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Teach Yourself
JAVA
in 21 Days
S
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Laura Lemay
Charles L. Perkins R
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201 West 103rd Street

Indianapolis, Indiana 46290
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About This Book
This book teaches you all about the Java language and how to use it to create
applets and applications. By the time you get through with this book, you’ll know
enough about Java to do just about anything, inside an applet or out.

Who Should Read This Book

This book is intended for people with at least some basic programming back-
ground, which includes people with years of programming experience or people
with only a small amount of experience. If you understand what variables, loops,
and functions are, you’ll be just fine for this book. The sorts of people who might
want to read this book include you, if
■ You’re a real whiz at HTML, understand CGI programming (in perl,
AppleScript, Visual Basic, or some other popular CGI language) pretty
well, and want to move on to the next level in Web page design.
■ You had some Basic or Pascal in school and you have a basic grasp of
what programming is, but you’ve heard Java is easy to learn, really
powerful, and very cool.
■ You’ve programmed C and C++ for many years, you’ve heard this Java
thing is becoming really popular and you’re wondering what all the fuss
is all about.
■ You’ve heard that Java is really good for Web-based applets, and you’re
curious about how good it is for creating more general applications.
What if you know programming, but you don’t know object-oriented program-
ming? Fear not. This book assumes no background in object-oriented design. If
you know object-oriented programming, in fact, the first couple of days will be
easy for you.

How This Book Is Structured

M T
This book is intended to be read and absorbed over the course of three weeks.
During each week, you’ll read seven chapters that present concepts related to the
Java language and the creation of applets and applications.
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21 Teach Yourself JAVA in 21 Days

Conventions
Note: A Note box presents interesting pieces of information related to the surround-
ing discussion.
Technical Note: A Technical Note presents specific technical information related to
the surrounding discussion.
Tip: A Tip box offers advice or teaches an easier way to do something.
Caution: A Caution box alerts you to a possible problem and gives you advice to

! avoid it.
Warning: A Warning box advises you about potential problems and helps you steer
clear of disaster.
NEW☛
TERM New terms are introduced in New Term boxes, with the term in italics.
Type A type icon identifies some new HTML code that you can type in yourself.

Output An Output icon highlights what the same HTML code looks like when viewed by
either Netscape or Mosaic.

Analysis An analysis icon alerts you to the author’s line-by-line analysis.

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To Eric, for all the usual reasons Acquisitions Editor
(moral support, stupid questions, comfort in dark times). Mark Taber
LL
Development Editor
For RKJP, ARL, and NMH Fran Hatton
the three most important people in my life. Software Development
CLP
Specialist
Merle Newlon
Copyright ©1996 by Sams.net Production Editor
Publishing and its licensors Nancy Albright
FIRST EDITION Technical Reviewer
Patrick Chan
All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, Editorial Coordinator
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from Bill Whitmer
the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the Technical Edit
information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in Coordinator
the preparation of this book, the publisher and authors assume no
Lynette Quinn
responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for
damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. For Formatter
information, address Sams.net Publishing, 201 W. 103rd St., Indianapolis, Frank Sinclair
IN 46290. Editorial Assistant
International Standard Book Number: 1-57521-030-4 Carol Ackerman
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 95-78866 Cover Designer
Tim Amrhein
99 98 97 96 4 3 2 1
Book Designer
Interpretation of the printing code: the rightmost double-digit number is Alyssa Yesh
the year of the book’s printing; the rightmost single-digit, the number of
the book’s printing. For example, a printing code of 96-1 shows that the Production Team
first printing of the book occurred in 1996. Supervisor
Brad Chinn
Composed in AGaramond and MCPdigital by Macmillan Computer
Publishing Production
Michael Brumitt
Printed in the United States of America Jason Hand
All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or Cheryl Moore
service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Sams.net Publishing Ayanna Lacey
cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book Nancy Price
should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service Bobbi Satterfield
mark. Tim Taylor
Susan Van Ness
Mark Walchle
Todd Wente
President, Sams Publishing: Richard K. Swadley
Indexer
Publisher, Sams.net Publishing: George Bond
Tim Griffin
Publishing Manager: Mark Taber
Managing Editor: Cindy Morrow
Marketing Manager: John Pierce

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Overview
Introduction xxi
Week 1 at a Glance
Day 1 An Introduction to Java Programming 3

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2 Object-Oriented Programming and Java 19
3 Java Basics 41

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4 Working with Objects 61
5 Arrays, Conditionals, and Loops 79

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6 Creating Classes and Applications in Java 95
7 More About Methods 111
Week 2 at a Glance
Day 8 Java Applet Basics R
129
9
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Graphics, Fonts, and Color
Simple Animation and Threads
W 149
173
11
12
More Animation, Images, and Sound
Managing Simple Events and Interactivity T 195
217

