Chapter 2: Variables and Types

PROGRAMMING 1
COS 011
 More Printing
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 Remember our first code from the previous class

 Can we put as many statements as we want in main?

Yes, we can
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Output
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What is the difference here?
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 No Different
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 Gives the same output.

 But coding this way make program harder and
harder to read. Newlines and spaces are useful for
organizing your program visually, making it easier to
read the program and locate errors.
 Variables
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 A variable is a named location that stores a value.

 Form: TYPE NAME;
 Example: String FirstName;
 This statement is a declaration, because it declares that the
variable named FirstName has the type String.
 Can we declaring multiple variables with the same type?
 String FirstName, LastName;

 You should take care to get it right. There is no such type

as Int or string, and the compiler will object if you mistype
the syntax int , String
 Identifiers
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 Identifier: The name of a variable or other item

(class, method, object, etc.) defined in a program
 A Java identifier must not start with a digit, and all the
characters must be letters, digits, or the underscore
symbol
 Java identifiers can theoretically be of any length
 Java is a case-sensitive language: Rate, rate, and RATE
are the names of three different variables
 Variable Declarations
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 Every variable in a Java program must be declared before it

is used
 A variable declaration tells the compiler what kind of data (type) will
be stored in the variable
 The type of the variable is followed by one or more variable names
separated by commas, and terminated with a semicolon
 Variables are typically declared just before they are used or at the
start of a block (indicated by an opening brace { )
 Basic types in Java are called primitive types
int numberOfBeans;
double oneWeight, totalWeight;
 Variable names
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 Variable names must be one character from the first

set and 0 or more characters from the second set.
 [a..z,A..Z,_,$][a..z,A..Z,0..9,_,$]*
 a, Xx, fred0, X, x1_y, birds2
 2birds, a$b, a+b, a&b2
 “The $ character should be used only in mechanically generated source code
or, rarely, to access preexisting names on legacy systems.” - http://java.sun.
com/docs/books/jls/third_edition/html/lexical.html#3.8
 Naming Conventions
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 Start the names of variables, methods, and objects

with a lowercase letter, indicate "word" boundaries
with an uppercase letter, and restrict the remaining
characters to digits and lowercase letters
topSpeed bankRate1 timeOfArrival
 Start the names of classes with an uppercase
letter and, otherwise, adhere to the rules above
FirstProgram MyClass String
 Valid variable names
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 Starts with: a letter (a-z or A-Z), dollar sign($), or

underscore(_)
 Followed by: zero or more letters, dollar signs,
underscores, or digits(0-9)
 Case-sensitive! Uppercase and lowercase are
different. Rate, rate, and RATE are the names of
three different variable
 Cannot be any of the reserved names
 Can theoretically be of any length
 Variable names (valid or invalid?)
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 $$1_1
 numberOfBeans
 public (reserved word)
 1day
 peanutbutter&jelly
 aZ_b
 INT
 Good variable names
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 Do not use $
 Avoid names that are identical other than
differences in case
 Use meaningful names
 Avoid excessive length
 Using +
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 In Java, the plus sign (+) can be used to denote

addition (as above) or concatenation
 Using +, two strings can be connected together

System.out.println("2 plus 2 is " + answer);

 Keywords and Reserved words
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 Keywords and Reserved words: Identifiers that

have a predefined meaning in Java
 Do not use them to name anything else
public class void static
import for while if else

 Predefined identifiers: Identifiers that are defined

in libraries required by the Java language standard
 Although they can be redefined, this could be confusing
and dangerous if doing so would change their standard
meaning
System String println
 The complete list of Keywords
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 Available at:
http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/_keywords.html.
18
 Composition
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 It is the ability to combine variables, expressions,

and statements.
 Example:
int percentage, minute=30;
percentage = (minute * 100) / 60;
Primitive Types
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 Assignment
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 We do assignment with an assignment statement to

store value for the variable.
 The equal sign (=) is used as the assignment operator

 Example:
 FirstName=“Abdullah”;
 Age=30;
 To sum up, the concept beyond this process is:
 When you declare a variable, you create a named storage location.
 When you make an assignment to a variable, you give it a value.
 22

 What do you see here?

