Language Fundamentals

Language Fundamentals

1. Variables

   • Variables are place holders whose constants can change

2. Constants

   • Place holders whose values cannot be changed

3. Literals

   • Literals are representations of data values that are understood by the java compiler
     • 3 types
       • String literal
       • Primitive literal: int literals, floating point literals, char literals, and boolean literals
       • Null literal

4. Primitives

   • Non-object elements that represent numbers and simple values such as true and false
     • Types: byte, short, int, long, float, double, char, and boolean

5. Operators

   • Operators are notations indicating that certain operations are to be performed

6. Separators

   • (): used in method signatures to contain lists of arguments, expressions to raise operator precedence, narrowing conversions, and loops to contain expressions
   • {}: declaration of types, blocks of statements, and array initialization
   • []: array declaration, array value dereferencing
   • ; : used to terminate statements and in the FOR statement to separate the initialization code, the expression, and the update code.
   • : : used in the FOR statement that iterates over an array or a collection