Chapter 1:

Introduction to Computers and Java

Starting Out with Java:

From Control Structures through
Objects

Fifth Edition

by Tony Gaddis
 Chapter Topics

– Java History
– Programming Languages
– The Complete Programming Process

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 Java History
• Created by Sun Microsystems in 1991
• Green Team – handheld controller *7 for multiple
entertainment systems
• There was a need for a programming language that
would run on various devices.
• Java (first named Oak) was developed for this purpose.
• Java is “cross platform”, meaning that it can run on
various computer operating systems.

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 Java Applications and Applets
• Java programs can be of two types:
– Applications
• Stand-alone programs that run without the aid of a web
browser.
• Relaxed security model since the user runs the program
locally.
– Applets
• Small applications that require the use of a Java enabled
web browser to run.
• Enhanced security model since the user merely goes to a
web page and the applet runs itself.

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 Programming Languages
• A programming language is a special language used to
write computer programs.
• A program is a set of instructions with rigorous syntax
a computer follows in order to perform a task.
• An algorithm is a set of well defined steps to complete
a task.
– English-like pseudo code
– For example, to compute gross pay
• Get payroll data
• Calculate gross pay
• Display gross pay

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 Programming Languages: 1GL
• A computer needs the algorithm to be written in machine
language (also called first generation programming language).
– Machine language is written using binary numbers.
• Each CPU has its own machine language.
– Motorola 68000 series processors
– Intel x86 series processors
– ARM processors, etc.
• Example of a machine language instruction:
1011010000000101
• Machine code is tedious and unfriendly to human.

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 Programming Languages: 2GL
• Programmers developed assembly language (also called
second generation programming language or low level
language).
• Example:
MOV id3, R2
MUL #60.0, R2
MOV id2, R1
ADD R2, R1
MOV R1, id1
• Assembler made things easier but was also processor
dependent.

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 Programming Languages: 3GL
• High level programming languages followed
that were not processor dependent.
• Some common programming languages:
Java C Visual Basic
BASIC C++ Python
COBOL C# Ruby
Pascal PHP JavaScript

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 Programming Languages
• 4GL and 5GL
– Closer to natural languages
– The language environment provides visual
programming tools that allow non-programmers to
create software applications

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 Programming Languages
Common Language Elements

• There are some concepts that are common to all

programming languages.
• Common concepts:
– Keywords
– Operators
– Punctuation
– Programmer-defined identifiers
– Strict syntactic rules

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 Programming Languages
Sample Program

public class HelloWorld

{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
String message = "Hello World";
System.out.println(message);
}
}

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 Programming Languages
Sample Program

• Keywords in the sample program are:

•public •static
•class •void

• Keywords are lower case (Java is a case sensitive language).

• Keywords cannot be used as a programmer-defined identifier.
• Semi-colons are used to end Java statements; however, not all
lines of a Java program end a statement.
• Part of learning Java is to learn where to properly use the
punctuation.

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 Programming Languages
Lines vs Statements

• There are differences between lines and

statements when discussing source code.
System.out.println(
message);
• This is one Java statement written using two
lines. Do you see the difference?
• A statement is a complete Java instruction that
causes the computer to perform an action.

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 Programming Languages
Variables

• Data in a Java program is stored in memory.

• Each variable name represents a location in memory.
• Variables are created by the programmer who assigns
it a user-defined identifier.

example: int length = 72;

• In this example, the variable length is created as an

integer and assigned the value of 72.

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 Programming Languages
Variables

• Variables are simply a name given to represent

a place in memory.
0x000
0x001
0x002
0x003
0x004
0x005
0x006
0x007

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 Programming Languages
Variables

Assume that the this

variable declaration
0x000 has been made.
The Java Virtual 0x001 int length = 72;
Machine (JVM) 0x002
actually decides 0x003 72
where the value 0x004 The variable length
will be placed 0x005 is a symbolic name
in memory. 0x006 for the memory
location 0x003.
0x007

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 The Compiler and the Java Virtual Machine
• A programmer writes Java statements for a
program. These statements are known as
source code.
• A text editor is used to edit and save a Java
source code file.
– Source code files have a .java file extension.
• A compiler is a program that translates
source code into an object code.

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 The Compiler and the Java Virtual Machine

• A compiler is run using a source code file as

input.
• Syntax errors that may be in the program will
be discovered during compilation.
• Syntax errors are mistakes that the programmer
has made that violate the rules of the
programming language.
• If no syntax errors, the compiler creates another
file that holds the translated instructions.

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 The Compiler and the Java Virtual Machine

• Most compilers translate source code into executable

files containing machine code.
• However, Java compiler is different. The Java
compiler translates a Java source file into a file that
contains byte code instructions.
– Byte code files end with the .class file extension.
• Byte code instructions are the machine language of
the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and cannot be
directly executed by the CPU.

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 The Compiler and the Java Virtual Machine

• The JVM is a program that emulates a micro-

processor.
• The JVM executes instructions as they are read.
• JVM is often called an interpreter.
• Java is often referred to as an interpreted
language.

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 Program Development Process
Saves Java statements
Text editor Source code
(.java)

Produces Byte code

Java compiler (.class)

Java Results in Program

Virtual Execution
Machine

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 The Complete Programming Process
1. Understand problem statement.
2. Design algorithms.
3. Enter the code and compile it.
4. Correct any syntax errors found during compilation.
Repeat Steps 3 and 4 as many times as necessary.
5. Run the program with test data for input.
6. Correct any runtime errors found while running the
program.
Repeat Steps 3 through 6 as many times as necessary.
7. Validate the results of the program.
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