JAVA FEATURES

This handout is a traditional introduction to any language features. You might not be able to comprehend
some of the features fully at this stage but don’t worry, you’ll get to know about these as we move on with the
course
Design Goals of Java
The massive growth of the Internet and the World-Wide Web leads us to a completely new way of looking at
development of software that can run on different platforms like Windows, Linux and Solaris etc.
Right Language, Right Time
Java came on the scene in 1995 to immediate popularity.
Before that, C and C++ dominated the software development
1. compiled, no robust memory model, no garbage collector causes memory leakages, not great support of
built in libraries
Java brings together a great set of "programmer efficient" features
2. Putting more work on the CPU to make things easier for the programmer.
Java – Buzzwords (Vocabulary)
From the original Sun Java whitepaper: "Java is a simple, object-oriented, distributed, interpreted, robust,
secure, architecture-neutral, portable, high- performance, multi-threaded, and dynamic language."
Here are some original java buzzwords...
Java -- Language + Libraries
Java has two parts...
1. The core language -- variables, arrays, objects
o The Java Virtual Machine (JVM) runs the core language
o The core language is simple enough to run on small devices -- phones, smart cards,
PDAs.
2. The libraries
o Java includes a large collection of standard library classes to provide "off the shelf" code.
(Useful built-in classes that comes with the language to perform basic tasks)
o Example of these classes is String, ArrayList, HashMap, StringTokenizer (to
break string into substrings), Date ...
o Java programmers are more productive in part because they have access to a large set of
standard, well documented library classes.
Simple
Very similar C/C++ syntax, operators, etc.
The core language is simpler than C++ -- no operator overloading, no pointers, and no multiple
Inheritance.

The way a java program deals with memory is much simpler than C or C++.
Object-Oriented
Java is fundamentally based on the OOP notions of classes and objects.
Java uses a formal OOP type system that must be obeyed at compile-time and run-time.
This is helpful for larger projects, where the structure helps keep the various parts consistent. Contrast to
Perl, which has a more anything-goes feel.
Distributed / Network Oriented
Java is network friendly -- both in its portable, threaded nature, and because common networking
operations are built-in to the Java libraries.
Robust / Secure / Safe
• Java is very robust
o Both, vs. unintentional errors and vs. malicious code such as viruses.
o Java has slightly worse performance since it does all this checking. (Or put the other way, C
can be faster since it doesn't check anything.)
• The JVM "verifier" checks the code when it is loaded to verify that it has the correct structure --
that it does not use an uninitialized pointer, or mix int and pointer types. This is one-time "static"
analysis -- checking that the code has the correct structure without running it.
• The JVM also does "dynamic" checking at runtime for certain operations, such as pointer and
array access, to make sure they are touching only the memory they should. You will write code
that runs into
• As a result, many common bugs and security problems (e.g. "buffer overflow") are not possible
in java. The checks also make it easier to find many common bugs easy, since they are caught by
the runtime checker.
• You will generally never write code that fails the verifier, since your compiler is smart enough to
only generate correct code. You will write code that runs into the runtime checks all the time as
you debug -- array out of bounds, null pointer.
• Java also has a runtime Security Manager can check which operations a particular piece of code is
allowed to do. As a result, java can run un-trusted code in a "sandbox" where, for example, it can
draw to the screen but cannot access the local file system.

Portable
"Write Once Run Anywhere", and for the most part this works.
Not even a recompile is required -- a Java executable can work, without change, on any Java enabled
platform.
Support for Web and Enterprise Web Applications
Java provides an extensive support for the development of web and enterprise applications
Servlets, JSP, Applets, JDBC, RMI, EJBs and JSF etc. are some of the Java technologies that can be
used for the above mentioned purposes.
High-performance
The first versions of java were pretty slow.
Java performance has gotten a lot better with aggressive just-in-time-compiler (JIT) techniques.
Java performance is now similar to C -- a little slower in some cases, faster in a few cases. However
memory use and startup time are both worse than C.
Java performance gets better each year as the JVM gets smarter. This works, because making the
JVM smarter does not require any great change to the java language, source code, etc.
Multi-Threaded
Java has a notion of concurrency wired right in to the language itself.
This works out more cleanly than languages where concurrency is bolted on after the fact.
Dynamic
Class and type information is kept around at runtime. This enables runtime loading and
inspection of code in a very flexible way.
Java Compiler Structure
The source code for each class is in a .java file. Compile each class to produce
“.class” file.
Sometimes, multiple .class files are packaged together into a .zip or .jar "archive"
file.
On unix or windows, the java compiler is called "javac". To compile all the .java files in a directory use
"javac *.java".

Java: Programmer Efficiency

Faster Development
Building an application in Java takes about 50% less time than in C or C++. So, faster time to market
Java is said to be “Programmer Efficient”.
OOP
Java is thoroughly OOP language with robust memory system
Memory errors largely disappear because of the safe pointers and garbage collector. The lack of memory
errors accounts for much of the increased programmer productivity.
Libraries
Code re-use at last -- String, ArrayList, Date, ... available and documented in a standard way
Microsoft vs. Java
Microsoft hates Java, since a Java program (portable) is not tied to any particular operating
system. If Java is popular, then programs written in Java might promote non-Microsoft operating
systems. For basically the same reason, all the non- Microsoft vendors think Java is a great idea.
Microsoft's C# is very similar to Java, but with some improvements, and some questionable
features added in, and it is not portable in the way Java is. Generally it is considered that C# will be
successful in the way that Visual Basic is: a nice tool to build Microsoft only software.
Microsoft has used its power to try to derail Java somewhat, but Java remains very popular on its
merits.
Java Is For Real
Java has a lot of hype, but much of it is deserved. Java is very well matched for many modern
problems
Using more memory and CPU time but less programmer time is an increasingly appealing
tradeoff.
Robustness and portability can be very useful features
A general belief is that Java is going to stay here for the next 10-20 years
References
Majority of the material in this handout is taken from the first handout of course cs193j at
Stanford.
The Java™ Language Environment, White Paper, by James Gosling & Henry McGilton
Java’s Sun site: http://java.sun.com
Java World: www.javaworld.com
 Java Virtual Machine & Runtime Environment
Basic Concept
When you write a program in C++ it is known as source code. The C++ compiler converts this source
code into the machine code of underlying system (e.g. Windows) If you want to run that code on Linux
you need to recompile it with a Linux based compiler. Due to the difference in compilers, sometimes you
need to modify your code.
Java has introduced the concept of WORA (write once run anywhere). When you write a java program it
is known as the source code of java. The java compiler does not compile this source code for any
underlying hardware system; rather it compiles it for a software system known as JVM (This compiled
code is known as byte code). We have different JVMs for different systems (such as JVM for Windows,
JVM for Linux etc). When we run our program the JVM interprets (translates) the compiled program into
the language understood by the underlying system. So we write our code once and the JVM runs it
everywhere according to the underlying system.
This concept is discussed in detail below

