UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION TO JAVA

Structure Page No.

1.0 Introduction
1.1 Objectives
1.2 Introduction to Object Oriented Programming
2.2.1 Objects and Class
2.2.2 Data Hiding
2.2.3 Abstraction
2.2.4 Encapsulation
2.2.5 Inheritance
2.2.6 Polymorphism
1.3 Features of Java Programming Language
1.3.1 Use of Java in Industry
1.4 Java Development Environment and Tools
1.4.1 JDK
1.4.2 JRE
1.4.3 JIT and JVM
1.5 Environment Setup for Java Application Development
1.6 Summary
1.7 Solutions/Answer to Check Your Progress
1.8 References and Further Reading

1.0 INTRODUCTION

It is a modern, high-level, evolutionary programing language that combines a well-

designed structure with powerful features. In addition to the core language
components, its software distribution is enriched with power supporting libraries for
the purposes such as database, network, and GUI programming.

Java is a popular computer language with object-orientation concepts. To have a clear

understanding of Java, we have to understand the reason behind its creation that forces
and shapes the legacy that it inherits.
 Java is adaptive to the changing environments and uses. It supports the
thinking of real-life situations in the form of objects and classes.
 To implement refinements and improvements in the art of programming in
terms of data-centric applications development.

If we look at the history of the Java programming language, it was developed by

James Gosling and his colleagues at Sun Microsystems in early 1990. Initially, it was
started as a project called “Oak” with the goal to run it on a Virtual machine and have
greater simplicity than C/C++. The first public implementation of Java 1.0 was
released in 1995 with the goal of “Write Once, Run Anywhere”. Now, after many
upgrades, we have Java 18 as the most updated version in the year 2022.

There are many application areas of Java programming language; including mobile
application developments, it is considered the official language and compatible with
well-known software Android Studio. Desktop GUI applications can be easily
developed in Java programming language because of its Abstract Window Toolkit,
Swing and JavaFX concepts. It is also suited for many other areas like Web-based

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 applications, Enterprise Applications, Scientific Applications, Gaming Applications
etc. Its garbage collection module facilitates the 3-D game development.

This unit covered the foundation of object-oriented programming fundamentals and

its founding concepts like Inheritance, Polymorphism, encapsulation, and abstraction.
Further, we will discuss the Java programming language features that make it unique
among all the programming languages. Also, robustness and portability are well-
known properties of the Java programming language.
The Java development environment is an essential component for writing and
executing programs. This includes various components like JDK, JRE, JVM, etc.
Also, we will write and run our first Java program using Integrated Development
Environment (IDE) in this unit.

1.1 OBJECTIVES

After going through this unit, you will be able to:

 Explain characteristics of Object-Oriented Programming,

 Explain features of Java,
 Explain the use of JDK, JIT and JVM, and
 Write and execute a simple Java program.

1.2 INTRODUCTION TO OBJECT-ORIENTED

PROGRAMMING

Java programming support concepts of classes and objects. Classes in Java can be
considered as logical constructs upon which the entire java language is built.

Java programming languages have inherited object-orientation concepts from

previously developed object-oriented programming languages such as C++ etc.. Some
basic characteristics of Object Orientated programming, which you will extensively
be using in this course of Java Programming, are explained here.

2.2.1 Objects and Class

An object is nothing but a real word entity that can be distinctly identified. Also
objects poses their characteristics and featurs. A class is a template or blueprint that
defines data fields and methods of objects of the same type.

Objects have the states and behaviours, while a class describes the behaviour/state of
the object of its type support. When we look at real-world examples, cars, dogs,
humans etc. are the objects. Dog shows its state and behaviour like name, breed and
color are the state and barking, wagging the tail, and running are the dog's behaviour.

In figure1. 2, a circle class is shown with its three objects. We can see that each circle
object is represented by the different radius. Here radius is the data field. Every object
has its own data field value and methods implementation is common for all the
objects. You will learn more about objects and classes in Unit 4 of this Block.

