Java SE 7 Programming Essentials

Introduction xvii

Chapter 1 Introducing the Basics of Java 1

Understanding Java Class Structure 1

Distinguishing between Classes and Objects 5

Understanding Other Elements of Java Class Structure 6

Writing a main() Method 7

Importing Other Java Classes 10

Understanding Package Declarations 13

Understanding Variable Scope in Java Code 14

Understanding Program State 15

The Essentials and Beyond 16

Chapter 2 Applying Data Types in Java Programming 19

Creating, Using, and Destroying Objects 19

Distinguishing between Object References and Primitives 23

Declaring and Initializing Variables 26

Default Initialization of Variables 30

Reading and Writing Object Fields 32

Using the StringBuilder Class and Its Methods 34

Creating and Manipulating Strings 39

The Essentials and Beyond 42

Chapter 3 Using Java Operators and Conditional Logic 45

Using Java Operators 45

Understanding Operator Types and Properties 48

Precedence and Associativity 50

Using Separators 52

Using Postfix/Prefix Operators 52

Using Unary Operators 53

Using Multiplicative and Additive Operators 55

Using Shift Operators 56

Using Relational Operators 56

Using Equality Operators 57

Using Bitwise and Logical Operators 58

Using Conditional Operators 59

Using Assignment Operators 61

Using Parentheses to Control Operators 62

Understanding Object Equality 64

Using if and if/else Statements 67

Using a switch Statement 69

The Essentials and Beyond 71

Chapter 4 Using Java Arrays 75

Understanding Java Arrays 75

Using a One-Dimensional Array 78

Declaring an Array 78

Instantiating an Array 79

Populating an Array with a Loop 80

Populating an Array without a Loop 81

Using an Array 82

Using a String Object as a Character Array 84

Using System.arraycopy() 85

Using Arrays of Other Types 86

Understanding the Arrays Class 87

Using a Multi-Dimensional Array 87

Declaring a

Michael Ernest is a technical consultant with over 16 years of experience writing and maintaining Java code. He writes Java-based courseware and contributes content for Oracle's certification exams, as well as leading seminars on Java EE, performance tuning, and adopting Java-based software. He has been a Sheriff on the popular help website coderanch.com since 2000. Ernest coauthored Sybex's The Complete Java 2 Certification Study Guide , and has written several Sun Microsystems and Oracle courses.