Introduction to Java Programming and

Data Structures
Thirteenth Edition

Chapter 4
Mathematical Functions,
Characters, and Strings

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Motivations
Suppose you need to estimate the area enclosed by four
cities, given the GPS locations (latitude and longitude) of
these cities, as shown in the following diagram. How would
you write a program to solve this problem? You will be able
to write such a program after completing this chapter.

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Objectives (1 of 4)
4.1 To solve mathematics problems by using the methods in the Math
class (§4.2).
4.2 To represent characters using the char type (§4.3).
4.3 To encode characters using ASCII and Unicode (§4.3.1).
4.4 To represent special characters using the escape sequences
(§4.4.2).
4.5 To cast a numeric value to a character and cast a character to an
integer (§4.3.3).
4.6 To compare and test characters using the static methods in the
Character class (§4.3.4).
4.7 To introduce objects and instance methods (§4.4).
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Objectives (2 of 4)
4.8 To represent strings using the String objects (§4.4).
4.9 To return the string length using the length() method (§4.4.1).
4.10 To return a character in the string using the charAt(i) method
(§4.4.2).
4.11 To use the + operator to concatenate strings (§4.4.3).
4.12 To return an uppercase string or a lowercase string and to trim a
string (§4.4.4).
4.13 To read strings from the console (§4.4.4).
4.14 To read a character from the console (§4.4.5).

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Objectives (3 of 4)
4.15 To compare strings using the equals method and the
compareTo methods (§4.4.6).
4.16 To obtain substrings (§4.4.7).
4.17 To find a character or a substring in a string using the
indexOf method (§4.4.8).
4.18 To program using characters and strings
(GuessBirthday) (§4.5.1).
4.19 To convert a hexadecimal character to a decimal value
(HexDigit2Dec) (§4.5.2).

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Objectives (4 of 4)
4.20 To revise the lottery program using strings
(LotteryUsingStrings) (§4.5.3).
4.21 To format output using the System.out.printf
method (§4.6).
4.22 To form multi-line strings using text blocks (§4.7).

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Mathematical Functions
Java provides many useful methods in the Math class for
performing common mathematical functions.

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The Math Class
• Class constants:
– PI
–E
• Class methods:
– Trigonometric Methods
– Exponent Methods
– Rounding Methods
– min, max, abs, and random Methods

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Trigonometric Methods
• sin(double a) Examples:
• cos(double a) Math.sin(0) returns 0.0
Math.sin(Math.PI / 6)
• tan(double a)
returns 0.5
• acos(double a) Math.sin(Math.PI / 2)
• asin(double a) returns 1.0
Math.cos(0) returns 1.0
• atan(double a)
Math.cos(Math.PI / 6)
Radians returns 0.866
toRadians(90) Math.cos(Math.PI / 2)
returns 0
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Exponent Methods
• exp(double a) Examples:
Returns e raised to the power of Math.exp(1) returns 2.71
a. Math.log(2.71) returns 1.0
• log(double a) Math.pow(2, 3) returns 8.0
Returns the natural logarithm of a. Math.pow(3, 2) returns 9.0
• log10(double a) Math.pow(3.5, 2.5) returns
Returns the 10-based logarithm of 22.91765
a. Math.sqrt(4) returns 2.0
• pow(double a, double b) Math.sqrt(10.5) returns 3.24
Returns a raised to the power of
b.
• sqrt(double a)
Returns the square root of a.

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Rounding Methods
• double ceil(double x)
x rounded up to its nearest integer. This integer is returned as a
double value.
• double floor(double x)
x is rounded down to its nearest integer. This integer is returned as a
double value.
• double rint(double x)
x is rounded to its nearest integer. If x is equally close to two
integers, the even one is returned as a double.
• int round(float x)
Return (int)Math.floor(x+0.5).
• long round(double x)
Return (long)Math.floor(x+0.5).
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Rounding Methods Examples (1 of 2)
Math.ceil(2.1) returns 3.0
Math.ceil(2.0) returns 2.0
Math.ceil(-2.0) returns –2.0
Math.ceil(-2.1) returns -2.0
Math.floor(2.1) returns 2.0
Math.floor(2.0) returns 2.0
Math.floor(-2.0) returns –2.0
Math.floor(-2.1) returns -3.0
Math.rint(2.1) returns 2.0
Math.rint(2.0) returns 2.0
Math.rint(-2.0) returns –2.0
Math.rint(-2.1) returns -2.0
Math.rint(2.5) returns 2.0