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 Figure 1.1: A class template along with objects

2.2.2 Data Hiding

Data hiding is one of the key aspects of Object-Oriented Programming that enables
developers to protect their data and hide the implementation details from outside
interference. To implement the data hiding, variables in a class should have a private
access modifier. So when someone needs to access or modify the private variables
from outside of the class, they should only be accessible by using the “get” and can be
modified by using “set” methods.

2.2.3 Abstraction

Data abstraction is the process of hiding detailed information and only presenting the
essential information to the user. For example, a car can be viewed as a car rather than
its individual components. Data abstraction can also be seen as for identifying the
important characteristics of an object by ignoring the useless details. In Java
programming, abstraction can be achieved by using the abstract class/interfaces.
You can also apply the method abstraction to separate the use of the method from its
implementation. Any user(client) can use a method without knowing about its
implementation details. The details about the implementation are encapsulated in the
method, and it will be hidden from the client who invokes this method. Further, if you
change the implementation of a method, it will not affect the client program till you
do not change the method signature.

Optional arguments for

Optional return value
input

Method Header

Method Body Black Box

Figure 1.2: Method body as a Black Box

In figure 1.2, we can see that method body as a black box as its implementation is
hidden from the user (client). For example when we use the System.out.println method

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 to display a string, we do not bother about how it is implemented. Throughout this
course, we will see extensive use of the method System.out.println. As a user, we
require to write the code to invoke the method that is the example method abstraction.
The abstraction concept can be applied to the process of developing large programs;
while writing the code, divide-and-conquer (also known as stepwise refinement)
technique can be applied to decompose int subproblems. Similarly, class abstraction
can separate the class implementation from how the class is used. The class owner
describes the functions of the class and lets the user know how the class can be used.

2.2.3 Encapsulation

Encapsulation is another key concept used in object-oriented programming. It is a

process of binding the data members and methods together. It is done in the form of a
secure manner by making the data field accessible only to class members by declaring
the data fields as private. The power of encapsulated code is that everyone outside of
the class knows how to access and use the methods without thinking about
implementation details. In Java, setter or getter methods are also used to ensure the
read-only or write-only operations.

Figure 1.3: Encapsulation in Java

Figure1.3 shows the encapsulation in Java, in which data members and methods are
bound together and can be protected from outside classes.

Class abstraction and encapsulation are two sides of the same coin. Many real-life
examples illustrate the class abstraction concept. Let’s take an example of getting a
loan, in which a specific loan can be seen as an object of the Loan class. The interest
rate, loan amount, and loan period are its data fields. Calculating the monthly payment
and total payments are its methods. The data fields are also known as data members.
For example, when you take a car loan, a loan object is created by instantiating the
class Loan with the loan interest rate, loan amount, and loan period. As a user of the
Loan class, you are not required to know how these methods are implemented.You
can use the methods to find your car loan's monthly payment and loan payment.

2.2.4 Inheritance

Inheritance provides reusability by inheriting the property in a new class from the
derived class. It is a process by which one object acquires the property of another
object. The Inheritance allows for the creation of a new class similar to the previously
defined class, and the new class can have its own data members and methods. This
feature of Java supports the concept of hierarchical classification.

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Let us consider a Four-Wheeler class that contains data members and methods. The
data members are engine capacity, number of gears, length, breadth, power steering,
audio System, etc., and methods are forward movement, backward movement,
stopping movement, etc. Let us assue that this Four-Wheeler class is defined and in
use. Now a new class Car is needed to define which is similar to the defined class but
needs some additional data members such as air conditioner, number of airbags, anti-
breaking System and methods such as controlling air conditioner, automatic
transmission, etc. The class Car need not include all data members and methods of
the class Four-Wheeler. The class Car can reuse the features defined in class Four-
Wheeler by inheriting it so that the Car class contains all data members and methods
of the Four-Wheeler and data members and methods of its own. This new class Car
alone needs to be defined and tested. This new class inherits all the data and methods
from the base class ( in this case from class Four-Wheeler). The word Inheritance
reflects how children inherit many of their characteristics from their parents. But the
children also have their own characteristics. In OOP, a base class is seen as a Super
Class( Parent class) and a derived class as a Sub Class (child class).

