Java is a popular programming language, created in 1995.
It is owned by Oracle, and more than 3 billion devices run Java.
It is used for:
Mobile applications (specially Android apps)
Desktop applications
Web applications
Web servers and application servers
Games
Database connection
Why Use Java?
Java works on different platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux, Raspberry Pi,
etc.)
It is one of the most popular programming languages in the world
It has a large demand in the current job market
It is easy to learn and simple to use
It is open-source and free
It is secure, fast and powerful
It has huge community support (tens of millions of developers)
Java is an object oriented language which gives a clear structure to
programs and allows code to be reused, lowering development costs
As Java is close to C++ and C#, it makes it easy for programmers to
switch to Java or vice versa
public static void main(String[] args)
public
This is an access modifier.
It means the method is accessible from anywhere, i.e., other classes or the Java
runtime environment (JRE) can call this method.
static
This means the method belongs to the class, not to an object of the class.
The Java Virtual Machine (JVM) calls this method without creating an object of the
class.
void
This is the return type of the method.
It means the method does not return any value.
🔹 main
This is the name of the method.
It is predefined in Java as the starting point of a Java program.
JVM looks for the main() method to start the execution of a Java application.
String[] args
This is a parameter to the main method.
It is an array of Strings.
It is used to accept command-line arguments when the program is run.
Example:
java
CopyEdit
java MyProgram Hello World
Then args[0] is "Hello" and args[1] is "World".
public static void main(String[] args)
Is the starting point of a Java program.
It must be written exactly like this (with minor variations like String... args).
Without it, the program won’t run, and you'll get an error like:
Error: Main method not found in class
The Print() Method
There is also a print() method, which is similar to println().
The only difference is that it does not insert a new line at the end of the
output:
Example
System.out.print("Hello World! ");
System.out.print("I will print on the same line.");
System.out.println("This sentence will work!");
System.out.println(This sentence will produce an error);
You can also use the println() method to print numbers.
System.out.println(2 * 5);
Java Comments
Comments can be used to explain Java code, and to make it more readable. It
can also be used to prevent execution when testing alternative code.
Single-line Comments
Single-line comments start with two forward slashes ( //).
Any text between // and the end of the line is ignored by Java (will not be
executed).
This example uses a single-line comment before a line of code:
ExampleGet your own Java Server
// This is a comment
System.out.println("Hello World");
Java Multi-line Comments
Multi-line comments start with /* and ends with */.
Any text between /* and */ will be ignored by Java.
This example uses a multi-line comment (a comment block) to explain the
code:
Example
/* The code below will print the words Hello World
to the screen, and it is amazing */
System.out.println("Hello World");
Java Variables
Variables are containers for storing data values.
In Java, there are different types of variables, for example:
String - stores text, such as "Hello". String values are surrounded by
double quotes
int - stores integers (whole numbers), without decimals, such as 123 or
-123
float - stores floating point numbers, with decimals, such as 19.99 or -
19.99
char - stores single characters, such as 'a' or 'B'. Char values are
surrounded by single quotes
boolean - stores values with two states: true or false
Declaring (Creating) Variables
To create a variable in Java, you need to:
Choose a type (like int or String)
Give the variable a name (like x, age, or name)
Optionally assign it a value using =
type variableName = value;
Create a variable called name of type String and assign it the value
"John".
Then we use println() to print the name variable:
String name = "John";
System.out.println(name);
To create a variable that should store a number, you can use int:
Example
Create a variable called myNum of type int and assign it the
value 15:
int myNum = 15;
System.out.println(myNum);
You can also declare a variable without assigning the value, and assign
the value later:
Example
int myNum;
myNum = 15;
System.out.println(myNum);
Note that if you assign a new value to an existing variable, it will
overwrite the previous value:
Example
Change the value of myNum from 15 to 20:
int myNum = 15;
myNum = 20; // myNum is now 20
System.out.println(myNum);
Other Types
A demonstration of how to declare variables of other types:
Example
int myNum = 5;
float myFloatNum = 5.99f;
char myLetter = 'D';
boolean myBool = true;
String myText = "Hello";
Display Variables
The println() method is often used to display variables.
