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Java
Stanton Vincent
CSC 415: Programming Languages
Dr. Lyle
October 17, 2014
History of Java
Development
In the early 1990’s, grunge rock was in its prime and childrens’ cartoons were
reaching their prime as well. In coincidence with these events is the development of a
programming language called Java. James Gosling at Sun had the idea of creating a more
readable, universal language than C++, so he set out to create Java. At first, the target
audience for Java was consumer electronics, but quickly spread to having the title of
being the Universal Programming Language, which would eventually lose momentum.
(Naughton)
Java is heavily influenced by C++, and has grown exponentially over the years.
Countless updates have given Java more flexibility and power. To the present, 2014,
Java SE 8 has been released. Previous updates have expanded the class library from a
few hundred classes to over 3,000 and added many extensions such as for-each loops and
lambda expressions. (Naughton) Java has expanded into one of the most powerful
programming languages to ever exist and is still being developed in order to expand its
capabilities and further its power.
Results
Java wasn’t very popular when it was released in 1991, but has gained
considerable momentum through the years. The simplicity, extensibility and the minor
difficulty of learning Java has gained it the status of being one of the first program
languages programmers learn in their journey. In addition, the power of Java has gained
it the status of being one of the most widely used programming languages of today.
Java
(Chan) It powers the operating system of the Playstation 3 and is used for many
programming feats, some of which are very large and complicated.
Java Design, Syntax and Symantics
Names, Bindings, and Scopes
Java offers a vast and fairly simple way for naming variables. Names in Java
have no length limit, so they can be however long the user wishes. They are casesensitive, which means PEAR and pear are two different variables. In addition, Java uses
keywords, like real, int, byte, new, and this. The user also has the option to use imported
Java names to assist them in naming. (Arnold and Gosling) For example,
private ClassName obj1 = null;
private com.yourpackage.second.ClassName obj2 = null;
is a basic implementation of importing Java names. (Sebesta)
As for bindings in Java, static and dynamic bindings are both possible. If a
variable needs to be static, the user must explicitly declare the variable as static. For
example:
static int i = 0;
All other variables are stack-dynamic variables, unless they are objects, in which case
they are explicit heap-dynamic variables. (Liang)
Java only utilizes static scoped variables throughout its programming syntax.
Instance variables scope the entire class definition. Parameter variables scope only the
method body in which they were used. In addition, local variables scope from the point
of declaration to the end of the method body. (Liang)
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Data Types
Java offers a wide and expansive option for data types, some of which are
numeric, character string, array and list. (Java Basic Data Types) Pertaining to the
primitive types, it offers integer, Boolean and character types. Byte, short, int, and long
fall under the Integer subclass of the numeric type. Float and double are the only options
for floating-point types. As for the Boolean types, there are, of course, only true and
false. True returns a value of 1 and false returns a value of 0. The only type under the
character type is char, which is used to specify a single character, rather than a string.
(Liang)
Continuing, the character string types allow users to create and use strings. It
offers the String class and the StringBuffer class, which uses built in functions to append
and manipulate strings, rather than use overloaded operators which the String class uses.
Java offers the option of static length to the length of strings. (Sebesta)
With the introduction of Java 5.0, enumeration types were added. To specify an
enumeration type in Java, the keyword enum is used. There are some restrictions to the
enumeration type in Java. The user cannot perform any arithmetic operations on
enumeration types and no enumeration variable can be assigned a value outside its
defined range. (Sebesta and Watt)
One of the most powerful and expansive options in Java that outdoes most other
programming languages is the powerful array. The following statements show how to
declare, create and initialize arrays in Java:
Declare: data_type[] array_name
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Example: int[] fibonnaci
Create: array_name = new data_type[index]
Example: fibonnaci = new int[10]
Initialize: data_type[] array_name = {Assign elements here}
Example: int[] fibonnaci = {0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34}
Java offers many types of bindings for arrays. Such are static, fixed stack-dynamic, stackdynamic, fixed heap-dynamic and the ArrayList class. In order to perform operations on
arrays, the user must import the java.util.Arrays class. Such operations that can be
executed on arrays are searching an array, comparing two arrays, filling an array and
sorting an array. One standout feature of Java arrays that makes it stand out from most
programming languages is its compatibility with multidimensional arrays. In Java, the
user can have a jagged array and with as many dimensions as they desire. In addition,
Java offers the slice() method to return a certain portion, or “slice”, of an array to be
analyzed and manipulated. Associative arrays are also supported by standard class
libraries in Java. (Sebesta and Watt)
Record types are supported by different programming languages and Java is no
exception. Records are defined as data classes in Java. Thus, nested records are defined
as nested subclasses. Data members of such classes serve as record fields. (Sebesta)
Java offers many options for the lesser defined data types, such as Tuple and List.