Super Class

Sub Class1 Sub Class 2 Sub Class 3

Figure 1.4: Representation of Inheritance

There are several advantages of Inheritance. It can reduce the development time of the
program because reusability of the code requires less memory, less execution time,
and redundancy of the code can be minimized. The real-life example of Inheritance is
a child, and parents, like a child, can inherit all their father's properties.
Base Class

Feature A
Feature B

Feature A Feature A Feature A

Feature B Feature B Feature B
Feature C Feature D Feature F

Derived Derived Derived

Class 1 Class 2 Class 3
Figure 1.5: Inheritance Hierarchy

Figure 1.5 shows the working of Inheritance; like you can see, three classes are
derived from the base class. Features A, and B of the base class are inherited in all the
three derived classes. Further, you can also see that derived classes have their own
features like Feature C, Feature D, and Feature F in Derived Class1, 2, and 3,
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 respectively. Therefore, new classes use the concept of code reusability and extend
their functionality. You will learn more about Inheritance and its implementation in
Java in the next Block of this course.

2.2.5 Polymorphism
Polymorphism is the ability of an object to take many forms. It is a feature that allows
one interface to be used for a general class of actions. In programming languages,
polymorphism is the ability of an object to take on many forms. Polymorphism is
derived from a Greek words: poly and morphs. The word “poly” means many and
“morphs” means forms. So Polymorphism means many forms. Polymorphism is one
of the important characteristics of OOPs. Many object-oriented programming
languages support this characteristic, but their implementations vary from one object-
oriented programming language to another object-oriented programming language.
The polymorphism principle is implemented in java programming with method
overloading and method overriding.

Figure 1.6 : Polymorphism

From figure 1.6, we can see that a single method draw () can be used to draw the
different shapes like Triangle, Circle, and Rectangle. So here, we can observe that
name of the function is the same, but the functionality( implementation) is different.
This is known as function overriding, and it is a type of the polymorphism.

The polymorphism principle is divided into two sub-principles. They are:

 Static Polymorphism
 Dynamic Polymorphism

Static binding is also called as early binding or compiler time-binding of the method
with object. Overloading is compile time Polymorphism where more than one method
shares the same name with different parameters or signatures and different return
types. The overloaded method should always be part of the same class, with the same
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name but different parameters. The parameters may differ in their type or number, or
both. Methods may have the same or different return types. Method overloading is
the best example of static binging. In Method overloading, which method to be called
is decided by the compiler at compile time.

Dynamic binding is also called late binding or run-time binding. Dynamic

polymorphism is achieved at run-time. Here, Java compiler does not understand
which method is called at time of compilation of the code. Only JVM decides which
method is to be called at run-time. Method overloading and method overriding using
instance methods are examples of dynamic polymorphism. Method overriding is the
best example of dynamic binding. In method overriding, which method will be called
decided at run-time. Dynamic method dispatch is a mechanism by which a call to an
overridden method is resolved at run-time. This is how Java implements run-time
polymorphism. When a reference calls an overridden method, Java determines the
version of method to be executed based on the type of object it refers to. In the next
Block of this course, you will learn the details of polymorphism and its
implementation in Java.

☞ Check Your Progress – 1

1. What is a class? How is a class different from objects?

………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………….

2. What is encapsulation?

………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………….

3. What is Polymorphism? What are the different types of Polymorphism?

………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………….

1.3 FEATURES OF JAVA

Java is a well established popular programming language because of its popular

features like portability and security. In addition, many other factors also played an
essential role in moulding the final form of the language. Some important features of
Java programming are briefly discussed in this section.

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 Figure 1.7: Features of Java

1) Object-Oriented

Java is a programming language which is mainly based on object-oriented

programming concepts, and we can say that everything in Java is an object. Object-
oriented programming is so integral to Java that it is best to understand its basic
principles before you begin writing even simple java programs. Objects have two
fundamental purposes, which are as given below.

