particular machine
language
• A program must be translated into machine language
before it can be executed
• A compiler is a software tool which translates source
code into a specific target language
• Often, that target language is the machine language for a
particular CPU type
• The Java approach is somewhat different

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 1.2 – Java Translation

• The Java compiler translates Java source code into a

special representation called bytecode
• Java bytecode is not the machine language for any
traditional CPU
• Another software tool, called an interpreter, translates
bytecode into machine language and executes it
• Therefore the Java compiler is not tied to any particular
machine
• Java is considered to be architecture-neutral

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 1.2 – Java Translation

Java source
code Java
bytecode

Java
compiler
Bytecode Bytecode
interpreter compiler

Machine
code

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 1.2 – Development Environments
• There are many programs that support the development of Java
software, including
– Sun Java Development Kit (JDK)
– Sun NetBeans
– IBM Eclipse
– Borland JBuilder
– MetroWerks CodeWarrior
– BlueJ
– jGRASP

• Though the details of these environments differ, the basic

compilation and execution process is essentially the same

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 1.2 – Syntax and Semantics

• The syntax rules of a language define how we can put

together symbols, reserved words, and identifiers to make
a valid program
• The semantics of a program statement define what that
statement means (its purpose or role in a program)
• A program that is syntactically correct is not necessarily
logically (semantically) correct
• A program will always do what we tell it to do, not what
we meant to tell it to do

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 1.2 – Errors

• A program can have three types of errors

– The compiler will find syntax errors and other basic problems
(compile-time errors)
• If compile-time errors exist, an executable version of the
program is not created
– A problem can occur during program execution, such as trying to
divide by zero, which causes a program to terminate abnormally
(run-time errors)
– A program may run, but produce incorrect results, perhaps using
an incorrect formula (logical errors)

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 1.2 – Basic Program Development

Edit and
save program
errors

errors
Compile program

Execute program and

evaluate results

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 Outline

• The Java Programming Language

• Program Development
• Problem Solving
• Software Development Activities
• Object-Oriented Programming

Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley 1-27

 1.3 – Problem Solving

• The purpose of writing a program is to solve a problem

• Solving a problem consists of multiple activities
– understand the problem
– design a solution
– consider alternatives and refine the solution
– implement the solution
– test the solution

• These activities are not purely linear – they overlap and

interact

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 1.3 – Problem Solving

• The key to designing a solution is breaking it down into

manageable pieces

• When writing software, we design separate pieces that are

responsible for certain parts of the solution

• An object-oriented approach lends itself to this kind of

solution decomposition

• We will dissect our solutions into pieces called objects

and classes

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 Outline

• The Java Programming Language

• Program Development
• Problem Solving
• Software Development Activities
• Object-Oriented Programming

Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley 1-30

 1.4 – Software Development Activities

• Any proper software development effort consists of four

basic development activities
– establishing the requirements
– creating a design
– implementing the design
– testing

• These steps also are never purely linear and often overlap
and interact

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 1.4 – Software Development Activities

• Software requirements specify what a program must accomplish

• Requirements are expressed in a document called a functional
specification
• A software design indicates how a program will accomplish its
requirements
• Implementation is the process of writing the source code that will
solve the problem
• Testing is the act of ensuring that a program will solve the intended
problem given all of the constraints under which it must perform

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 Outline

• The Java Programming Language

• Program Development
• Problem Solving
• Software Development Activities
• Object-Oriented Programming

Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley 1-33

 1.5 – Object-Oriented Programming

• Java is an object-oriented programming language

• As the term implies, an object is a fundamental entity in a
Java program
• Objects can be used effectively to represent real-world
entities
• For instance, an object might represent a particular
employee in a company
• Each employee object handles the processing and data
management related to that employee

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 1.5 – Objects

• An object has
– state - descriptive characteristics
– behaviors - what it can do (or what can be done to it)

• The state of a bank account includes its account number

and its current balance
• The behaviors associated with a bank account include the
ability to make deposits and withdrawals
• Note that the behavior of an object might change its state

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 1.5 – Classes

• An object is defined by a class

• A class is the blueprint of an object
• The class uses methods to define the behaviors of the object
• The class that contains the main method of a Java program
represents the entire program
• A class represents a concept, and an object represents the
embodiment of that concept
• Multiple objects can be created from the same class

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 1.5 – Objects and Classes
A class An object
(the concept) (the realization)

John’s Bank Account

Bank Account
Balance: $5,257

Jason’s Bank Account

Balance: $1,245,069
Multiple objects
from the same class
Mary’s Bank Account
Balance: $16,833

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 1.5 – Inheritance
• One class can be used to derive another via inheritance
• Classes can be organized into hierarchies
Account

Charge Bank
Account Account

Savings Checking
Account Account

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 Chapter 1 - Summary

• Chapter 1 focused on
– programming and programming languages
– an introduction to Java
– program development activities
– problem solving
– an overview of object-oriented concepts

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