Programming 1

Lecture 2 – Basic Java syntax

Variables & Data types 1
Basic decision control

Faculty of Information Technology

Hanoi University
 Single-line comments
• Comments are used to
– Explain code
– Prevent code execution (good for code testing)
// some explanation
System.out.println("I love programming!");

int x = 5;
// x = x + 3;
System.out.println(x);

int x = 5;
x += 3; // increase x
 Multi-line comments
• Two types:
– Block comment starts with /* and ends with */
– Javadoc comment starts with /**, ends with */ and
each line begins with a *.
 What is a variable?
A named value
int age = 19; I use the name age to call
the number 19
So that when I say:
I am age years old!
You would understand that I
was 19 years old.

String name = "Quan"; Welcome, name!

would be equivalent to:
Welcome, Quan!
 What is a literal?
A programming-language representation of a value
int age = 19;

19 is an integer
literal.

String name = "Quan";

"Quan" is a String literal.

 Declaring a variable
Data Type Variable Name

int age;
Semicolon

Space

A declaration statement associates a

variable with a type.

You cannot re-declare existing variables!

 Basic (primitive) data types
Type Description Default Size Value range
boolean True or False false 1 bit false, true

(-28) .. (28 - 1)
byte Very small integers 0 8 bits
-128 .. 127

short Small integers

int Integers 0 32 bits (-231) .. (231 - 1)
long Bigger integers 0 64 bits (-263) .. (263 - 1)
float Real numbers 0.0 32 bits 1.424x10-45 .. 3.4028x1038

More precise real

double 0.0 64 bits 4.9406x10-324 .. 1.7977x10308
numbers

char UTF-16 character \u0000 16 bits \u0000 .. \uFFFF

 Declare & initialize a variable
Data Type Variable Name

int age = 19;

Semicolon
Initial Value
Space

Initialize: give the variable an initial value.

 Notes on Java variables
• A variable can be declared only once in a simple
program
• Variable name is a kind of Java Identifier and
follows Java identifier rules
• Identifiers are names given to things in Java
(variables, classes, methods, etc.)
 Java Identifier Rules
• An identifier can contain letters (a-z, A-Z), digits (0-
9), underscores (_) and dollar ($) signs.
• The first character of an identifier cannot be a digit.
• Some valid identifiers: abc, product_manager,
_body, bin2dec, $address, xtr3$$
• Some invalid identifiers:
– my-age (the hyphen “-” is not allowed)
– Hello world (contains a space)
– 1000words (starts with a digit)
 Expressions

• An expression is any piece of code which

evaluates to a single value.
• Examples:

15 + 3 A math expression which

valuates to 18

15 A single value is the most

basic expression
 More Expressions
6 * (5 + 3) evaluates to 48

6 * 5 + 3 evaluates to 33

a similar to single-valued
expressions

a + 1 evaluates to a's value + 1

6 > 5 A boolean expression which

evaluates to true

6 == 5 evaluates to false
 Math Operators
5 + 3 addition, evaluates to 8

5 * 3 multiplication, evaluates to 15

5 - 3 substraction, evaluates to 2

5 / 3 integer division, evaluates to 1

5.0 / 3.0 float division, evaluates to 1.6667

5 % 3 Modulo (mod), evaluates to 2

(taking the remainder of division)
 Statements
• A line of code that commits something. A
statement ends with ; in Java.
• Examples:
int age = 19; This statement declares and
initializes a variable

age = 19 + 1; …performs some calculation

System.out.println("Hi"); Java says Hi

 Assignment statements
• We can imply: 2 + 3 → 5
• Can we imply this? 5 → 2 + 3
1+4→5
7-2→5
• In math, we can write these equations:
5=2+3
2+3=5
 Assignment statements
• To express 2 + 3 → 5 or 2 + 3 = 5 in Java:
Assignment Statement
int a;
a = 2 + 3;

• A statement does (commits) something:

 a wasn't 5 before the statement
 after the statement, a holds the value of 5

• Assign an initial value to a variable:

int a = 2 + 3;
 Assignment statements
• General form of an assignment statement:

<variable> = <expression>;
 Implication vs Assignment
• In math, we have • In programming,
the left side and we have the right
want to figure out side and computer
the right side (you calculates the left
do the calculation). side for us.
2+3=? a=2+3
then then
2+3=5 a gets the value of 5
Assignment statements
x = x + 1;

Confused?

int x = 5;
x = x + 1;

What will x's value be?