 To promote understanding of the real-world problems in a natural way.

 To provide practical basics for implementations of the design of the system.

An object contains data and methods which manipulate these data. For example, a
student object may have the name, age, number, gender, course-name, university-
name etc as data member, which represents the attribute of this object. The student
object can perform a number of functions such as receiving this data, storing, finding
the course-name, university-name etc. Also, in a system there can be many object
students in a university with their unique identities.

People often hesitate to learn Java (OOP) because its learning curve is steeper than
top-down programming (like C programming language). But once you learn the basics
of OOP, you will find that it is easier and more intuitive approach for developing big
projects or complex systems.

2) Simple

Java was designed to be easy to understand and easy to write for the professional
programmer. If you have some programming experience, you will be able to grab the
java concept quickly. In case you have an understanding of object-oriented
programming, then learning Java will be easy. The one who has C++, programming
experience, learning Java will be pretty easy for them. Although Java is case sensitive
but provides user-friendly syntax that can be understood easily.

3) Secure

Java is one of the well-known programming languages for security. You can develop
a virus-free system using java programming language because it has no explicit
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pointer; it runs inside a virtual machine sandbox. Java also verifies the illegal
Bytecode that can violate the access rights to the objects.

4) Portable

Portability is one of the significant challenges for internet applications because many
computing devices and operating system are connected to the applications. Due to the
different architecture of the devices/ operating system, running a single application on
them is a challenge. Sometimes application code is required to be written considering
platform-specific requirements when an application is developed using programming
languages like C or C++. Java is an architecture-neutral programming language, and
it is portable because it facilitates you to carry the java bytecode to any platform. With
the help of bytecode, you can run the Java program on any computer virtually. More
about bytecode you may learn from MCSL-210 course.

In general, Java provides three types of portability which are as follows.

i. Source Code Portability

When we run any given Java program, it must must produce identical results
regardless of the underlying CPU, operating system or Java compiler.

ii. CPU Architecture Portability

Currently, existing Java compilers produce object code (called Bytecode) to a CPU
which physically does not yet exist. For executing the same Bytecode on different
real CPU, a Java interpreter or Java Virtual Machine(JVM) is used. This nonexistent
CPU ( i.e. JVM) allows the same object code to be executed in any CPU for which
there is a JVM.

iii. OS/GUI

Similar to the JVM, which presents a virtual CPU, the Java libraries have a virtual
operating system/GUI Java solves this problem by providing a set of library functions
(in libraries provided by Java, such as awt, util and lang) that converse with an
imaginary operating system and an imaginary GUI(Graphical User Interafce). Each
Java version provides libraries that implement this virtual operating system / GUI.
The Java programs using these libraries easily provide the required port of operating
system functionality and GUI.

5) Robust

Java provides an automatic garbage collector that runs on the virtual machine and
destroys the objects which are not being used in the program anymore. The java
designers paid enough attention so that the program could run reliably in various
systems. While designing the Java, they focused on the program's robustness on the
high priority. There are two main reasons to better understand the robust java
programming behaviour: strong memory management and well-handled exceptions.

Exceptional conditions in traditional environments often arise in situations such as

division by zero, file not found etc. they must be managed with clumsy and hard-to-
read constructs. Java easily handles all these exceptions by providing object-oriented
exception handling. In Block 3 of this course, you will learn more about Java
Exceptions Handling.
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 6) Multithreaded

Java programming is designed to meet the real-world requirement of creating

interactive, networked programs. For this, Java uses the concepts of multithreading to
write the code, which can do so many things simultaneously. The Java run-time
systems comes with an elegant solution for multiprocess synchronization that enables
you to construct smoothly running interactive systems. You will learn more about the
multithreading of Java in Block 3 of this course.