Bytecode
Java programs (Source code) are compiled into a form called Java bytecodes.
The Java compiler reads Java language source (.java) files, translates the source into
Java bytecodes, and places the bytecodes into class (.class) files.
The compiler generates one class file for each class contained in java source file.

Java Virtual Machine (JVM)

The central part of java platform is java virtual machine
Java bytecode executes by special software known as a "virtual machine".
Most programming languages compile source code directly into machine code, suitable for execution
The difference with Java is that it uses bytecode - a special type of machine code.
The JVM executes Java bytecodes, so Java bytecodes can be thought of as the machine language
of the JVM.

• JVM are available for almost all operating systems.

• Java bytecode is executed by using any operating system’s JVM. Thus achieve portability.

Java Runtime Environment (JRE)

The Java Virtual Machine is a part of a large system i.e. Java Runtime Environment (JRE).
Each operating system and CPU architecture requires different JRE.
The JRE consists of set of built-in classes, as well as a JVM.
Without an available JRE for a given environment, it is impossible to run Java software.

References

Java World: http://www.javaworld.com

Inside Java: http://www.javacoffeebreak.com/articles/inside_java
Java Program Development and Execution Steps
Java program normally go through five phases. These are
1. Edit,
2. Compile,
3. Load,
4. Verify and
5. Execute
We look over all the above mentioned phases in a bit detail. First consider the following figure that
summarizes the all phases of a java program.

Phase 1: Edit
Phase 1 consists of editing a file. This is accomplished with an editor program. The programmer types a
java program using the editor like notepad, and make corrections if necessary.
When the programmer specifies that the file in the editor should be saved, the program is stored on a
secondary
storage device such as a disk. Java program file name ends with a
.java extension.
On Windows platform, notepad is a simple and commonly used editor for the beginners. However java
integrated development environments (IDEs) such as NetBeans, Borland JBuilder, JCreator and IBM’s
Ecllipse have built-in editors that are smoothly integrated into the programming environment.
Phase 2: Compile
In Phase 2, the programmer gives the command javac to compile the program. The java compiler translates
the
java program into bytecodes, which is the language understood by the java interpreter.
To compile a program called Welcome.java, type
javac Welcome.java
at the command window of your system. If the program compiles correctly, a file called Welcome.class is
produced. This is the file containing the bytecodes that will be interpreted during the execution phase.
Phase 3: Loading
In phase 3, the program must first be placed in memory before it can be executed. This is done by the class
loader, which takes the .class file (or files) containing the bytecodes and transfers it to memory. The .class file
can be loaded from a disk on your system or over a network (such as your local university or company
network
or even the internet).
Applications (Programs) are loaded into memory and executed using the java interpreter
via the command java. When executing a Java application called Welcome, the command
Java Welcome
Invokes the interpreter for the Welcome application and causes the class loader to load information used in
the Welcome program.

Phase 4: Verify
Before the bytecodes in an application are executed by the java interpreter, they are verified by the bytecode
verifier in
Phase 4. This ensures that the bytecodes for class that are loaded form the internet (referred to as
downloaded classes)
are valid and that they do not violate Java’s security restrictions.
Java enforces strong security because java programs arriving over the network should not be able to cause
damage
to your files and your system (as computer viruses might).
Phase 5: Execute
Finally in phase 5, the computer, under the control of its CPU, interprets the program one bytecode at a time.
Thus performing the actions specified by the program.
Programs may not work on the first try. Each of the preceding phases can fail because of various errors. This
would cause the java program to print an error message. The programmer would return to the edit phase,
make the necessary corrections and proceed through the remaining phases again to determine id the
corrections
work properly.

References:
Java™ How to Program 5th edition by Deitel & Deitel
Sun Java online tutorial: http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/java/index.html
Installation and Environment Setting
Installation
• Download the latest version j2se5.0 (java 2 standard edition) from http://java.sun.com
or get it from any other source like CD.
Note: j2se also called jdk (java development kit). You can also use the previous versions like jdk 1.4 or
1.3 etc. but it is recommended that you use either jdk1.4 or jdk5.0
• Install j2se5.0 on your system
Note: For the rest of this handout, assume that j2se is installed in C:\Program
Files\Java\jdk1.5.0
Environment Setting
Once you successfully installed the j2se, the next step is environment or path setting. You can
accomplish this in either of two ways.
• Temporary Path Setting
Open the command prompt from Start Æ Programs Æ Accessories Æ Comman
Prompt. The command prompt screen would be opened in front of you.
Write the command on the command prompt according to the following format
path = < java installation directory\bin >
So, according to handout, the command will look like this
path = C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.5.0\bin
To Test whether path has been set or not, write javac and press ENTER. If the list ofn b
options displayed as shown in the below figure means that you have successfully
completed the steps of path setting.
The above procedure is illustrates in the given below picture.