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Rounding Methods Examples (2 of 2)
Math.rint(-2.5) returns -2.0
Math.round(2.6f) returns 3
Math.round(2.0) returns 2
Math.round(-2.0f) returns -2
Math.round(-2.6) returns -3

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min, max, and abs
• max(a, b) and min(a, b) Examples:
Returns the maximum or Math.max(2, 3) returns 3
minimum of two parameters.
• abs(a) Math.max(2.5, 3) returns
3.0
Returns the absolute value of
the parameter. Math.min(2.5, 3.6)
• random() returns 2.5
Returns a random double value Math.abs(-2) returns 2
in the range [0.0, 1.0).
Math.abs(-2.1) returns
2.1

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The random Method
Generates a random double value greater than or equal
to 0.0 and less than 1.0 (0 <= Math.random() < 1.0).

Examples:

In general,

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Case Study: Computing Angles of a
Triangle

Write a program that prompts the user to enter the x- and

y-coordinates of the three corner points in a triangle and
then displays the triangle’s angles.

ComputeAngles

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Character Data Type

Note: The increment and decrement operators can also be

used on char variables to get the next or preceding
Unicode character. For example, the following statements
display character b.
char ch = 'a';
System.out.println(++ch);
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Unicode Format
Java characters use Unicode, a 16-bit encoding scheme
established by the Unicode Consortium to support the
interchange, processing, and display of written texts in the
world’s diverse languages. Unicode takes two bytes,
preceded by \u, expressed in four hexadecimal numbers
that run from '\u0000' to '\uFFFF'. So, Unicode can
represent 65535 + 1 characters.

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ASCII Code for Commonly Used
Characters
Characters Code Value in Decimal Unicode Value
'0' to '9' 48 to 57 \u0030 to \u0039
'A' to 'Z' 65 to 90 \u0041 to \u005A
'a' to 'z' 97 to 122 \u0061 to \u007A

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Escape Sequences for Special
Characters
Escape Sequence Name Unicode Code Decimal Value
\b Backspace \u0008 8
\t Tab \u0009 9
\n Linefeed \u000A 10
\f Formfeed \u000C 12
\r Carriage Return \u000D 13
\\ Backslash \u005C 92
\” Double Quote \u0022 34

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Appendix B: ASCII Character Set (1 of 2)
ASCII Character Set is a subset of the Unicode from \u0000 to \u007f

Table B.1 ASCII Character Set in the Decimal Index

blank

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0 nul soh stx etx eot enq ack bel bs ht
1 nl vt ff cr so si dle dcl dc2 dc3
2 dc4 nak syn etb can em sub esc fs gs
3 rs us sp ! “ # $ % & ‘
4 ( ) * + , - . / 0 1
5 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ;
6 < = > ? @ A B C D E
7 F G H I J K L M N O
8 P Q R S T U V W X Y
9 Z [ \ ] ^ _ ` a b c
10 d e f g h i j k l m
11 n o p q r s t u v w
12 x y z { | } ~ del
Blank Blank

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Appendix B: ASCII Character Set (2 of 2)
ASCII Character Set is a subset of the Unicode from \u0000 to \u007f

Table B.2 ASCII Character Set in the Hexadecimal Index

blank

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
0 nul soh stx etx eot en ack bel bs ht nl vt ff cr so si
q
1 dle dcl dc2 dc3 dc4 nak syn etb can em sub esc fs gs rs us
2 sp ! “ # $ % & ‘ ( ) * + , - . /
3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ; < = > ?
4 @ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O
5 P Q R S T U V W X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _
6 ‘ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o
7 p q r s t u v w x y z { | } ~ del

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Casting Between char and Numeric
Types
int i = 'a'; // Same as int i = (int)'a';

char c = 97; // Same as char c = (char)97;

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Comparing and Testing Characters
if (ch >= 'A' && ch <= 'Z')
System.out.println(ch + " is an uppercase letter");
else if (ch >= 'a' && ch <= 'z')
System.out.println(ch + " is a lowercase letter");
else if (ch >= '0' && ch <= '9')
System.out.println(ch + " is a numeric character");

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Methods in the Character Class
Method Description

isDigit(ch) Returns true if the specified character is a digit.

isLetter(ch) Returns true if the specified character is a letter.

isLetterOfDigit(ch) Returns true if the specified character is a letter or

digit.
isLowerCase(ch) Returns true if the specified character is a
lowercase letter.
isUpperCase(ch) Returns true if the specified character is an
uppercase letter.

toLowerCase(ch) Returns the lowercase of the specified character.

toUpperCase(ch) Returns the uppercase of the specified character.