7) Architecture-neutral

Code longevity and portability were central issues for java designers. While designing
Java, they have faced the issue that there is no guarantee that the program written
today will run tomorrow−even on the same machine. Any update in the computer
system can cause the malfunction of the system. The major goal was to “write once;
run anywhere, anytime”. They designed Java Virtual Machine(JVM) with their hard
efforts to overcome this situation. To a great extent, this goal was achieved.

Java Code (.java)

JAVA Compiler

Byte Code (.class)

JVM JVM JVM

Windows Linux Mac

Figure 1.8: Java is Architecture-neutral

From figure 1.8, it can be seen clearly why Java programming is architecture-neutral.
The only reason is its capability to generate the Bytecode, which runs on any JVM.

8) Interpreted and High performance

Java Bytecode can be executed on any machine that implements the Java Virtual
Machine(JVM). It is designed in such a way that it can be translated into native
machine code for every high-performance using a just-in-time compiler. Java run-time
systems that present this feature lose none of the benefits of the platform-independent
code.

You can achieve high performance because its Just-in-Time compilers are faster than
the standard JVM. It also facilitates running one time and catching the results for

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future uses. Also, it is possible to optimize the code over time. Therefore, we can say
that it is a high-performance language.

9) Distributed

Java programming is designed for the distributed environment of the Internet because
it handles TCP/IP protocols. Java programming also supports Remote Method
Invocation (RMI), which enables a program to invoke methods across a network.

The reason behind saying Java is a distributed language is that after compiling the
Java program on one machine, it can be transferred on another machine to execute
because of its Bytecode facility. It will be beneficial for users who wish to use Remote
Computers to execute their programs. Further, it can also facilitate the Local and
Remote locations programmers to work together on the same project.

10) Dynamic

Java programs carry substantial amounts of run-time type information that is used to
verify and resolve accesses to objects at run time. This enables to link code safely and
expediently dynamically. It may affect the robustness of the java environment, in
which a tiny fragment of Bytecode may be dynamically updated on a running system.
Here dynamic just means changing something at run time that is not explicitly coded
in the source code.

Another way in which Java is dynamic is the class loader, in which you can load a
new already compiled class at run time in a standard language supported way. Java
reflection method can also be used to operate on classes and instances specified by
strings. For example, even without loading a new code, you can decide which already-
loaded class you can use Class.forName() to get the class and instantiate an instance.
If the string holding the name is read at the run-time, there’s no way to know which
class you’d be instantiating at compile time.

1.3.1 Use of Java in Industry

Java programming language has a significant impact on the industry, especially in the
IT industry in India and globally. Many projects running for ICT support and services
are developed using the Java programming language. In many applications, it is being
used as HTTP request and HTTP response. A most famous “ local server” with Java
framework used is tomcat. It is the most popular Java application server. Another
Java programming based tool for Big Data is HADOOP. It is an open-source tool built
over Java programming and used to store and process a large volume of data. Java
programming is used in many scientific applications, for example : MATLAB is one
of the most famous scientific applications, its both front-end and back-end is written
in Java. Many simulators including ClodSim are developed using Java technologies.

The Java programming language is being used to design and develop many web
applications and mobile apps that may run on a single device or may be distributed
among servers and clients in a network. Twitter is a well popular free social
networking and micro-blogging Java-based service application being used widely.
Many other applications like Operaminin, Signal, and Wikipedia Search are
developed using Java programming language.

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 1.4 JAVA DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT AND
TOOLS

Java is a general-purpose computer programming language which is class-based,

object-oriented and possess many other features. Its applications are typically,
compiled to Bytecode and can execute on any java virtual machine (JVM). The latest
version of Java is JDK 18, recently released in the year 2022.

Creating, compiling, and editing Java programs is flexible. You can extend it from
one programming environment to another easily. In general, there are two basic
approaches; a command-line environment, where the user types command and the
computer responds, and another is an integrated development environment (IDE) in
which we use the keyboard and mouse to interact with well designed graphical user
interface( GUI) for writing, compiling and running the Java projects.