To combine both text and a variable, use the + character:
ExampleGet your own Java Server
String name = "John";
System.out.println("Hello " + name);
You can also use the + character to add a variable to another variable:
Example
String firstName = "John ";
String lastName = "Doe";
String fullName = firstName + lastName;
System.out.println(fullName);
int x = 5;
int y = 6;
System.out.println(x + y); // Print the value of x + y
The general rules for naming variables are:
Names can contain letters, digits, underscores, and dollar signs
Names must begin with a letter
Names should start with a lowercase letter, and cannot contain
whitespace
Names can also begin with $ and _
Names are case-sensitive ("myVar" and "myvar" are different
variables)
Reserved words (like Java keywords, such as int or boolean) cannot be
used as names
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Create integer variables
int length = 4;
int width = 6;
int area;
// Calculate the area of a rectangle
area = length * width;
// Print variables
System.out.println("Length is: " + length);
System.out.println("Width is: " + width);
System.out.println("Area of the rectangle is: " + area);
}
Boolean Types
Very often in programming, you will need a data type that can only have one
of two values, like:
YES / NO
ON / OFF
TRUE / FALSE
For this, Java has a boolean data type, which can only take the
values true or false:
Example
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
boolean isJavaFun = true;
boolean isFishTasty = false;
System.out.println(isJavaFun);
System.out.println(isFishTasty);
Characters
The char data type is used to store a single character. The character must be
surrounded by single quotes, like 'A' or 'c':
Example
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
char myGrade = 'B';
System.out.println(myGrade);
}
Strings
The String data type is used to store a sequence of characters (text). String
values must be surrounded by double quotes:
Example
Strings
The String data type is used to store a sequence of characters (text). String
values must be surrounded by double quotes:
Example
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
String greeting = "Hello World";
System.out.println(greeting);
Java Conditions and If Statements
You already know that Java supports the usual logical conditions from
mathematics:
Less than: a < b
Less than or equal to: a <= b
Greater than: a > b
Greater than or equal to: a >= b
Equal to a == b
Not Equal to: a != b
You can use these conditions to perform different actions for different
decisions.
Java has the following conditional statements:
Use if to specify a block of code to be executed, if a specified
condition is true
Use else to specify a block of code to be executed, if the same
condition is false
Use else if to specify a new condition to test, if the first condition is
false
Use switch to specify many alternative blocks of code to be executed
The if Statement
Use the if statement to specify a block of Java code to be executed if a
condition is true.
Syntax
if (condition) {
// block of code to be executed if the condition is true
}
Note that if is in lowercase letters. Uppercase letters (If or IF) will generate
an error.
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
if (20 > 18) {
System.out.println("20 is greater than 18"); // obviously
The else Statement
Use the else statement to specify a block of code to be executed if the
condition is false.
Syntax
if (condition) {
// block of code to be executed if the condition is true
} else {
// block of code to be executed if the condition is false
Example
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int time = 20;
if (time < 18) {
System.out.println("Good day.");
} else {
System.out.println("Good evening.");
The else if Statement
Use the else if statement to specify a new condition if the first condition
is false.
Syntax
if (condition1) {
// block of code to be executed if condition1 is true
} else if (condition2) {
// block of code to be executed if the condition1 is false and
condition2 is true
} else {
// block of code to be executed if the condition1 is false and
condition2 is false
}
Example
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int time = 22;
if (time < 10) {
System.out.println("Good morning.");
} else if (time < 18) {
System.out.println("Good day.");
} else {
System.out.println("Good evening.");
This example shows how you can use if..else to find out if a number is
positive or negative:
Example
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int myNum = 10; // Is this a positive or negative number?
if (myNum > 0) {
System.out.println("The value is a positive number.");
} else if (myNum < 0) {
System.out.println("The value is a negative number.");
} else {
System.out.println("The value is 0.");
Java Switch Statements
Instead of writing many if..else statements, you can use
the switch statement.