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The String Type
The char type only represents one character. To represent a string of
characters, use the data type called String. For example,
String message = "Welcome to Java";
String is actually a predefined class in the Java library just like the
System class and Scanner class. The String type is not a primitive
type. It is known as a reference type. Any Java class can be used as
a reference type for a variable. Reference data types will be thoroughly
discussed in Chapter 9, “Objects and Classes.” For the time being, you
just need to know how to declare a String variable, how to assign a
string to the variable, how to concatenate strings, and to perform
simple operations for strings.

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Simple Methods for String Objects (1 of 2)
Method Description
length() Returns the number of characters in this string.
charAt(index) Returns the character at the specified index from this string.

concat(s1) Returns a new string that concatenates this string with

string s1.
toUpperCase() Returns a new string with all letters in uppercase.

toLowerCase() Returns a new string with all letters in lowercase.

trim() Returns a new string with whitespace characters trimmed

on both sides.

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Simple Methods for String Objects (2 of 2)
Strings are objects in Java. The methods in the preceding
table can only be invoked from a specific string instance.
For this reason, these methods are called instance
methods. A non-instance method is called a static
method. A static method can be invoked without using an
object. All the methods defined in the Math class are static
methods. They are not tied to a specific object instance.
The syntax to invoke an instance method is
referenceVariable.methodName(arguments).

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Getting String Length
String message = "Welcome to Java";

System.out.println("The length of " + message + " is "

+ message.length());

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Getting Characters From a String

String message = "Welcome to Java";

System.out.println("The first character in message is "

+ message.charAt(0));

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Converting Strings
"Welcome".toLowerCase() returns a new string,
welcome.
"Welcome".toUpperCase() returns a new string,
WELCOME.
" Welcome ".trim() returns a new string, Welcome.

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String Concatenation
String s3 = s1.concat(s2); or String s3 = s1 + s2;

// Three strings are concatenated

String message = "Welcome " + "to " + "Java";

// String Chapter is concatenated with number 2

String s = "Chapter" + 2; // s becomes Chapter2

// String Supplement is concatenated with character B

String s1 = "Supplement" + 'B'; // s1 becomes SupplementB

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Reading a String From the Console
Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
System.out.print("Enter three words
separated by spaces: ");
String s1 = input.next();
String s2 = input.next();
String s3 = input.next();
System.out.println("s1 is " + s1);
System.out.println("s2 is " + s2);
System.out.println("s3 is " + s3);
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Reading a Character From the Console
Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);

System.out.print("Enter a character: ");

String s = input.nextLine();

char ch = s.charAt(0);

System.out.println("The character entered is " + ch);

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Comparing Strings
Method Description
equals(s1) Returns true if this string is equal to
string s1.
equalsIgnoreCase(s1) Returns true if this string is equal to
string s1; it is case insensitive.
compareTo(s1) Returns an integer greater than 0, equal
to 0, or less than 0 to indicate whether
this string is greater than, equal to, or
less than s1.
compareToIgnoreCase(s1 Same as compareTo except that the
) comparison is case insensitive.
startsWith(prefix) Returns true if this string starts with the
specified prefix.
endsWith(suffix) Returns true if this string ends with the
specified suffix. OrderTwoCities
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Obtaining Substrings
Method Description

substring(beginIndex) Returns this string’s substring that begins with the

character at the specified beginIndex and extends
to the end of the string, as shown in Figure 4.2.

substring(beginIndex, Returns this string’s substring that begins at the

endIndex) specified beginIndex and extends to the character
at index endIndex – 1, as shown in Figure 9.6.
Note that the character at endIndex is not part of
the substring.