This section will discuss about the Java development environment and related
considerations. More about IDE and execution of Java program you will learn in the
course MCSL-210

1.4.1 JDK

JDK is an acronym for Java Development Kit. It is a software development

environment which is used to develop Java applications. It physically exists and
contains JRE along with development tools.

JDK is an implementation of any one of the below java platforms released by Oracle
Corporation, which are as follows.

 Standard Edition Java Platform

 Enterprise Edition Java Platform
 Micro Edition Java Platform

In general, JDK contains a private Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and a few other
resources like interpreter/loader, java compiler, archivers (jar files) and Javadoc for
the documentation generator to complete the development of Java Applications. Its
software can be downloaded from the link:
https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/downloads/ as given.

1.4.2 JRE

The Java Runtime Environment (JRE) is a software layer that runs on top of a
computer’s operating system software and provides the class libraries and other
required resources to run a specific java program. JRE is one of the three interrelated
components for developing Java programs along with JDK and JVM.

The JDK and JRE are the two components that interact with each other to create a
sustainable run-time environment that enables the seamless execution of Java-based
applications in virtually any operating system.

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JRE run-time architecture generally uses the ClassLoader, Bytecode verifier, and
Interpreter. In which ClassLoader dynamically load all the necessary classes to run a
Java program. It also automates the loading of classes as per requirement, so it can
also effectively utilize the memory. Bytecode verifier checks the format and accuracy
of Java code before it passes to the interpreter. And finally, the interpreter helps to run
the java program natively on the underlying machine.

1.4.3 JIT and JVM

JIT stands for just in time compiler and is an integral part of Java Virtual
Machine(JVM) and Garbage Collector. It is capable of compiling the Java code into
machine code, which can significantly improve the performance of Java Applications.

While the compilation of the codes, it is not guaranteed which code will be compiled.
JIT usually compile the code as per its requirement to JVM, and once method
execution crosses the certain limit (of approx. 10K execution), then it will be
converted into machine code.

To run a simple program in Java programming, we have to use the Java compiler to
convert the source code into Java class code. And then, after that, JVM (is responsible
for running the program.

Compiled by generates Executed by

Welcome.java Welcome.class
Output of
(Java Source Java Compiler (Java Source JVM
the program
code file) code file)

Library code

Figure 1.9: Flow of Java Program Execution

The role of JVM can be understood that a program written in a high-level

programming language cannot run directly on any computer. First, it has to be
translated into machine language using a compiler program. After being translated, it
can run any number of times on one type of machine only. Another alternative way to
compile the program is an interpreter, which translates the program instruction-by-
instruction. It also has the capability to enable a machine language program to run
from one computer to a completely different type of computer.
The designer of Java utilized the capability of both compilation and interpretation.
Programs written in Java are compiled into machine language, but it is a machine
language for a computer that does not really exist. This is what we call a “virtual”
computer and is known as Java Virtual Machine(JVM). The machine language for the
JVM is known as Java Bytecode. This code enables us to run the program on any
computer.

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 JDK
Development
Tools (javac, jheap,
jconsole, etc)

JRE
Java Class Library

JVM

JIT

Figure 11.10: JIT, JVM, JRE and JDK in Java

Java Development Kit (JDK) is enriched with many features; it has numerous
libraries, tools, and frameworks. Once you run a Java program, it can be executed on
any platform, which saves time. It also facilitates installing the Java platform on
various Windows, Unix, and Mac operating systems.
In figure1.10, we can see that every module of Java comes under JDK. JVM can be
seen as an instance of JRE while executing the Java program, and it is widely known
as a run-time interpreter. JVM is the cornerstone on top of which Java technology is
built. It is a component which makes Java programming hardware & platform-
independent. Just-in-time (JIT) compiler is the part of JVM that is used to speed up
the execution time. It compiles the parts of the byte code simultaneously that have
similar functionality.

1.5 ENVIRONMENT SETUP OF JAVA

APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT

If you are writing your Java program in any editor like notepad etc. and going to run
it with the help of command-line execution, you have to follow the step as given
below.