Note: The issue with the temporary path setting is you have to repeat the above explained procedure
again and again each time you open a new command prompt window. To avoid this overhead, it is better
to set your path permanently
• Permanent Path Setting
In Windows NT (XP, 2000), you can set the permanent environment variable.
Right click on my computer icon click on properties as shown below
A System Properties frame would appeared as shown in the picture

Select the advanced tab followed by clicking the Environment Variable button. The
Environment variables frame would be displayed in front of you
Locate the Path variable in the System or user variables, if it is present there, select it by single
click. Press Edit button. The following dialog box would be appeared.
• Write; C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.5.0\bin at the end of the value field. Press OK button.
Remember to write semicolon (;) before writing the path for java installation directory as illustrate in
the above figure
• If Path variable does not exist, click the New button. Write variable name
“PATH”, variable value C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.5.0\bin and press OK button.

• Now open the command prompt and write javac, press enter button. You see the list of options
would be displayed.
• After setting the path permanently, you have no need to set the path for each new opened
command prompt.
References
Entire material for this handout is taken from the book JAVA A Lab Course by Umair Javed. This material is
available just for the use of students of the course Web Design and Development and not for any other
commercial purpose without the consent of author.
 First Program in Java
Like any other programming language, the java programming language is used to create applications. So, we
start from building a classical “Hello World” application, which is generally used as the first program for
learning any new language.
HelloWorldApp
1. Open notepad editor from Start Æ ProgarmFiles Æ AccessoriesÆ Notepad.
2. Write the following code into it.
Note: Don’t copy paste the given below code. Probably it gives errors and you can’t able to remove them at
the
beginning stage.

3. To save your program, move to File menu and choose save as option.
4. Save your program as “HelloWorldApp.java” in some directory. Make sure to add double quotes around
class name while saving your program. For this example create a folder known as “examples” in D: drive
Note: Name of file must match the name of the public class in the file (at line 4). Moreover, it is case
sensitive. For example, if your class name is MyClass, than file name must be MyClass. Otherwise the
Java compiler will refuse to compile the program.
For the rest of this handout, we assume that program is saved in D:\examples directory.

HelloWorldApp Described
Lines 1-3
Like in C++, You can add multiple line comments that are ignored by the compiler.
Lines 4
Line 4 declares the class name as HelloWorldApp. In java, every line of code must reside inside class. This is
also the name of our program (HelloWorldApp.java). The compiler creates the HelloWorldApp.class if this
program successfully gets compiled.
Lines 5
Line 5 is where the program execution starts. The java interpreter must find this defined exactly as
given or it will refuse to run the program. (However you can change the name of parameter that is
passed to main. i.e. you can write String[] argv or String[] some Param instead of String[] args)
Other programming languages, notably C++ also use the main( ) declaration as the starting point for
execution. However the main function in C++ is global and reside outside of all classes where as in Java
the main function must reside inside a class. In java there are no global variables or functions. The various
parts of this main function declaration will be covered at the end of this handout.
Lines 6
Again like C++, you can also add single line comment
Lines 7
Line 7 illustrates the method call. The println( ) method is used to print something on the console.
In this example println( ) method takes a string argument and writes it to the standard output i.e. console.
Lines 8-9
Line 8-9 of the program, the two braces, close the method main( ) and the class
HelloWorldApp respectively.

Compiling and Running HelloWorldApp

1. Open the command prompt from Start Æ Program Files Æ Accessories. OR
alternatively you can write cmd in the run command window.
2. Write cd.. to came out from any folder, and cd [folder name] to move inside the specified directory. To
move from one drive to another, use [Drive Letter]: See figure given below
3. After reaching to the folder or directory that contains your source code, in our case
HelloWorldApp.java.
4. Use “javac” on the command line to compile the source file (“.java” file).
D:\examples> javac HelloWorld.java
5. If program gets successfully compiled, it will create a new file in the same directory named
HelloWorldApp.class that contains the byte-code.
6. Use “java” on the command line to run the compiled .class file. Note “.class” would be added with the file
name.
D:\examples> java HelloWorld
7. You can see the Hello World would be printed on the console. Hurrah! You are successful in writing,
compiling and executing your first program in java ʄ

Points to Remember
□ Recompile the class after making any changes
□ Save your program before compilation
□ Only run that class using java command that contains the main method, because program executions
always starts form main

An Idiom Explained
You will see the following line of code often:
– public static void main(String args[]) { …}
• About main()
“main” is the function from which your program starts
Why public?
Since main method is called by the JVM that is why it is kept public so that it is
accessible from outside. Remember private methods are only accessible from within the
class
Why static?
Every Java program starts when the JRE (Java Run Time Environment) calls the
main method of that program. If main is not static then the JRE have to create an
object of the class in which main method is present and call the main method on that
object (In OOP based languages method are called using the name of object if they are
not static). It is made static so that the JRE can call it without creating an object.
Also to ensure that there is only one copy of the main method per class
Why void?
• Indicates that main ( ) does not return anything.
What is String args[] ?
Way of specifying input (often called command-line arguments) at startup of
application. More on it latter
References
Entire material for this handout is taken from the book JAVA A Lab Course by Umair Javed. This material is
available just for the use of students of the course Web Design and Development and not for any other
commercial purpose with out the consent of author.
 Learning Basics
Strings
A string is commonly considered to be a sequence of characters stored in memory and accessible as a unit.
Strings in java are represented as objects.
String Concatenation
“+” operator is used to concatenate strings
– System.out.pritln(“Hello” + “World”) will print Hello World on console
String concatenated with any other data type such as int will also convert that datatype to String and
the result will be a concatenated String displayed on console. For example,
– int i = 4;
– int j = 5;
System.out.println (“Hello” + i)
will print Hello 4 on screen
– However
System,.out..println( i+j) ;
will print 9 on the console because both i and j are of type int.
Comparing Strings
For comparing Strings never use == operator, use equals method of String class.
– == operator compares addresses (shallow comparison) while equals compares values (deep
comparison)
E.g string1.equals(string2)

Example Code: String concatenation and comparison

public class StringTest {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int i = 4;
int j = 5;
System.out.println("Hello" + i); // will print Hello4
System.out.println(i + j); // will print 9
String s1 = new String (“pakistan”);
String s2 = “pakistan”;
if (s1 == s2) {
System.out.println(“comparing string using == operator”);
}
if (s1.equals( s2) ) {
System.out.println(“comparing string using equal method”);
}
}
}
On execution of the above program, following output will produce
Taking in Command Line Arguments
In Java, the program can be written to accept command-line-arguments.
Example Code: command-line arguments

• These parameters should be separated by space. .