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13 User Interfaces with the Java Abstract Windowing Toolkit 237
14 Windows, Networking, and Other Tidbits 279
Week 3 at a Glance
Day 15 Modifiers 305
16 Packages and Interfaces 323
17 Exceptions 341
18 Multithreading 353
19 Streams 375
20 Native Methods and Libraries 403
21 Under the Hood 421
Appendixes
A Language Summary 473
B The Java Class Library 483
C How Java Differs from C and C++ 497
D How Java Differs from C and C++ 507

Index 511

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Contents
Introduction xxi
Week 1 at a Glance 1
Day 1 An Introduction to Java Programming 3
What Is Java? .............................................................................................. 4
Java’s Past, Present, and Future ................................................................... 6 S
Why Learn Java? ......................................................................................... 7
Java Is Platform-Independent................................................................. 7
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Java Is Object-Oriented ......................................................................... 9
Java Is Easy to Learn .............................................................................. 9
Getting Started with
Programming in Java .............................................................................. 10
Getting the Software ............................................................................ 10
Applets and Applications ..................................................................... 11 R
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Creating a Java Application .................................................................. 11
Creating a Java Applet ......................................................................... 13

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Summary .................................................................................................. 16
Q&A ........................................................................................................ 16

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Day 2 Object-Oriented Programming and Java 19
Thinking in Objects: An Analogy ............................................................. 20
Objects and Classes .................................................................................. 21
Behavior and Attributes ............................................................................ 23
Attributes ............................................................................................. 23
Behavior .............................................................................................. 24
Creating a Class ................................................................................... 24
Inheritance, Interfaces, and Packages ........................................................ 28
Inheritance........................................................................................... 29
Creating a Class Hierarchy................................................................... 30
How Inheritance Works ...................................................................... 32
Single and Multiple Inheritance ........................................................... 34
Interfaces and Packages ........................................................................ 34
Creating a Subclass ................................................................................... 35
Summary .................................................................................................. 38
Q&A ........................................................................................................ 39
Day 3 Java Basics 41
Statements and Expressions ...................................................................... 42
Variables and Data Types ......................................................................... 43
Declaring Variables .............................................................................. 43
Notes on Variable Names .................................................................... 44

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Variable Types ..................................................................................... 45

Assigning Values to Variables ............................................................... 46
Comments ................................................................................................ 47
Literals ...................................................................................................... 47
Number Literals................................................................................... 47
Boolean Literals ................................................................................... 48
Character Literals ................................................................................. 48
String Literals ...................................................................................... 49
Expressions and Operators ........................................................................ 50
Arithmetic ........................................................................................... 50
More About Assignment ...................................................................... 52
Incrementing and Decrementing ......................................................... 52
Comparisons ........................................................................................ 54
Logical Operators ................................................................................ 55
Bitwise Operators ................................................................................ 55
Operator Precedence ............................................................................ 56
String Arithmetic ...................................................................................... 57
Summary .................................................................................................. 58
Q&A ........................................................................................................ 60
Day 4 Working with Objects 61
Creating New Objects .............................................................................. 62
Using new ............................................................................................ 63
What new Does ................................................................................... 64
A Note on Memory Management ........................................................ 64
Accessing and Setting Class and Instance Variables ................................... 65
Getting Values ..................................................................................... 65
Changing Values .................................................................................. 65
Class Variables ..................................................................................... 66
Calling Methods ....................................................................................... 67
Class Methods ..................................................................................... 69
References to Objects ............................................................................... 70
Casting and Converting Objects and Primitive Types .............................. 71
Casting Primitive Types ...................................................................... 71
Casting Objects .................................................................................. 72
Converting Primitive Types
to Objects and Vice Versa ................................................................. 73
Odds and Ends ......................................................................................... 73
Comparing Objects ............................................................................. 74
Copying Objects .................................................................................. 75
Determining the Class of an Object ..................................................... 76
The Java Class Libraries ............................................................................ 76
Summary .................................................................................................. 77
Q&A ........................................................................................................ 78

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Day 5 Arrays, Conditionals, and Loops 79
Arrays ....................................................................................................... 80
Declaring Array Variables .................................................................... 80
Creating Array Objects ........................................................................ 81
Accessing Array Elements ..................................................................... 81
Changing Array Elements .................................................................... 82
Multidimensional Arrays...................................................................... 83
Block Statements ...................................................................................... 83
if Conditionals .......................................................................................... 83
The Conditional Operator ................................................................... 84
switch Conditionals ................................................................................... 85
for Loops .................................................................................................. 86
while and do Loops ................................................................................... 88
while Loops .......................................................................................... 88
do...while Loops ................................................................................... 89
Breaking Out of Loops ............................................................................. 89
Labeled Loops ...................................................................................... 90
Summary .................................................................................................. 91
Q&A ........................................................................................................ 92
Day 6 Creating Classes and Applications in Java 95
Defining Classes ....................................................................................... 96
Creating Instance and Class Variables ....................................................... 96
Defining Instance Variables ................................................................. 97
Constants ............................................................................................. 97
Class Variables ..................................................................................... 98
Creating Methods ..................................................................................... 99
Defining Methods ............................................................................... 99
The this Keyword ............................................................................... 101
Variable Scope and Method Definitions ............................................ 101
Passing Arguments to Methods .......................................................... 102
Class Methods ................................................................................... 104
Creating Java Applications ...................................................................... 105
Java Applications and Command-Line Arguments ................................. 106
Passing Arguments to Java Programs .................................................. 106
Handling Arguments in Your Java Program ....................................... 106
Summary ................................................................................................ 108
Q&A ...................................................................................................... 109
Day 7 More About Methods 111
Creating Methods with the Same Name, Different Arguments ............... 112
Constructor Methods ............................................................................. 115
Basic Constructors ............................................................................. 116
Calling Another Constructor ............................................................. 117
Overloading Constructors .................................................................. 117