The Tuple data type is supported by Java. As for the List data type, the classes of List
and ArrayList must be utilized. These classes offer great flexibility for operations and
manipulations on lists in Java. (Liang)
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Type checking is another important feature of programming languages in which
Java has its own set of features and characteristics like none other. Java uses coercion for
type checking and it is strongly typed. This means that types can be explicitly cast,
which could result in a type error. There are no implicit ways in which type errors can go
undetected in strongly typed languages. As for type equivalence, object compatibility
and relationship to the inheritance hierarchy are examined during type checking.
Expressions and Assignment Statements
In addition to the extensive amounts of data types, Java also offers a very diverse
and complex amount of expressions and assignment statements. The operator evaluation
order is just exactly like mathematics, Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally, or Parentheses
Exponents Multiplication Division Addition Subtraction. The associativity of Java is
from left to right. Java does offer a simplified conditional expression, which has the form
of the following:
Expression_1 ? Expression_2 : Expression_3
Example: I == 4 ? true: false;
What the preceding statement does is determine if Expression_1 is true, then, if it is, it
returns Expression_2. If Expression_1 is false, then it returns Expression_3.
Java does support overloaded operators, but this topic will be discussed more
extensively later. The + operator in Java can be used for addition or to concatenate
strings. For example,
int i = 4;
System.out.print(“2 + 2 = “ + i);
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Here, the + operator is used both in the message and for concatenation.
Type conversions are fairly trivial in Java. For coercion in expressions, Java
allows widening conversion of variables and mixed-mode expressions. In addition, it
also allows explicit type conversions and even casts. However, there can be errors that
arise in certain expressions. These include overflow, underflow and exceptions.
Exceptions are discussed later on, but an example of this here would be division by zero.
Just like C++, Java offers nearly the same kinds and amounts of relational and
Boolean expressions as C++. There are the typical <, <=, >, >=, ==, and != relational
expressions and || and && Boolean expressions. Short-circuit evaluation is also
supported within Java. Another similarity Java has with C++ is the amount of compound
assignment operators. These include +=, -=, *=, /=, %= and so on. There are also the
unary assignment operators of ++ and --. (Incremental Java)
Assignment as an expression is allowed in Java, but is not used frequently and
only allows Boolean expressions in any conditional statement. As for multiple
assignments, Java does not directly support it like Perl does, but the user can assign
values to multiple variables at one time. For example,
int a=b=c=5;
assigns the value of 5 to a, b, and c all at the same time. Finally, mixed-mode
assignments are allowed in Java, but only in a certain context. The coercion usually has
to be widening in order for it to work. Only very limited narrowing conversions will
work with mixed-mode assignments.
Statement Level Control Structures
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In addition to the vast amounts of data types and expression and assignment
statements, Java also offers a vast amount of statement-level control structures. Like
C++, Java uses many control expressions, multiple-selection statements and iterative
statements. Like many other programming languages, Java utilizes the if…else
statement. However, it does not use a then keyword like some other languages. Also,
there is a switch {case; case; default;} option for a multiple-selection statement and also
an if…else if…else if… option as well.
As for iterative statements, the for loop is the most famous. The following is how
to use a for loop correctly in Java:
for(data_type var_name = value; Boolean expression; arithmetic){…}
Example: for(int i = 0; i < 4; i++){…}
Extending off of the for loop, there is another kind of for loop in Java, but it is known as
the for-each loop. This for loop iterates per element in the variable specified. An
example follows:
for(data_type var_name : variable){…}
Example: for(String item : itemList){…}
This example iterates through all of the items in the itemList, then it exits the loop. In
addition, there are while loops and do-while loops options for iterative statements as well.
If the user wanted to ever exit a loop, Java comes with loop control mechanisms.
The break keyword exits the loop and the continue keyword will continue the loop. All
of these selection statements and iterative statements can be nested within each other.