• The parameters that we pass from the command line are stored as Strings inside the “args” array. You
can see that the type of “args” array is String.
Example Code: Passing any number of arguments
In java, array knows their size by using the length property. By using, length property we can determine how
many arguments were passed. The following code example can accept any number of arguments

/* This Java application illustrates the use of Java

command-line arguments. */
public class AnyArgsApp {
public static void main(String[] args){ //main method
for(int i=0; i < args.length; i++)
System.out.println(“Argument:” + i + “value” +args[i]);
}//end main
}//End class.

Output
C:\java AnyArgsApp i can pass any number of arguments
Argument:0 value i
Argument:1 value can
Argument:2 value pass
Argument:3 value any
Argument:4 value number
Argument:5 value of
Argument:6 value arguments

Primitives vs Objects
• Everything in Java is an “Object”, as every class by default inherits from class
“Object” , except a few primitive data types, which are there for efficiency reasons.
• Primitive Data Types
Primitive Data types of java
boolean, byte 1 byte
char, short 2 bytes
int, float 4 bytes
long, double 8 bytes
• Primitive data types are generally used for local variables, parameters and instance variables
(properties of an object)
• Primitive datatypes are located on the stack and we can only access their value, while objects are
located on heap and we have a reference to these objects
• Also primitive data types are always passed by value while objects are always passed by reference in
java. There is no C++ like methods
– void someMethod(int &a, int & b ) // not available in java
Stack vs. Heap
Stack and heap are two important memory areas. Primitives are created on the stack while objects are
created on heap. This will be further clarified by looking at the following diagram that is taken from Java
Lab Course.

Wrapper Classes
Each primitive data type has a corresponding object (wrapper class). These wrapper classes provides
additional functionality (conversion, size checking etc.), which a primitive data type cannot provide.

Wrapper Use
You can create an object of Wrapper class using a String or a primitive data type
• Integer num = new Integer(4); or
• Integer num = new Integer(“4”);
Note: num is an object over here not a primitive data type
You can get a primitive data type from a Wrapper using the corresponding value function
• int primNum = num.intValue();
Converting Strings to Numeric Primitive Data Types
To convert a string containing digits to a primitive data type, wrapper classes can help. parseXxx method can
be used to convert a String to the corresponding primitive data type.
String value = “532”;
int d = Integer.parseInt(value);
String value = “3.14e6”;
double d = Double.parseDouble(value);

The following table summarizes the parser methods available to a java programmer.

Example Code: Taking Input / Output

So far, we learned how to print something on console. Now the time has come to learn how to print on the
GUI. Taking input from console is not as straightforward as in C++. Initially we’ll study how to take input
through GUI (by using JOPtionPane class).
The following program will take input (a number) through GUI and prints its square on the console as well
on
GUI.
1. import javax.swing.*;
2. public class InputOutputTest {
3. public static void main(String[] args) {
4. //takes input through GUI
5. String input = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Enter number");
6. int number = Integer.parseInt(input);
7. int square = number * number;
8. //Display square on console
9. System.out.println("square:" + square);
10. //Display square on GUI
11. JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, "square:"+ square);
12. System.exit(0);
13. }
14. }
On line 1, swing package was imported because it contains the JOptionPane class that will be used for taking
input from GUI and displaying output to GUI. It is similar to header classes of C++.
On line 5, showInputDialog method is called of JOptionPane class by passing string argument that will be
displayed on GUI (dialog box). This method always returns back a String regardless of whatever you entered
(int,
float, double, char) in the input filed.
Our task is to print square of a number on console, so we first convert a string into a number by calling
parseInt method of Integer wrapper class. This is what we done on line number 6.
Line 11 will display square on GUI (dialog box) by using showMessageDialog method of JOptionPane class.
The
first argument passed to this method is null and the second argument must be a String. Here we use string
concatenation.
Line 12 is needed to return the control back to command prompt whenever we use
JoptionPane class.

Compile & Execute

Selection & Control Structure

The if-else and switch selection structures are exactly similar to we have in C++. All relational operators that
we use in C++ to perform comparisons are also available in java with same behavior. Likewise for, while and
dowhile
control structures are alike to C++.
Reference:
1- Java tutorial: http://www.dickbaldwin.com/java
2- Example code, their explanations and corresponding figures for this handout are taken from the book
JAVA
A Lab Course by Umair Javed. This material is available just for the use of students of the course Web
Design and Development and not for any other commercial purpose without the consent of author.
 Object Oriented Programming
Java is fundamentally object oriented. Every line of code you write in java must be inside a class (not counting
import directives). OOP fundamental stones Encapsulation, Inheritance and Polymorphism etc. are all fully
supported by java.
OOP Vocabulary Review
• Classes
– Definition or a blueprint of a user-defined datatype
– Prototypes for objects
– Think of it as a map of the building on a paper
• Objects
– Nouns, things in the world
– Anything we can put a thumb on
– Objects are instantiated or created from class
• Constructor
– A special method that is implicitly invoked. Used to create an Object (that is, an Instance of the
Class) and to initialize it.
• Attributes
– Properties an object has.
• Methods
– Actions that an object can do

Defining a Class

Comparison with C++

Some important points to consider when defining a class in java as you probably noticed from the above
given
skeleton are
– There are no global variables or functions. Everything resides inside a class. Remember we wrote
our main method inside a class. (For example, in HelloWorldApp program)
– Specify access modifiers (public, private or protected) for each member method or data members at
every line.
– public: accessible anywhere by anyone
– private: Only accessible within this class
– protect: accessible only to the class itself and to it’s subclasses or other classes in the same
package.
– default: default access if no access modifier is provided. Accessible to all classes in the same
package.
– There is no semicolon (;) at the end of class.
– All methods (functions) are written inline. There are no separate header and implementation files.
– Automatic initialization of class level data members if you do not initialize them
Primitives
o Numeric (int, float etc) with zero

o Char with null

o Boolean with false
Object References
– With null
Note: Remember, the same rule is not applied to local variables (defined inside method body). Using a
local variable without initialization is a compile time error
Public void someMethod( ) {
int x; //local variable
System.out.println(x); // compile time error
}
– Constructor
– Same name as class name
– Does not have a return type
– No initialization list
– JVM provides a zero argument (default) constructor only if a class doesn’t define it’s own
constructor
– Destructors
– Are not required in java class because memory management is the responsibility of JVM.