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Overriding Methods ............................................................................... 119

Creating Methods that Override Existing Methods ............................ 119
Calling the Original Method ............................................................. 121
Overriding Constructors .................................................................... 122
Finalizer Methods ................................................................................... 123
Summary ................................................................................................ 124
Q&A ...................................................................................................... 124
Week 2 at a Glance 127
Day 8 Java Applet Basics 129
How Applets and Applications Are Different .......................................... 130
Creating Applets ..................................................................................... 131
Major Applet Activities ...................................................................... 132
A Simple Applet................................................................................. 134
Including an Applet on a Web Page ........................................................ 136
The <APPLET> Tag.......................................................................... 136
Testing the Result .............................................................................. 137
Making Java Applets Available to the Web......................................... 137
More About the <APPLET> Tag ............................................................ 138
ALIGN .............................................................................................. 138
HSPACE and VSPACE ...................................................................... 140
CODE and CODEBASE .................................................................... 141
Passing Parameters to Applets ................................................................. 141
Summary ................................................................................................ 146
Q&A ...................................................................................................... 147
Day 9 Graphics, Fonts, and Color 149
The Graphics Class ................................................................................. 150
The Graphics Coordinate System ...................................................... 151
Drawing and Filling ............................................................................... 151
Lines .................................................................................................. 152
Rectangles .......................................................................................... 152
Polygons ............................................................................................ 155
Ovals ................................................................................................. 156
Arc ..................................................................................................... 157
A Simple Graphics Example............................................................... 161
Copying and Clearing ........................................................................ 163
Text and Fonts ....................................................................................... 163
Creating Font Objects ....................................................................... 163
Drawing Characters and Strings ......................................................... 164
Finding Out Information About a Font ............................................. 166
Color ...................................................................................................... 168
Using Color Objects .......................................................................... 168
Testing and Setting the Current Colors ............................................. 169
A Single Color Example ..................................................................... 170
Summary ................................................................................................ 171
Q&A ...................................................................................................... 171
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Day 10 Simple Animation and Threads 173
Creating Animation in Java .................................................................... 174
Painting and Repainting .................................................................... 174
Starting and Stopping
an Applet’s Execution ...................................................................... 175
Putting It Together ............................................................................ 175
Threads: What They Are
and Why You Need Them ................................................................... 177
The Problem with the Digital Clock Applet ...................................... 178
Writing Applets with Threads ............................................................ 179
Fixing The Digital Clock ................................................................... 180
Reducing Animation Flicker ................................................................... 182
Flicker and How to Avoid It .............................................................. 182
How to Override Update ................................................................... 183
Solution One: Don’t Clear the Screen ............................................... 183
Solution Two: Redraw
Only What You Have To ................................................................ 186
Summary ................................................................................................ 192
Q&A ...................................................................................................... 192
Day 11 More Animation, Images, and Sound 195
Retrieving and Using Images .................................................................. 196
Getting Images .................................................................................. 196
Drawing Images ................................................................................. 198
Modifying Images .............................................................................. 201
Creating Animation Using Images .......................................................... 201
An Example: Neko............................................................................. 201
Retrieving and Using Sounds .................................................................. 209
Sun’s Animator Applet ........................................................................... 211
More About Flicker: Double-Buffering................................................... 212
Creating Applets with Double-Buffering............................................ 212
An Example: Checkers Revisited ........................................................ 213
Summary ................................................................................................ 214
Q&A ...................................................................................................... 215
Day 12 Managing Simple Events and Interactivity 217
Mouse Clicks .......................................................................................... 218
mouseDown and mouseUp ................................................................... 219
An Example: Spots ............................................................................. 220
Mouse Movements ................................................................................. 223
mouseDrag and mouseMove ................................................................. 223
mouseEnter and mouseExit .................................................................. 223
An Example: Drawing Lines .............................................................. 224
Keyboard Events ..................................................................................... 228
The keyDown Method ....................................................................... 228
Default Keys ...................................................................................... 229

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