Subprograms
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The subprogram capabilities of Java give it some of the greatest power any
programming language has ever seen. Unlike C++, the subprogram does not need to be
declared in the header of the class. There are two kinds of subprograms in Java –
functions and procedures. Functions return a value, while procedures do not. The
following is an example of how subprograms are written in Java:
(Optional: public/private | static) return_type subprogram_name(formal parameters(if
any)) {…Body}
Example: double Average(int[] array){…Body…}
Local variables of subprograms are stack-dynamic variables, however they can be
static local variables if the user uses the keyword static. Nested subprograms are not
directly supported by Java, but there are abstract ways to do so. One way is to use
lambda expressions, which were introduced in Java 8. Another way is a workaround that
consists of an anonymous class containing a single method. The final way is to use a
named class declared as local to a method that may also be used. (Java (Software
Platform))
Parameter passing methods are very important concepts to any programming
language. Java offers pass-by-value, pass-by-name, which was introduced in Java 5.0,
and pass-by-reference parameter passing methods. Pass-by-value parameters are scalar
values only. They can be copied into stack locations and the stack then serves as storage
for the formal parameters. As for the pass-by-reference parameters, they are object
parameters, which can contain a scalar. At compile time, the parameters are type
checked. Multidimensional arrays can be passed as parameters since they are considered
objects. This gives great flexibility and power to the subprograms of Java. (Sintes)
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Subprograms can be passed as parameters for other subprograms. For example:
return_type <Object_Type> parameter_name;
ArrayList <List> numberList;
There are no pointers in Java, so users cannot call subprograms indirectly. There are
overloaded subprograms in Java. They are mixed-mode expressions and most of them
are constructors. To determine which subprogram to use, the types and numbers of
parameters determine so.
With the introduction of Java 5.0, generic subprograms were added to the arsenal
of Java. They are also known as parametric polymorphisms. The following is an
example of a generic subprogram in Java:
public static <T> T doIt (T[] list){…}
Java offers bounds as to what may be passed to these subprograms. In the preceding
example, the bound is an array, since the only thing that may be passed to it is an array.
Java also supports wildcard types, which can be used for any collection type of any class
component. An example of this is as follows:
void printCollection(Collection<?> c) {…}
Closures and coroutines are not fully supported by Java. Closures can be
simulated using anonymous inner class, but there is no direct way for executing closures.
As for coroutines, they were modified by the Java Virtual Machine and Bytecode, and
can be done abstractly through thread abstractions. (Coroutine)
As for calling subprograms, Java offers a very simple method for doing just that.
To call a subprogram in Java, the user simply gives the function name and its applicable
parameters. For example:
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double average = Average(10, 20);
double Average(int i, int j)
{
int sum = i + j;
double avg = sum/2.0;
return avg;
}
This example passes two integers and finds the average of the two. Users may assign a
subprogram value to a variable if the subprogram is a function, since functions return
values. However, it is not necessary to assign the value of a function to a variable. The
user can simply call the function and the function will just return the value. As for
methods, the user has to just call the method. Only void functions (methods) don’t return
values. For example:
drawTriangle();
There is a . notation for calling subprograms. If the user wants to execute a method on a
certain object, then the user specifies the name of the object and the name of the method,
putting a . between the object and method name. The object type and the method return
type have to match up, otherwise there will be an error. For example:
triangle.drawTriangle();
As for initializing objects, the user may declare the variable, then initialize it by calling a
constructor. For example:
Triangle triangle = new Triangle();
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The new keyword always creates a new instance of an object and always allocates heap
memory.
Abstract Data Types and Encapsulation Constructs
Java’s support for abstract data types is very similar to that of C++, but with a few
differences. All objects are allocated from the heap and accessed through reference
variables in Java. Methods must be defined completely in a class, and a method body
must appear with its corresponding header, unless it is an interface. Thus, abstract data
types are declared and defined in a single syntactic unit. The compiler can inline any
method that is not overridden and definitions may be hidden from clients by declaring
them as private. (Sebesta)
Rather than having private and public classes in class definitions, access modifiers
can be attached to a method and variable definitions. If an instance variable or method
does not have an access modifier, it has package access. (Sebesta) One major difference
from C++ is Java does not utilize destructors since it has an implicit garbage collection.
In addition, as previously mentioned, Java does support parameterized abstract
data types. There were some setbacks to this before Java 5.0. However, with the
introduction of generic classes and subclasses in Java 5.0, these setbacks were abolished.
Java offers great flexibility with passing abstract data types as parameters to
subprograms. (Sebesta)
As for encapsulation constructs, Java has a file structure that is similar to C#’s
assembly called a Java Archive, or JAR. It is also used for deployment of Java software
systems. JARs are built with the Java utility jar, rather than a compiler. (Sebesta)
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Java includes a naming encapsulation construct called the package. Packages can
have more than one type, class or interface, and the types in a package are partial friends
of one another. Partial means that the entities defined in a type in a package that either
are public or protected or have no access specifier are visible to all other types in the
package. (Sebesta)
Entities without access modifiers are said to have package scope, because they are
visible throughout the package. Java has no need for explicit friend declarations, so it
does not contain the friend functions and friend classes of C++.