Task – Defining a Student class

The following example will illustrate how to write a class. We want to write a
“Student” class that
– should be able to store the following characteristics of student
– Roll No
– Name
– Provide default, parameterized and copy constructors
– Provide standard getters/setters (discuss shortly) for instance variables
– Make sure, roll no has never assigned a negative value i.e. ensuring the correct state of the
object
– Provide print method capable of printing student object on console
Getters / Setters
The attributes of a class are generally taken as private or protected. So to access them outside of a class, a
convention is followed knows as getters & setters. These are generally public methods. The words set
and get are used prior to the name of an attribute. Another important purpose for writing getter &
setters to control the values assigned to an attribute.
Student Class Code
// File Student.java
public class Student {
private String name;
private int rollNo;
// Standard Setters
public void setName (String name) {
this.name = name;
}
// Note the masking of class level variable rollNo
public void setRollNo (int rollNo) {
if (rollNo > 0) {
this.rollNo = rollNo;
}else {
this.rollNo = 100;
}
}
// Standard Getters
public String getName ( ) {
return name;
}

public int getRollNo ( ) {

return rollNo;
}
// Default Constructor public Student() {
name = “not set”;
rollNo = 100;
}
// parameterized Constructor for a new student
public Student(String name, int rollNo) {
setName(name); //call to setter of name
setRollNo(rollNo); //call to setter of rollNo
}
// Copy Constructor for a new student
public Student(Student s) {
name = s.name;
rollNo = s.rollNo;
}
// method used to display method on console
public void print () {
System.out.print("Student name: " +name);
System.out.println(", roll no: " +rollNo);
}
} // end of class
 Using a Class
Objects of a class are always created on heap using the “new” operator followed by constructor
• Student s = new Student ( ); // no pointer operator “*” between Student and s
• Only String constant is an exception
String greet = “Hello” ; // No new operator
• However you can also use
String greet2 = new String(“Hello”);
Members of a class ( member variables and methods also known as instance variables/methods ) are
accessed using “.” operator. There is no “Æ” operator in java
s.setName(“Ali”);
sÆsetName(“Ali”) is incorrect and will not compile in java
Note: Objects are always passed by reference and primitives are always passed by value in java.
Task - Using Student Class
Create objects of student class by calling default, parameterize and copy constructor
Call student class various methods on these objects
Student client code
// File Test.java
/* This class create Student class objects and demonstrates
how to call various methods on objects
*/
public class Test{
public static void main (String args[]){
// Make two student obejcts
Student s1 = new Student("ali", 15);
Student s2 = new Student(); //call to default costructor
s1.print(); // display ali and 15
s2.print(); // display not set and 100
s2.setName("usman");
s2.setRollNo(20);
System.out.print("Student name:" + s2.getName());
System.out.println(" rollNo:" + s2.getRollNo());

System.out.println("calling copy constructor");

Student s3 = new Student(s2); //call to copy constructor
s2.print();
s3.print();
s3.setRollNo(-10); //Roll No of s3 would be set to 100
s3.print();
/*NOTE: public vs. private
A statement like "b.rollNo = 10;" will not compile in a
client of the Student class when rollNo is declared
protected or private
*/
} //end of main
} //end of class
Compile & Execute
Compile both classes using javac commad. Run Test class using java command.
 More on Classes
Static
A class can have static variables and methods. Static variables and methods are associated with the
class itself and are not tied to any particular object. Therefore statics can be accessed without instantiating an
object. Static methods and variables are generally accessed by class name.
The most important aspect of statics is that they occur as a single copy in the class regardless of the
number of objects. Statics are shared by all objects of a class. Non static methods and instance variables are
not
accessible inside a static method because no this reference is available inside a static method.
We hav e already used some static variables and methods. Examples are
System.out.println(“some text”); -- out is a static variable
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, “some text”); -- showMessageDialog is a static method
Garbage Collection & Finalize
Java performs garbage collection and eliminates the need to free objects explicitly. When an object has no
references to it anywhere except in other objects that are also unreferenced, its space can be reclaimed.
Before an object is destroyed, it might be necessary for the object to perform some action. For example:
to close an opened file. In such a case, define a finalize() method with the actions to be performed before the
object is destroyed.
finalize
When a finalize method is defined in a class, Java run time calls finalize() whenever it is about to recycle an
object of that class. It is noteworthy that a garbage collector reclaims objects in any order or never reclaims
them. We cannot predict and assure when garbage collector will get back the memory of unreferenced
objects.
The garbage collector can be requested to run by calling System.gc() method. It is not necessary that it
accepts the
request and run.

