In this unit you will learn: -
the structure of a basic Java program -
four common numeric data types and their
properties -
how to declare variables of these types and how
to construct arithmetic expressions using variables
After trying out some println statements with
variations of arithmetic and Boolean expressions (those with relational
operators such as !=), we quickly come to a
realization that we’re not doing anything fancier than what a 1970’s
calculator can do. What next? How can we go beyond executing arithmetic
expressions with numeric values? One
way that’s very familiar to us, but from a different context, is to be able
to represent values symbolically – that is using a variable. The notion of a variable in programming is
the same as in mathematics except that a variables
in Java has a designated type. In this
unit you’ll learn about these types, how to declare variables and use them to
build expressions. But first, to move
beyond writing single statements, we have to get acquainted with how to
construct a complete Java program. |