A package declaration must appear on the first line of the file. The following is
an example of how to use the package keyword correctly: (Sebesta)
package stkpkg;
Users can reference the types defined in the package by using . notation. For
instance:
stkpkg.myStack
references the type myStack in stkpkg. Of course, clients may reference types of types of
types and so on. However, this can become cumbersome, so Java utilizes an import
declaration, which allows shorter references and imports the entire file if specified by an
asterisk. The following example imports all types of stkpkg: (Sebesta)
import stkpkg.*;
Support for Object-Oriented Programming
Since Java is an object-oriented programming language, it has great flexibility for
object-oriented programming. All Java classes must be subclasses of the root class,
Object, or some class that is descendant of Object. All subclasses must have parent
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classes. While Java does have a garbage collector, it may be beneficial to utilize the
finalize keyword, which acts as a destructor. This may be beneficial because the garbage
collector of Java does not reclaim some objects, like ones that access some resource other
than the heap memory. (Sebesta)
A method can be declared as final in Java, which gives it the ability that it cannot
be overridden by any descendant class. When final is used with a class, it means that the
class cannot be subclassed. In addition, Java offers the @Override annotation to inform
the compiler to check and determine if the following method overrides a method in the
ancestor class. If it does not, then the compiler issues an error. (Sebesta)
Java does require the parent class constructor be called before the subclass
destructor is called. The keyword super can reference the parent class, instead of the
actual name of the parent class. For instance:
super(9,true);
If no explicit call is made, then the compiler calls the zero-parameter constructor in the
parent class. Also, Java does not support private and protected derivations for classes.
Single inheritance is the only kind supported by Java. However, interfaces
provide partial support for multiple inheritance. An interface definition is similar to a
class definition, except that it can contain only named constants and method declarations.
It cannot contain constructors or nonabstract methods. It defines only the specification of
a class. A class does not inherit an interface; it implements it. In fact, a class can
implement as many interfaces as it wants, just as long as it implements all of the methods
that appear in the interface definition. Interfaces can be used to portray multiple
inheritance, by being implemented by a subclass. In addition, they offer a different kind
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of polymorphism, since they are considered types. A method can specify an interface as
a parameter and the method can accept any actual parameter of any class that implements
it. A nonparameter variable can also be declared to be of the type of an interface.
(Sebesta)
Interfaces avoid some of the problems brought up by multiple inheritance, like
when a class is derived from two parent classes and both define a public method with the
same name and protocol. However, interfaces do not provide code reuse. One way
around this is to replace one interface with an abstract class that which includes code that
can be inherited. Another problem with interfaces is when a class attempts to implement
two interfaces and both define methods that have the same name and protocol.
As stated in the previous paragraph, Java supports abstract classes. The abstract
methods of an abstract class are represented as just the method’s header. The keyword
abstract must be used to define an abstract class and its methods. Abstract classes cannot
be instantiated. (Liang)
As for dynamic binding, all method calls are dynamically bound unless the called
method has been defined as final, in which case it cannot be overridden and all bindings
are static. Static binding is also used if the method is static or private, both of which
disallow overriding. (Sebesta)
Nested classes have several varieties in Java, all of which are hidden from all
classes in their package, except the nesting class. Nonstatic classes are called inner
classes and they have access to all of the members of the nesting class. Static nesting
classes do not have this. The members of the inner class are accessible in the outer class.
However, these references must include the variable that references the inner class object.
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An instance of a nested class can only exist within an instance of its nesting class, and
nesting classes can also be anonymous. A local nested class is defined in a method of its
nesting class. The scope of a local nested class is always their nesting class, and a
method belonging to one can access the variables defined in its nesting class and the final
variables defined in the method in which the local nested class is defined. (Sebesta)
Concurrency
Concurrent units in Java are methods named run, whose code can be in concurrent
execution with other such methods and with the main method. The process in which the
run methods execute is called a thread. They are lightweight tasks, which means they all
run in the same address space. The easiest way to implement and define a class with a
run method is to define a subclass that inherits from its natural parent and implements the
Runnable interface. Runnable provides the run method, so any class that implements
Runnable must define run. An object of the class that implements Runnable is passed to
the Thread constructor. Java run methods are all actors and the join method, along with
shared data, allows them to communicate with each other. (Sebesta)
Thread is the only class available for creating concurrent Java programs. Thread
includes five constructors, and numerous methods and constants, such as run and start.