Example Code: using static & finalize ()

We want to count exact number of objects in memory of a Student class the one defined earlier. For this
purpose, we’ll modify Student class.
Add a static variable countStudents that helps in maintaining the count of student objects.
Write a getter for this static variable. (Remember, the getter also must be static one. Hoping so, you
know the grounds).
In all constructors, write a code that will increment the countStudents by one.
Override finalize() method and decrement the countStudents variable by one.
Override toString() method.
Class Object is a superclass (base or parent) class of all the classes in java by default. This class has already
finalize() and toString() method (used to convert an object state into string). Therefore we are actually
overriding these methods over here. (We’ll talk more about these in the handout on inheritance).
By making all above modifications, student class will look like
// File Student.java
public class Student {
private String name;
private int rollNo;
private static int countStudents = 0;
// Standard Setters
public void setName (String name) {
this.name = name;
}
// Note the masking of class level variable rollNo
public void setRollNo (int rollNo) {
if (rollNo > 0) {
this.rollNo = rollNo;
}else {
this.rollNo = 100;
}
}
// Standard Getters
public String getName ( ) {
return name;
}
public int getRollNo ( ) {
return rollNo;
}

// gettter of static countStudents variable

public static int getCountStudents(){
return countStudents;
}
// Default Constructor public Student() {
name = “not set”;
rollNo = 100;
countStudents += 1;
}
// parameterized Constructor for a new student
public Student(String name, int rollNo) {
setName(name); //call to setter of name
setRollNo(rollNo); //call to setter of rollNo
countStudents += 1;
}
// Copy Constructor for a new student
public Student(Student s) {
name = s.name;
rollNo = s.rollNo;
countStudents += 1;
}
// method used to display method on console
public void print () {
System.out.print("Student name: " +name);
System.out.println(", roll no: " +rollNo);
}
// overriding toString method of java.lang.Object class
public String toString(){
return “name: ” + name + “ RollNo: ” + rollNo;
}
// overriding finalize method of Object class
public void finalize(){
countStudents -= 1;
}
} // end of class
Next, we’ll write driver class. After creating two objects of student class, we deliberately loose object’s
reference
and requests the JVM to run garbage collector to reclaim the memory. By printing countStudents value, we
can confirm that. Coming up code is of the Test class.

// File Test.java
public class Test{
public static void main (String args[]){
int numObjects;
// printing current number of objects i.e 0
numObjs = Student.getCountStudents();
System.out.println(“Students Objects” + numObjects);
// Creating first student object & printing its values
Student s1 = new Student("ali", 15);
System.out.println(“Student: ” + s1.toString());
// printing current number of objects i.e. 1
numObjs = Student.getCountStudents();
System.out.println(“Students Objects” + numObjects);
// Creating second student object & printing its values
Student s2 = new Student("usman", 49);
// implicit call to toString() method
System.out.println(“Student: ” + s2);
// printing current number of objects i.e. 2
numObjs = Student.getCountStudents();
System.out.println(“Students Objects” + numObjects);
// loosing object reference
s1 = null
// requesting JVM to run Garbage collector but there is
// no guarantee that it will run
System.gc();
// printing current number of objects i.e. unpredictable
numObjs = Student.getCountStudents();
System.out.println(“Students Objects” + numObjects);
} //end of main
} //end of class
The compilation and execution of the above program is given below. Note that output may be different
one given here because it all depends whether garbage collector reclaims the memory or not. Luckily, in my
case it does.

Reference:
Sun java tutorial: http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/java
Thinking in java by Bruce Eckle
Beginning Java2 by Ivor Hortan
Example code, their explanations and corresponding execution figures for this handout are taken
from the book JAVA A Lab Course by Umair Javed. This material is available just for the use of
students of the course Web Design and Development and not for any other commercial purpose
without the consent of author.
 Inheritance
In general, inheritance is used to implement a “is-a” relationship. Inheritance saves code rewriting for a client
thus promotes reusability.
In java parent or base class is referred as super class while child or derived class is known as sub class.
Comparison with C++
□Java only supports single inheritance. As a result a class can only inherit from one class at one time.
□Keyword extends is used instead of “:” for inheritance.
□All functions are virtual by default
□All java classes inherit from Object class (more on it later).
□To explicitly call the super class constructor, use super keyword. It’s important to remember that call to super
class constructor must be first line.
□Keyword super is also used to call overridden methods.

Example Code: using inheritance

We’ll use three classes to get familiar you with inheritance. First one is Employee class. This will act as super
class. Teacher class will inherit from Employee class and Test class is driver class that contains main method.
Let’s
look at them one by one
class Employee{
protected int id;
protected String name;
//parameterized constructor
public Employee(int id, String name){
this.id = id;
this.name = name;
}
//default constructor
public Employee(){
// calling parameterized constructor of same (Employee)
// class by using keyword this
this (10, “not set”);
}
//setters
public void setId (int id) {
this.id = id;
}
public void setName (String name) {
this.name = name;
}
//getters
public int getId () {
return id;
}
public String getName () {
return name;
}
// displaying employee object on console
public void display(){
System.out.println(“in employee display method”);
System.out.println("Employee id:" + id + " name:" + name);
}
//overriding object’s class toString method
public String toString() {
System.out.println(“in employee toString method”);
return "id:" + id + "name:" + name;
}
}//end class

The Teacher class extends from Employee class. Therefore Teacher class is a subclass of
Employee. The teacher class has an additional attribute i.e. qualification.
class Teacher extends Employee{
private String qual;
//default constructor
public Teacher () {
//implicit call to superclass default construct
qual = "";
}
//parameterized constructor
public Teacher(int i, String n, String q){
//call to superclass param const must be first line
super(i,n);
qual = q;
}
//setter
public void setQual (String qual){
this.qual = qual;
}
//getter
public String getQual(){
return qual;
}
//overriding display method of Employee class
public void display(){
System.out.println("in teacher's display method");
super.display(); //call to superclass display method
System.out.println("Teacher qualification:" + qual);
}
//overriding toString method of Employee class
public String toString() {
System.out.println("in teacher's toString method");
String emp = super.toString();
return emp +" qualification:" + qual;
}
}//end class

Objects of Employee & Teacher class are created inside main method in Test class. Later calls are made to
display
and toString method using these objects.
class Test{
public static void main (String args[]){
System.out.println("making object of employee");
Employee e = new Employee(89, "khurram ahmad");
System.out.println("making object of teacher");
Teacher t = new Teacher (91, "ali raza", "phd");
e.display(); //call to Employee class display method
t.display(); //call to Teacher class display method
// calling employee class toString method explicitly
System.out.println("Employee: " +e.toString());
// calling teacher class toString implicitly
System.out.println("Teacher: " + t);
} //end of main
}//end class
Output

