Java - Basic Syntax

When we consider a Java program, it can be defined as a collection of objects that communicate
via invoking each other's methods. Let us now briefly look into what do class, object, methods,
and instance variables mean.

 Object − Objects have states and behaviors. Example: A dog has states - color, name,
breed as well as behavior such as wagging their tail, barking, eating. An object is an
instance of a class.
 Class − A class can be defined as a template/blueprint that describes the behavior/state
that the object of its type supports.
 Methods − A method is basically a behavior. A class can contain many methods. It is in
methods where the logics are written, data is manipulated and all the actions are
executed.
 Instance Variables − Each object has its unique set of instance variables. An object's
state is created by the values assigned to these instance variables.

First Java Program

Let us look at a simple code that will print the words Hello World.

Example

Live Demo
public class MyFirstJavaProgram {

/* This is my first java program.

* This will print 'Hello World' as the output
*/

public static void main(String []args) {

System.out.println("Hello World"); // prints Hello World
}
}

Basic Syntax
About Java programs, it is very important to keep in mind the following points.

 Case Sensitivity − Java is case sensitive, which means identifier Hello and hello would
have different meaning in Java.
 Class Names − For all class names the first letter should be in Upper Case. If several
words are used to form a name of the class, each inner word's first letter should be in
Upper Case.

Example: class MyFirstJavaClass

  Method Names − All method names should start with a Lower Case letter. If several
words are used to form the name of the method, then each inner word's first letter should
be in Upper Case.

Example: public void myMethodName()

 Program File Name − Name of the program file should exactly match the class name.

When saving the file, you should save it using the class name (Remember Java is case
sensitive) and append '.java' to the end of the name (if the file name and the class name
do not match, your program will not compile).

Example: Assume 'MyFirstJavaProgram' is the class name. Then the file should be saved
as 'MyFirstJavaProgram.java'

 public static void main(String args[]) − Java program processing starts from the main()
method which is a mandatory part of every Java program.

Java Identifiers
All Java components require names. Names used for classes, variables, and methods are called
identifiers.

In Java, there are several points to remember about identifiers. They are as follows −

 All identifiers should begin with a letter (A to Z or a to z), currency character ($) or an
underscore (_).
 After the first character, identifiers can have any combination of characters.
 A key word cannot be used as an identifier.
 Most importantly, identifiers are case sensitive.
 Examples of legal identifiers: age, $salary, _value, __1_value.
 Examples of illegal identifiers: 123abc, -salary.

Java Modifiers
Like other languages, it is possible to modify classes, methods, etc., by using modifiers. There
are two categories of modifiers −

 Access Modifiers − default, public , protected, private

 Non-access Modifiers − final, abstract, strictfp

We will be looking into more details about modifiers in the next section.

Java Variables
Following are the types of variables in Java −

 Local Variables
 Class Variables (Static Variables)
 Instance Variables (Non-static Variables)

Java Arrays
Arrays are objects that store multiple variables of the same type. However, an array itself is an
object on the heap. We will look into how to declare, construct, and initialize in the upcoming
chapters.

Java Enums
Enums were introduced in Java 5.0. Enums restrict a variable to have one of only a few
predefined values. The values in this enumerated list are called enums.

With the use of enums it is possible to reduce the number of bugs in your code.

For example, if we consider an application for a fresh juice shop, it would be possible to restrict
the glass size to small, medium, and large. This would make sure that it would not allow anyone
to order any size other than small, medium, or large.

Example

Live Demo
class FreshJuice {
enum FreshJuiceSize{ SMALL, MEDIUM, LARGE }
FreshJuiceSize size;
}

public class FreshJuiceTest {

public static void main(String args[]) {

FreshJuice juice = new FreshJuice();
juice.size = FreshJuice.FreshJuiceSize.MEDIUM ;
System.out.println("Size: " + juice.size);
}
}

The above example will produce the following result −

Output
Size: MEDIUM

Note − Enums can be declared as their own or inside a class. Methods, variables, constructors
can be defined inside enums as well.
Java Keywords
The following list shows the reserved words in Java. These reserved words may not be used as
constant or variable or any other identifier names.

abstract assert boolean break

byte case catch char
class const continue default
do double else enum
extends final finally float
for goto if implements
import instanceof int interface
long native new package
private protected public return
short static strictfp super
switch synchronized this throw
throws transient try void
volatile while

Comments in Java
Java supports single-line and multi-line comments very similar to C and C++. All characters
available inside any comment are ignored by Java compiler.

Example

Live Demo
public class MyFirstJavaProgram {

/* This is my first java program.

* This will print 'Hello World' as the output
* This is an example of multi-line comments.
*/

public static void main(String []args) {

// This is an example of single line comment
/* This is also an example of single line comment. */
System.out.println("Hello World");
}
}

Output
Hello World
Using Blank Lines
A line containing only white space, possibly with a comment, is known as a blank line, and Java
totally ignores it.

Inheritance
In Java, classes can be derived from classes. Basically, if you need to create a new class and here
is already a class that has some of the code you require, then it is possible to derive your new
class from the already existing code.

This concept allows you to reuse the fields and methods of the existing class without having to
rewrite the code in a new class. In this scenario, the existing class is called the superclass and
the derived class is called the subclass.

Interfaces
In Java language, an interface can be defined as a contract between objects on how to
communicate with each other. Interfaces play a vital role when it comes to the concept of
inheritance.

An interface defines the methods, a deriving class (subclass) should use. But the implementation
of the methods is totally up to the subclass.