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Finding a Character or a Substring in
a String (1 of 2)
Method Description
indexOf(ch) Returns the index of the first occurrence of ch in the string.
Returns -1 if not matched.
indexOf(ch, fromIndex) Returns the index of the first occurrence of ch after
fromIndex in the string. Returns -1 if not matched.
indexOf(s) Returns the index of the first occurrence of string s in this
string. Returns -1 if not matched.
indexOf(s, fromIndex) Returns the index of the first occurrence of string s in this
string after fromIndex. Returns -1 if not matched.
lastIndexOf(ch) Returns the index of the last occurrence of ch in the string.
Returns -1 if not matched.
lastIndexOf(ch, fromIndex) Returns the index of the last occurrence of ch before
fromIndex in this string. Returns -1 if not matched.
lastIndexOf(s) Returns the index of the last occurrence of string s. Returns -1
if not matched.
lastIndexOf(s, fromIndex) Returns the index of the last occurrence of string s before
fromIndex. Returns -1 if not matched.

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Finding a Character or a Substring in
a String (2 of 2)
int k = s.indexOf(' ');
String firstName = s.substring(0, k);
String lastName = s.substring(k + 1);

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Conversion Between Strings and
Numbers
int intValue = Integer.parseInt(intString);

double doubleValue = Double.parseDouble(doubleString);

String s = number + "";

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Problem: Guessing Birthday
The program can guess your birth date. Run to see how it
works.

GuessBirthday

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Mathematics Basis for the Game
19 is 10011 in binary. 7 is 111 in binary. 23 is 11101 in
binary

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Case Study: Converting a Hexadecimal
Digit to a Decimal Value

Write a program that converts a hexadecimal digit into a

decimal value.

HexDigit2Dec

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Case Study: Revising the Lottery
Program Using Strings

A problem can be solved using many different approaches.

This section rewrites the lottery program in Listing 3.7
using strings. Using strings simplifies this program.

LotteryUsingStrings

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Formatting Output
Use the printf statement.
System.out.printf(format, items);
Where format is a string that may consist of substrings and
format specifiers. A format specifier specifies how an item
should be displayed. An item may be a numeric value,
character, boolean value, or a string. Each specifier begins
with a percent sign.

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Frequently-Used Specifiers
Specifier Output Example
%b a boolean value true or false
%c a character 'a'
%d a decimal integer 200
%f a floating-point number 45.460000
%e a number in standard 4.556000e+01
scientific notation
%s a string "Java is cool"

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FormatDemo
The example gives a program that uses printf to display
a table.

FormatDemo

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Text Blocks
Text blocks became a standard feature since Java 15. It enables
you to form a multi-line string. Here is an example of a text block:

String tb = """ The code displays three lines

Java Java
Python Python
C++"""; C++
System.out.println(tb);

A text block contains multiple line. The first line starts with three
double quotation marks (""") followed by space characters. The
last line ends with three double quotation marks (""").

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Indentation in Text Blocks
You can use indentation in a text block. To achieve this, the compiler
first removes the maximum left common space characters for all lines.
For example, the maximum common left space characters for all lines
in the following text block is 2, because there are two leading space
characters before “Java”.

String tb = """ After removing two leading space characters

Java from each line, the resulting string is
Python
C++"""; Java
Python
C++

After removing the maximum common left space characters, the

indentation of the text block is preserved.

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Indentation in Text Blocks: ending """
Note if the ending """ is on a separate line by itself, its
leading spaces are counted in the maximum common left
space. For example, in the following code,

String tb = """ The maximum common left

Java space is 0, because there are no
Python space before the ending """.
C++ The resulting string will be
""";
Java
Python
C++

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Right Trailing Space
The right trailing space are trimmed by default. If you want
to keep right trailing space, use \s. For example, the
following code keep three right space characters after
“Python”.

String tb = """ Note that there are two spaces

Java after Python and before \s.
Python \s Including \s, there will be three
C++"""; spaces after “Python”.

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Escape Characters
You used \s escape character for a space. You can also use
other escape characters in needed. For example, for the
following text block:

String tb = """ The resulting string is

Java
\tPython\n Java
C++"""; Python

C++

The space before “Python” is due to the tab character (\t).

The space line after “Python” is due to the new line character
“\n”.
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""" in Text Block as Literal
If you need to put """ into the text block, you can
use \""". For example, for the following text block:

String tb = """ The resulting string is

Java\"""
Python Java"""
C++"""; Python
C++

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New String Methods
As part of the new feature on text blocks, several new String methods
are introduced. You can use the stripIndent() to remove the
maximum common left space from a multi-line string in the same way
as a text block is processed.
You can use the formatted(args) method to format a string. For
example, for the following code:

String tb = """
Product: %s
Price: $%.2f""".formatted("Salt", 4.52);
The resulting string is

Produce: Salt
Price: $4.52
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Copyright

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