Object – The Root Class

The Od Java classes. For user defined classes, its not necessary to mention the Object class as a super class,
java doesbject class in Java is a superclass for all other classes defined in Java's class libraries, as well as
for user-define it automatically for you.
The class Hierarchy of Employee class is shown below. Object is the super class of Employee class and
Teacher is a subclass of Employee class. We can make another class Manager that can also extends from
Employee class.
 Polymorphism
“Polymorphic” literally means “of multiple shapes” and in the context of OOP, polymorphic means
“having multiple behavior”.
A parent class reference can point to the subclass objects because of is-a relationship. For example a
Employee reference can point to:
o Employee Object
o Teacher Object
o Manager Object
A polymorphic method results in different actions depending on the object being referenced
o Also known as late binding or run-time binding
Example Code: using polymorphism
This Test class is the modification of last example code. Same Employee & Teacher classes are used.
Objects of Employee & Teacher class are created inside main methods and calls are made to display and
toString method using these objects.
class Test{
public static void main (String args[]){
// Make employee references
Employee ref1, ref2;
// assign employee object to first employee reference
ref1 = new Employee(89, "khurram ahmad");
// is-a relationship, polymorphism
ref2 = new Teacher (91, "ali raza", "phd");
//call to Employee class display method
ref1.display();
//call to Teacher class display method
ref2.display();
// call to Employee class toString method
System.out.println("Employee: " +ref1.toString());
// call to Teacher class toString method
System.out.println("Teacher: " + ref2.toString());
} //end of main
}//end class

Output
Type Casting
In computer science, type conversion or typecasting refers to changing an entity of one datatype into
another.
Type casting can be categorized into two types
1. Up-casting
Converting a smaller data type into bigger one
Implicit – we don’t have to do something special
No loss of information
Examples of
— Primitives
int a = 10;
double b = a;
— Classes
Employee e = new Teacher( );
2. Down-casting
Converting a bigger data type into smaller one
Explicit – need to mention
Possible loss of information
Examples of
— Primitives
double a = 7.65;
int b = (int) a;
— Classes
Employee e = new Teacher( ); // up-casting
Teacher t = (Teacher) e; // down-casting
References:
Java tutorial: http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/java/javaOO/
Stanford University
Example code, their explanations and corresponding figures for handout 5-1,5-2 are taken from the
book JAVA A Lab Course by Umair Javed. This material is available just for the use of
students of the course Web Design and Development and not for any other commercial purpose
without the consent of author.
 Collections
A collection represents group of objects know as its elements. Java has a built-in support for collections.
Collection classes are similar to STL in C++. An advantage of a collection over an array is that you don’t
need to
know the eventual size of the collection in order to add objects to it. The java.util package provides a set of
collection classes that helps a programmer in number of ways.
Collections Design
All classes almost provides same methods like get(), size(), isEmpty() etc. These methods will return the
object
stored in it, number of objects stored and whether collection contains an object or not respectively.
Java collections are capable of storing any kind of objects. Collections store references to objects. This is
similar to
using a void* in C. therefore down casting is required to get the actual type. For example, if string in stored in
a
collection then to get it back, we write
String element = (String)arraylist.get(i);
Collection messages
Some basic messages (methods) are:
Constructor
— creates a collection with no elements
int size()
— returns the number of elements in a collection
boolean add(Object)
— adds a new element in the collection
— returns true if the element is added successfully false otherwise
boolean isEmpty()
— returns true if this collection contains no element false otherwise
boolean contains(Object)
— returns true if this collection contains the specified element by using iterative search
boolean remove(Object)
— removes a single instance of the specified element from this collection, if it is present

ArrayList
It’s like a resizable array. ArrayList actually comes as a replacement the old “Vector” collection. As we add or
remove elements into or from it, it grows or shrinks over time.
Useful Methods
add (Object)
— With the help of this method, any object can be added into ArrayList because
Object is the super class of all classes.
— Objects going to add will implicitly up-cast.
Object get(int index)
— Returns the element at the specified position in the list
— index ranges from 0 to size()-1
— must cast to appropriate type
remove (int index)
— Removes the element at the specified position in this list.
— Shifts any subsequent elements to the left (subtracts one from their indices).
int size( )
Example Code: Using ArrayList class
We’ll store Student objects in the ArrayList. We are using the same student class which we built in previous
lectures/handouts.
We’ll add three student objects and later prints all the student objects after retrieving them from ArrayList.
Let’s look at the code
iport java.util.*;
public class ArrayListTest {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// creating arrayList object by calling constructor
ArrayList al= new ArrayList();
// creating three Student objects
Student s1 = new Student (“ali” , 1);
Student s2 = new Student (“saad” , 2);
Student s3 = new Student (“raza” , 3);
// adding elements (Student objects) into arralylist al.add(s1);
al.add(s2);
al.add(s3);

// checking whether arraylist is empty or not boolean b = al.isEmpty ();

if (b = = true) {
System.out.println(“arraylist is empty”);
} else {
int size = al.size();
System.out.println(“arraylist size: ” + size);
}
// using loop to iterate. Loops starts from 0 to one
// less than size
for (int i=0; i<al.size(); i++ ){
// retrieving object from arraylist
Student s = (Student) al.get(i);
// calling student class print method
s.print();
} // end for loop
} // end main
} // end class
Output

HashMap
Store elements in the form of key- value pair form. A key is associated with each object that is stored. This
allows fast retrieval of that object. Keys are unique.
Useful Methods
put(Object key, Object Value)
— Keys & Values are stored in the form of objects (implicit upcasting is performed).
— Associates the specified value with the specified key in this map.