Step1: Write a simple Java program; for example the Java code as given below.

class Welcome
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
//Display a welcome message on console.
System.out.println("Welcome to Java.");
}
}

Let's try to know the meaning of key tems/ workd used in the above program: class,
public, static, void, main, String [] is, System.out.println().
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  class is a keyword which is used to declare a class in Java.
 public keyword is an access modifier(specifier) that decides the visibility of
the method or data member. The public means it is visible to all.
 static is a keyword and if we declare any method as static, it belongs to the
class. The core advantage of the static method is that there is no need to create
an object to invoke the static method. The JVM executes the main() method,
before creating any object, so it doesn't require to create an object to invoke
the main() method, which also saves the memory.
 void is the return type of the method. It means that this method doesn't return
any value.
 main represents the starting point of the program.
 String[] args or String args[] is used for passing the command-line argument.
 System.out.println() is used to print a statement. Here, System is a class, out is
an object of the PrintStream class, println() is a method of the PrintStream
class.

Step2: Now save the program using its class name as file name; for example, for the
above program, it will be Welcome.java

Step3: Compile the program using the command given below.

→ 𝑗𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑐 𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒. 𝑗𝑎𝑣𝑎

Step4: Run the program using the command by writing Java and then name of the
class file. For example

→ 𝑗𝑎𝑣𝑎 𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒

Then it will print the output on the console like “Welcome to Java.”

Another way to write and run the java programs is to use the Integrated Development
Environment (IDE), in which everything you need to create, compile, and run the
program with the help of a single application. IDE also provides a graphical user
interface.

NetBeans and ECLIPSE are two free and popular IDEs for developing Java
programs. These IDEs are pretty simple and easy to understand. You are
recommended to use one of them for developing the java programs.

ECLIPSE:

The ECLIPSE IDE (integrated development environment) is one of the well-known

java programming platforms. In the year 2022 itself, it has approximately one million
downloads per month, making it one of the leading IDEs. ECLIPSE has many pre-
packages and plug-ins for the support of java programmers.

NetBeans:

NetBeans IDE is a free, open-source integrated development environment for

application development on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Solaris operating systems. It
provides intelligent overviews to help you manage, understand, and manage your
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 applications, including out-of-the-box support for popular technologies. NetBeans
IDE offers tools for Java web, enterprise, desktop and mobile application
development. This is the IDE which supports the latest version of JDK, Java EE and
JavaFX.

Figure 1.11: Netbeans IDE

A few key features of IDEs are as follows, which motivate programmers to use it.

 Code completion or code insight

The IDE is capable of providing the hint for keywords and function names which is
quite crucial. It also helps us to remove the typographical errors and provide the
suggestion with a list of appropriate functions based on the situation.

 Resource management

IDE is able to manage the resource effectively, especially the one required for library
and header files. An IDE should be aware of any required resources so that errors can
be spotted at the development stage, not at the time of compiling or building.

 Debugging tools

The program written using IDE is easy to debug; it may be able to give the variable
values at certain points during the program's execution.

 Compile and build

In the programming language that requires a compile or build stage, IDEs translate the
code from high-level language to the object code of the targeted platform. In general,
IDE specializes in one language or a set of similar languages.

Advantages of using IDE: IDE can be advantageous in many aspects while writing
and running a program. A few key advantages are as listed below.
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 1. Lest time and effort

The main purpose of an IDE is to make application development faster and easier. Its
tools and features are developed to help programmers to organize resources, prevent
mistakes, and provide shortcuts.

2. Enforce project or company standards

IDEs proved the same standered development environment for all its users. This
provides a chance to a group of programmers to adhere to a standard way of doing
things. Standards can be further enforced if the IDE offers predefined templates or if
code libraries are shared between different team members/teams which is working on
the same project.

3. Project management

Project management using IDE can be in twofold. First, many IDEs have
documentation tools that either automate the entry of developer comments or may
force developers to write comments in different areas. Second, simply by having a
visual presentation of resources using GUI , it makes a lot easier to know how an
application is laid out instead of traversing the file system.