 Age=Thirty;
Not legal Assignment.
 FirstName=“7366”
It is Legal, since numbers stored as text.
Assignment Statements With Primitive Types
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 In Java, the assignment statement is used to

change the value of a variable
 An assignment statement consists of a variable
on the left side of the operator, and an expression
on the right side of the operator
Variable = Expression;
 An expression consists of a variable, number, or
mix of variables, numbers, operators, and/or
method invocations
temperature = 98.6;
count = numberOfBeans;
Assignment Statements With Primitive Types
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 When an assignment statement is executed, the

expression is first evaluated, and then the variable on the
left-hand side of the equal sign is set equal to the value
of the expression
distance = rate * time;
 Note that a variable can occur on both sides of the
assignment operator
count = count + 2;
 The assignment operator is automatically executed from
right-to-left, so assignment statements can be chained
number2 = number1 = 3;
 Tip: Initialize Variables
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 A variable that has been declared but that has not

yet been given a value by some means is said to
be uninitialized
 In certain cases an uninitialized variable is given a
default value
 It is best not to rely on this
 Explicitly initialized variables have the added benefit of
improving program clarity
 Tip: Initialize Variables
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 The declaration of a variable can be combined with

its initialization via an assignment statement
int count = 0;
double distance = 55 * .5;
char grade = 'A';
 Note that some variables can be initialized and others
can remain uninitialized in the same declaration
int initialCount = 50, finalCount;
 Shorthand Assignment Statements
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 Shorthand assignment notation combines the assignment

operator (=) and an arithmetic operator
 It is used to change the value of a variable by adding,
subtracting, multiplying, or dividing by a specified value
 The general form is
Variable Op = Expression
which is equivalent to
Variable = Variable Op (Expression)
 The Expression can be another variable, a constant, or a more
complicated expression
 Some examples of what Op can be are +, -, *, /, or %
 Shorthand Assignment Statements
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Example: Equivalent To:

count += 2; count = count + 2;
sum -= discount; sum = sum – discount;
bonus *= 2; bonus = bonus * 2;
time /= time =
rushFactor; time / rushFactor;
change %= 100; change = change % 100;
amount *= amount = amount * (count1 +
count1 + count2; count2);
 Assignment Compatibility
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 In general, the value of one type cannot be stored

in a variable of another type
int intVariable = 2.99; //Illegal
 The above example results in a type mismatch because a
double value cannot be stored in an int variable
 However, there are exceptions to this
double doubleVariable = 2;
 For example, an int value can be stored in a double type
 Assignment Compatibility
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 More generally, a value of any type in the following list can

be assigned to a variable of any type that appears to the
right of it
byteshortintlongfloatdouble
char
 Note that as your move down the list from left to right, the range of
allowed values for the types becomes larger
 An explicit type cast is required to assign a value of one
type to a variable whose type appears to the left of it on the
above list (e.g., double to int)
 Note that in Java an int cannot be assigned to a variable of
type boolean, nor can a boolean be assigned to a variable
of type int
 Enum Types
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 An enum type is a special data type that enables for a

variable to be a set of predefined constants.
 The variable must be equal to one of the values that have
been predefined for it.
 Example:
public enum Day {
SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY,
SATURDAY
}
 Because they are constants, the names of an enum
type's fields are in uppercase letters.
 Constants
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 Constant (or literal): An item in Java which has

one specific value that cannot change
 Constants of an integer type may not be written with a
decimal point (e.g., 10)
 Constants of a floating-point type can be written in
ordinary decimal fraction form (e.g., 367000.0 or
0.000589)
 Constant of a floating-point type can also be written in
scientific (or floating-point) notation (e.g., 3.67e5 or
5.89e-4)
Note that the number before the e may contain a decimal point,
but the number after the e may not
 Constants
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 Constants of type char are expressed by placing a

single character in single quotes (e.g., 'Z')
 Constants for strings of characters are enclosed by
double quotes (e.g., "Welcome to Java")
 There are only two boolean type constants, true
and false
 Note that they must be spelled with all lowercase letters
 Differences between int and double
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 int (integer) and double (real numbers) are different.