The switch statement selects one of many code blocks to be executed:
Syntax
switch(expression) {
case x:
// code block
break;
case y:
// code block
break;
default:
// code block
The switch expression is evaluated once.
The value of the expression is compared with the values of each case.
If there is a match, the associated block of code is executed.
The break and default keywords are optional
Example
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int day = 4;
switch (day) {
case 1:
System.out.println("Monday");
break;
case 2:
System.out.println("Tuesday");
break;
case 3:
System.out.println("Wednesday");
break;
case 4:
System.out.println("Thursday");
break;
case 5:
System.out.println("Friday");
break;
case 6:
System.out.println("Saturday");
break;
case 7:
System.out.println("Sunday");
break;
}
The break Keyword
When Java reaches a break keyword, it breaks out of the switch block.
This will stop the execution of more code and case testing inside the block.
When a match is found, and the job is done, it's time for a break. There is no
need for more testing.
A break can save a lot of execution time because it "ignores" the execution of
all the rest of the code in the switch block.
The default Keyword
The default keyword specifies some code to run if there is no case match:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int day = 4;
switch (day) {
case 6:
System.out.println("Today is Saturday");
break;
case 7:
System.out.println("Today is Sunday");
break;
default:
System.out.println("Looking forward to the Weekend");
Java While Loop
Loops
Loops can execute a block of code as long as a specified condition is reached.
Loops are handy because they save time, reduce errors, and they make code
more readable.
Java While Loop
The while loop loops through a block of code as long as a specified condition
is true:
Syntax
while (condition) {
// code block to be executed
In the example below, the code in the loop will run, over and over again, as
long as a variable (i) is less than 5: public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int i = 0;
while (i < 5) {
System.out.println(i);
i++;
Note: Do not forget to increase the variable used in the condition ( i++),
otherwise the loop will never end!
Do you wonder why we used the letter i in the example above? It's
a counter variable and a common choice in simple loops because it's short,
traditional, and stands for 'index' or 'iterator'.
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int countdown = 3;
while (countdown > 0) {
System.out.println(countdown);
countdown--;
System.out.println("Happy New Year!!");
The Do/While Loop
The do/while loop is a variant of the while loop. This loop will execute the
code block once, before checking if the condition is true. Then it will repeat
the loop as long as the condition is true.
Syntax
do {
// code block to be executed
while (condition);
Example
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int i = 0;
do {
System.out.println(i);
i++;
}
while (i < 5);
Condition is False from the Start
In the example above, the condition i < 5 was true at the beginning, so the
loop executed multiple times. But what if the condition is false right from the
start?
In the example below, the variable i starts at 10, so the condition i < 5 is
false immediately - yet the do/while loop still runs once:
Example
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int i = 10;
do {
System.out.println("i is " + i);
i++;
} while (i < 5);
Example
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int countdown = 3;
while (countdown > 0) {
System.out.println(countdown);
countdown--;
System.out.println("Happy New Year!!");
Java For Loop
When you know exactly how many times you want to loop through a block of
code, use the for loop instead of a while loop:
Syntax
for (statement 1; statement 2; statement 3) {
// code block to be executed
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
System.out.println(i);
Print Even Numbers
This example prints even values between 0 and 10:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
for (int i = 0; i <= 10; i = i + 2) {
System.out.println(i);
Sum of Numbers
This example calculates the sum of numbers from 1 to 5:
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int sum = 0;
for (int i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {
sum = sum + i;
System.out.println("Sum is " + sum);
Nested Loops
It is also possible to place a loop inside another loop. This is called a nested
loop.
The "inner loop" will be executed one time for each iteration of the "outer
loop":
Example
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Outer loop.
for (int i = 1; i <= 2; i++) {
System.out.println("Outer: " + i); // Executes 2 times
// Inner loop
for (int j = 1; j <= 3; j++) {
System.out.println(" Inner: " + j); // Executes 6 times (2 * 3)