— If the map p reviously contained a mapping for this key, the old value is replaced.
Object get(Object key)
— Returns the value to which the specified key is mapped in this identity hash map, or null if the
map contains no mapping for this key.
— Must downcast to appropriate type when used
int size( )
Example Code: using HashMap class
In this example code, we’ll store Student objects as values and their rollnos in the form of strings as keys.
Same
Student class is used. The code is;
iport java.util.*;
public class HashMapTest {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// creating HashMap object
HashMap h= new HashMap();
// creating Student objects
Student s1 = new Student (“ali” , 1); Student s2 = new Student (“saad” ,
2); Student s3 = new Student (“raza” , 6);
// adding elements (Student objects) where roll nos
// are stored as keys and student objects as values
h.add(“one” , s1); h.add(“two” , s2);
h.add(“six”, s3);
// checking whether hashmap is empty or not boolean b = h.isEmpty ();
if (b = = true) {
System.out.println(“hashmap is empty”);
} else {
int size = h.size();
System.out.println(“hashmap size: ” + size);
}
// retrieving student object against rollno two and
// performing downcasting
Student s = (Student) h.get(“two”);
// calling student’s class print method s.print();
} // end main

} // end class
Output
 Address Book
Warning: It is strongly advised that you type the code given in this example yourself. Do not copy/paste it;
most probably you will get unexpected errors that you have never seen. Some bugs are deliberately
introduced as well to avoid copy- pasting. TAs will not cooperate with you in debugging such
errorsʄ.
Problem
We want to build an address book that is capable of storing name, address & phone number of a person.
Address book provides functionality in the form of a JOptionPane based menu. The feature list includes
□ Add – to add a new person record
□ Delete – to delete an existing person record by name
□ Search – to search a person record by name
□ Exit – to exit from application

The Address book should also support persistence for person records
Approach for Solving Problem
Building a small address book generally involves 3 steps. Let us briefly discuss each step and write a solution
code
for each step
Step1 – Make PersonInfo class
First of all you need to store your desired information for each person. For this you can create a userdefined
data type (i.e. a class). Make a class PersonInfo with name, address and phone number as its
attributes.
Write a parameterized constructor for this class.
Write print method in Person class that displays one person record on a message dialog box.

The code for PersonInfo class is given below.

import javax.swing.*;
class PersonInfo {
String name;
String address;
String phoneNum;
//parameterized constructor
public PresonInfo(String n, String a, String p) {
name = n;
address = a;
phoneNm = p;
}
//method for displaying person record on GUI
public void print( ) {
JOptionPane.showMessageDialog(null, “name: ” + name +
“address:” +address + “phone no:” + phoneNum);
}
}
Note: Not declaring attributes as private is a bad approach but we have done it to keep things simple here.
Step2 – Make AddressBook class
Take the example of daily life; generally address book is used to store more than one person records and
we don’t know in advance how many records are going to be added into it.
So, we need some data structure that can help us in storing more than one
PersonInfo objects without concerning about its size.
ArrayList can be used to achieve the above functionality
Create a class Address Book with an ArrayList as its attribute. This arraylist will be used to store the
information of different persons in the form of PersonInfo Objects. This class will also provide
addPerson, deletePerson & searchPerson methods. These methods are used for adding new person
records,
deleting an existing person record by name and searching among existing person records by name
respectively.
Input/Output will be performed through JOptionPane.

The code for AddressBook class is

import javax.swing.*;
import java.util.*;
class AddressBook {
ArrayList persons;
//constructor
public AddressBook ( ) {
persons = new ArrayList();
}
//add new person record to arraylist after taking input
public void addPerson( ) {
String name = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(“Enter name”);
String add = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(“Enter address”);
String pNum = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(“Enter phone no”);
//construt new person object
PersonInfo p = new PersonInfo(name, add, pNum);
//add the above PersonInfo object to arraylist
persons.add(p);
}
//search person record by name by iterating over arraylist
public void searchPerson (String n) {
for (int i=0; i< persons.size(); i++) {
PersonInfo p = (PersonInfo)persons.get(i);
if ( n.equals(p.name) ) {
p.print();
}
} // end for
} // end searchPerson
//delete person record by name by iterating over arraylist
public void deletePerson (String n) {
for (int i=0; i< persons.size(); i++) {
PersonInfo p = (PersonInfo)persons.get(i);
if ( n.equals(p.name) ) {
persons.remove(i);
}

}
}
} // end class
The addperson method first takes input for name, address and phone number and than construct a
PersonInfo
object by using the recently taken input values. Then the newly constructed object is added to the arraylist –
persons.
The searchPerson & deletePerson methods are using the same methodology i.e. first they search the
required record
by name and than prints his/her detail or delete the record permanently from the ArrayList.
Both the methods are taking string argument, by using this they can perform their search or delete operation.
We used for loop for iterating the whole ArrayList. By using the size method of ArrayList, we can control our
loop as ArrayList indexes range starts from 0 to one less than size.
Notice that, inside loop we retrieve each PersonInfo object by using down casting operation. After that we
compare each PersonInfo object’s name by the one passed to these methods using equal method since Strings
are always being compared using equal method.
Inside if block of searchPerson, print method is called using PersonInfo object that will display person
information
on GUI. On the other hand, inside if block of deletePerson method, remove method of ArrayList class is
called that is used to delete record from persons i.e. ArrayList.
Step3 – Make Test class (driver program)
This class will contain a main method and an object of AddressBook class.
Build GUI based menu by using switch selection structure
Call appropriate methods of AddressBook class
The code for Test class is
import javax.swing.*;
class Test {
Public static void main (String args[]) {
AddressBook ab = new AddressBook();
String input, s;
int ch;
while (true) {
input = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(“Enter 1 to add ” +
“\n Enter 2 to Search \n Enter 3 to Delete“ +
“\n Enter 4 to Exit”);

ch = Integer.parseInt(input);
switch (ch) {
case 1:
ab.addPerson();
break;
case 2:
s = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(
“Enter name to search ”);
ab.searchPerson(s);
break;
case 3:
s = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(
“Enter name to delete ”);
ab.deletePerson(s);
break;
case 4:
System.exit(0);
}
}//end while
}//end main
}
Note that we use infinite while loop that would never end or stop given that our program should only exit
when
user enters 4 i.e. exit option.
Compile & Execute
Compile all three classes and run Test class. Bravo, you successfully completed the all basic three steps.
Enjoy!ʄ.