Section 2.1 Introduction
This chapter assumes that you are already familiar with a high level programming language. This includes familiarity with basic programming concepts like variables, loops, conditional statements, and functions. While this text will review certain concepts briefly as needed, it is designed to build upon that prior knowledge, allowing us to focus on more advanced topics and techniques. If you are new to programming, consider reviewing introductory resources to establish a solid foundation before diving into this material.
We will begin by looking at a very simple Java program, just to see what the language looks like and how we get a program to run. Next, we will look at the main constructs that are common to most programming languages:
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Data types
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Reading user input
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Displaying text output
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Expressions and Statements
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Conditionals
Once we have a solid understanding of Java fundamentals, we can dive deeper into the features that make Java both unique and powerful. This includes exploring its strong support for object-oriented programming (OOP), which is a cornerstone of modern software development. We will examine the four main principles of OOP—encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism, and abstraction—and how they allow us to design robust, modular, and reusable code.
Through hands-on examples, we will learn how to create and work with classes and objects, the building blocks of Java programs. We’ll also explore more advanced features, such as interfaces, abstract classes, and the use of packages to organize code efficiently. As we progress, we will see how Java’s OOP features enable us to solve complex problems by modeling real-world systems and ensuring that our code is both flexible and maintainable.
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