 int is a subset of double but ints are much faster to calculate
than doubles
 So use ints whenever you can but be aware of the following:

int n = 5/2;
int k = 9/10;
 Differences between int and double
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 5 is an int.
 5.1 is a double.
 5.0 is a double.
 5.7f is a float

 Range of values:
 int -2 billion to+2 billion
 double 4.9x10-324 to1.8x10308
 float 1.4x10-45 to3.4x1038
 Float vs. double
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 Recall range of values:

 double 4.9x10-324 to1.8x10308
 float 1.4x10-45 to3.4x1038
 Recall that we used a cast to convert a double to an int:
double d = 12.9;
int i = (int) d;
This is because a double won’t fit into an int. Will a double fit into
a float?
 Converting doubles to ints
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 When we convert, we will typically lose something.

 Consider converting 12.9 to an int. There is no int 12.9.
 So the compiler will issue a message. To inform the compiler
that we really wish to do this, we can use a cast.
int i;
double d = 12.9;
i = (int) d; //What do you think is in i now?
 Converting doubles to ints
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int i;
double d = 12.9;
i = (int) d; //What do you think is in i now?

//how can we round instead?

Pitfall: Round-Off Errors in Floating-Point Numbers
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 Floating point numbers are only approximate

quantities
 Mathematically, the floating-point number 1.0/3.0 is
equal to 0.3333333 . . .
 A computer has a finite amount of storage space
It may store 1.0/3.0 as something like 0.3333333333, which is
slightly smaller than one-third
 Computers actually store numbers in binary notation, but
the consequences are the same: floating-point numbers
may lose accuracy
 Integer and Floating-Point Division
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 When one or both operands are a floating-point type,

division results in a floating-point type
15.0/2 evaluates to 7.5
 When both operands are integer types, division results in an
integer type
 Any fractional part is discarded
 The number is not rounded
15/2 evaluates to 7
 Be careful to make at least one of the operands a floating-
point type if the fractional portion is needed
 Type Casting
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A type cast takes a value of one type and produces a value

of another type with an "equivalent" value
 If n and m are integers to be divided, and the fractional portion of the
result must be preserved, at least one of the two must be type cast
to a floating-point type before the division operation is performed
double ans = n / (double)m;
 Note that the desired type is placed inside parentheses immediately
in front of the variable to be cast
 Note also that the type and value of the variable to be cast does not
change
 More Details About Type Casting
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 When type casting from a floating-point to an integer type,

the number is truncated, not rounded
 (int)2.9 evaluates to 2, not 3
 When the value of an integer type is assigned to a variable
of a floating-point type, Java performs an automatic type
cast called a type coercion
double d = 5;
 In contrast, it is illegal to place a double value into an int
variable without an explicit type cast
int i = 5.5; // Illegal
int i = (int)5.5 // Correct
 The Class String
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 There is no primitive type for strings in Java

 The class String is a predefined class in Java that is used
to store and process strings
 Objects of type String are made up of strings of characters
that are written within double quotes
 Any quoted string is a constant of type String
"Live long and prosper."
 A variable of type String can be given the value of a String
object
String blessing = "Live long and prosper.";
 Concatenation of Strings
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 Concatenation: Using the + operator on two strings in

order to connect them to form one longer string
 If greeting is equal to "Hello ", and javaClass is equal to "class", then
greeting + javaClass is equal to "Hello class"
 Any number of strings can be concatenated together
 When a string is combined with almost any other type of
item, the result is a string
"The answer is " + 42 evaluates to
"The answer is 42"
Some Methods in the Class String
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 Glossary
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1. variable
2. value
3. type
4. keyword
5. declaration
6. assignment
7. expression
8. operator
9. composition
 Exercise
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 In a piece of paper, write a simple code to store your

first name, last name, and age on suitable variables
and print them on separate lines.
 You can use your book.
 Write your own code.
 More
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 Write a Java program to print the result of

5 + 15 / 3 * 2 – 8
 Write a Java program that takes 4 even numbers as
input to calculate and print the average.
 Write a Java program to convert a m to cm.
 Knowledge Check
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 Write a program that creates variables named day,

date, month and year. Assign values to those variables
that represent today’s date and print them.
 Modify the program so that it prints the date in
standard American
 form: Saturday, July 16, 2011.
 50

Questions ?!