In the following figure 1.12 you may see the screenshot of Netbeans IDE in which
the program given above is written and executed.

Figure 1.12: Writing and Running Java Program in Netbeans IDE

You will learn more about writing Java programs and running them in the MCSL-210
course. Here in this unit, you have a glimpse of how to write Java program. In the next
unit, you will learn more about basics like variables/literals, data types, and operators
and use them in writing Java programs.

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 ☞ Check Your Progress – 2
1. What is JDK ?

………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………….

2. What will be the output of the following code segment?

public class Example1

{
public static void main (String args[])
{
System.out.println(" *************************************");
System.out.println(" Let us Learn " +"Java Programming");
System.out.println(" *************************************");
System.out.println(" Use IDE to write Java Programamming" );
}
}
………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………….

3. What is the JIT compiler?

……………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………….

4. What are some available IDEs for developing Java Applications?

………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………….

1.6 SUMMARY
Object-oriented programming takes a different approach to solving problems by using
a program model that mirrors the real-world problems. It allows you to decompose a
problem into subgroups of related parts easily. In this unit, we have discussed the
basic features of object-oriented programming. Java is a very popular programming
language because of its features. Some important features of Java, like platform-
independent, portable, high performance, and distributed, making it popular among
application developers. In this unit, we also discussed the Java development
environment and tools.

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1.7 SOLUTIONS/ANSWER TO CHECK YOUR
PROGRESS

☞ Check Your Progress – 1

1. A class is a template or blueprint that defines data members and methods (
member functions)of objects of the same type. On the other hand, an object is
a real word entity that participates in problem-solving. Each object poses its
attributes and features. Objects have the states and behaviours, while a class
describes the behaviour/state of the object of its type support. When we look
at real-world examples, cars, dogs, humans etc. are the objects. Dog shows its
state and behaviour like name, breed and color are the state and barking,
wagging the tail, and running are the dog's behaviour.

2. Encapsulation is a key concept of object-oriented programming. It is a process

of binding the data members and methods together. The power of
encapsulated code is that everyone outside of the class knows how to access
and use the methods without thinking about implementation details.

3. Polymorphism is the ability of an object to take many forms. It is a feature

that allows one interface to be used for a general class of actions. It means
different actions can be performed using a single interface. In programming
languages, Polymorphism is the ability of an object to take on many forms.

The Polymorphism is of two types:

 Static Polymorphism
 Dynamic Polymorphism

☞ Check Your Progress – 2

1. Java Development Kit (JDK) has the bundle of capabilities to run the Java
programs smoothly and effectively. A few important points related to JDK are
listed below.

 JDK- JDK is the package that contains various tools, Compiler, Java
Runtime Environment, etc. It is used for making java programs, we need
some tools that are provided by JDK (Java Development Kit).
 JRE - JRE provides the environment for the execution of the Java
program. JRE contains a library of Java classes + JVM.
 JVM (Java Virtual Machine) : It is a part of JRE that executes the Java
program at the end. JVM converts Bytecode into machine-executable
code to execute on a specific OS(hardware).

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 2. Output:

3. JIT compilers can access dynamic run-time information, whereas a standard

compiler does not and can make better optimizations like inlining functions
that are used frequently. The JIT compiler compiles Bytecodes into native
machine code at run time, which helps in improving the performance of Java
programs.

4. An IDE for Java applications development is a software that allows Java

developers to write and debug Java programs easily. It is a collection of
various programming tools, accessible via a single interface along with
several helpful features for developers, such as code completion and syntax
highlighting. Some of the most popular Java IDEs are NetBeans, ECLIPSE,
IntelliJ IDEA, and Codenvy.

1.8 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING

 Herbert Schildt, “Java The Complete Reference”, McGraw-Hill,2017.

 Savitch, Walter, “ Java: An introduction to problem solving & programming”,
Pearson Education Limited, 2019.

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