Assignment statements

int x = 5;
x = x + 1;

means

x = 5 + 1;

the shorter way (more on this later)

x++;
 Display expression's value
public class Example {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int a = 15;
System.out.println(a);
}
}

Output:
15
 Display expression's value
public class Example {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int a = 15;
System.out.println(a*3);
}
}

Output:
45
Display expression's value with text
public class Example {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int age = 20;
System.out.println("I am " + age);
}
}

Output:
I am 20
 Display variable's value with text
public class Example {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int age = 20;
System.out.println(age + " is my age!");
}
}

Output:
20 is my age!
 Display variable's value with text
public class Example {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int age = 20;
System.out.println("I am " + age + " years old");
}
}

Output:
I am 20 years old
 Exercise
• Write a program to get the result of 152 × 1132
• Expected results: 172064
 Answer
public class Exercise {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int a = 152;
int b = 1132;
int c = a * b;
System.out.println(c);
}
}
 Equivalent Answer
public class Exercise {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println(152 * 1132);
}
}
 Exercise
• Write a program to get the result of the following
math operation:
5
2
• Expected results: 2.5
 Answer
public class Exercise {
public static void main(String[] args) {
double a = 5;
double b = 2;
double c = a / b;
System.out.println(c);
}
}
 Equivalent Answer
public class Exercise {
public static void main(String[] args) {
double a = 5;
System.out.println(a / 2);
}
}
 Non-Equivalent Answer
public class Exercise {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println(5 / 2);
}
}

• Actual result: 2
• Reason: integer division is used when both sides
are integer.
 Another Equivalent Answer
public class Exercise {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println(5.0 / 2);
}
}

• Fix: write one of the two values as a real number.

 Exercise
• Given 34932 seconds, calculate and display the
number of hours, minutes and seconds.
• Expected results:

9h, 42m, 12s

 Answer 1
public class Exercise {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int a = 34932;
int s = a % 60;
a = a / 60;
int m = a % 60;
int h = a / 60;
System.out.println(
h + "h, " + m + "m, " + s + "s"
);
}
}
 Answer 2
public class Exercise {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int s = 34932 % 60;
int m = 34932 / 60 % 60;
int h = 34932 / 60 / 60; // divide by 3600
System.out.println(
h + "h, " + m + "m, " + s + "s"
);
}
}
 Answer 3
public class Exercise {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int h = 34932/3600;
int m = (34932 % 3600) / 60;
int s = (34932 % 3600) % 60;
System.out.println(
h + "h, " + m + "m, " + s + "s"
);
}
}
 Boolean expressions
• Boolean or truth values are: True, False
• A Boolean expression evaluates to a Boolean value
int a = 5; int b = 6;
boolean x = true; boolean y = false;

Expression Boolean value Explanation

5 == 5 true
5 >= 6 false 5 is neither greater than 6 nor equal to 6
a == a true
b < a false 6 is not smaller than 5
• && means AND
• a == 5 evaluates to true
a == 5 && b < 10 true
• b < 10 is also true
• true AND true → true
 Boolean expressions
int a = 5; int b = 6;
boolean x = true; boolean y = false;

Expression Boolean value Explanation

a == 6 || b == 6 true • || means OR
• a == 6 evaluates to false
• b == 6 evaluates to true
• false OR true → true
a != 5 false != means NOT EQUAL
but a is actually equal to 5
so the expression is false
!(a == 5) false it says: "not (a equals 5)"
the ! operator reverses any boolean value that
follows (making true become false)
x true x itself is a Boolean value
x && y false the && operator evaluates to true only when
both values are true
 Boolean operators
Operator Meaning Example

== true if both sides are equal a == b

!= true if two sides are different a != b

< true if the left side is smaller than the right side a < b

> true if the left side is greater than the right side a > b

<= smaller or equal to b <= a

>= greater or equal to c >= b

&& AND a > b && b > c

|| OR a == b || a == c

! NOT !(a < b)

 Execution path
• A program starts at the beginning of main() and exits
at the end of main().
• The order of statements being executed is called the
execution path.
• The programs you've seen have straight paths.

int a = 34932; int s = a % 60; int m = a / 60 % 60;

System.out.println(h + ":" + m + ":" + s); int h = a / 60 / 60;

 Execution path
• Straight programs do the same thing everytime… not
very intelligent.
• An intelligent program would evaluate the situation
and choose the most suitable action. For instance:
– If the user enters incorrect password for 5 times, disable
login for 10 minutes.
– If an Internet user has just searched for "how to write cool
software", show him ads about Mr. Quan's programming
course.
 if statement
• Controls the execution of some statements
based on a Boolean value.
// assume that a and b are entered by user
if (a < 0 || b < 0) {
System.out.println("Please enter non-negative numbers");
}

• The above piece of code shows an error message

when the user provides unsuitable inputs and
does nothing otherwise.
 if statement
Boolean expression inside parentheses Start of block

if (a < 0 || b < 0) {
Statements to
a = 0; be executed if
b = 0; the Boolean
expression
System.out.println("…"); evaluates to
} true

End of block
 if statement

if (a < 0 || b < 0)
System.out.println("…");

Curly braces { } can be omitted if the block contains only one statement

*Note: a code block only needs curly braces { } if it has multiple statements
 if…else statement
// assume that a and b are entered by user
if (a < 0 || b < 0) {
System.out.println("Please enter non-negative numbers!");
} else {
System.out.println("You entered correctly!");
}

• The above piece of code shows an error message

when the user provides unsuitable inputs and
shows a successful message otherwise.
 if…else statement
Boolean expression inside parentheses

if (a < 0 || b < 0) {
a = 0; Statements to
be executed if
b = 0; the condition
System.out.println("…"); is true
} else {
System.out.println("ok"); Executed if
condition is
System.out.println(a + b); false
}
 Demo program
• Write a program to solve
ax + b = 0
given a and b
• For a = 2 and b = 1, expected result:
x = –0.5