All Java application programs run in threads. The yield method is a request from the
running thread to surrender the processor voluntarily. The sleep method has a single
parameter, which is an integer for number of milliseconds, determines how long the
thread will be blocked. The join method is used to force a method to delay its execution
until the run method of another thread has completed its execution. Most threads end
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when they reach the end of the code, but the interrupt keyword can be used to stop a
thread. (Sebesta)
The priorities of all threads need not be the same in Java. The priority of a thread
can be changed with the setPriority method. The priority can be obtained by using the
getPriority method.
Pertaining to semaphores, the java.util.concurrent.Semaphore package defines the
Semaphore class, which implement counting semaphores and have the acquire and
release methods. The Semaphore constructor has one parameter, which specifies the
semaphore’s counter. This package also includes the deposit and fetch operations, which
act as wait and release methods. (Liang)(Sebesta)
Java methods can be specified to be synchronized. These methods can be
considered separate threads. An unsynchronized method can act on an object anytime,
but synchronized methods cannot. They are locked until they are released by the object
executing them.
Cooperation synchronization in Java is implemented with the wait, notify and
notifyAll methods, all of which are defined in Object. notifyAll is usually used over the
notify method because it awakens all of the threads on the object’s wait list by putting
them in the task ready queue, rather than just a specific one.
The java.util.concurrent.atomic package defines classes that allow certain
nonblocking synchronized access to int, long and boolean primitive types, as well as
references and arrays. The advantage of nonblocking synchronization is efficiency,
because a nonblocking access that does not occur during contention will be no slower,
and usually faster than a synchronized one. Nonblocking access that occurs during
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contention will be faster than a synchronized one, because synchronized access will
require suspension and rescheduling of threads. (Liang)(Sebesta)
Java offers an alternative to the synchronized method in Java 5.0. It created an
explicit locked interface named Lock. It declares lock, unlock and the tryLock methods.
The predefined ReentrantLock class implements Lock. An alternative to using the
intrinsic condition queue in Java is to use the Condition interface, which provides the
await, signal, and signalAll methods. There can be any number of Condition objects with
just one Lock object. When using signal in Condition, it can be easier to understand and
more efficient since it results in fewer context switches. (Sebesta)
Exception Handling and Event Handling
Exceptions are quite simple in Java. The user may choose to throw an exception
by using the keyword throw. In addition, the user may develop a method that displays a
message of their choosing and then throw that method as an exception should something
go wrong in a program. (Liang)
Another facet of Java programming with respect to exception handling is the
try{…body…}catch(parameter){…body…} clause. In the body of the try clause, the
client puts the code that they want executed normally, while in the catch body, they put
the code necessary for the exception should it occur. The exception is placed in the
parameter for the catch part of the clause. Java introduces the finally clause within its
syntax. Regardless if an exception is thrown or not in a try clause, some code must be
executed, such as closing a file. This is where that code goes, in the finally clause. The
finally clause is optional. However, if the client wanted a try-finally clause, they may do
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so. A try clause with no exception handlers is perfectly legal in Java, as long as the
compound statement has a throw, break, continue or return statement. (Liang)
Assertions were added in Java 1.4. In order to use them, it is necessary to enable
them by running the program with the enableassertions (ea) flag. The assert statement is
used for defensive programming. A program may be written with many assert statements
just to make sure if the correct computations are being performed. They can also be used
for an aid in debugging, and can be disabled without removing them from a program.
The assert keyword can be used two ways: (Sebesta)
assert condition;
assert condition : expression;
Both continue the program if the condition is true. If the condition is false, then the first
example throws the AssertionError. The second example still throws the AssertionError,
except the expression is passed to the AssertionError constructor as a string and becomes
a debugging output.
Java comes with GUI (Graphics User Interface) components as well as Swing,
which was implemented in 1998 with Java 1.2. The GUI components of Java are many
and diverse. Such include JButton, JFrame, JTextField, JRadioButton, and JPanel.
These allow clients to create graphic interfaces with the Java language. (Liang)
Event handling is a very important concept of programming and Java, of course,
provides the appropriate syntax and tools to get the job done. Java has event listeners,
which execute when a certain event occurs, like a mouse clicking a certain button. Event
listeners are connected to event generators through event listener registration. (Sebesta)
Listener registration is done with a method of the class that implements the listener
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interface. (Sebesta) The appropriate listener interface must be implemented for certain
events. A failsafe way to make sure all event listener interfaces are imported is to just put
import java.awt.*; at the beginning of every event listener program. In order to add an
event listener to a button, text field, etc., the client must specify the name of the item
receiving the event listener, then add the type of listener using . notation. For example:
button1.addItemListener(this);
The event handler resembles a method and is included within the code. The parameter of
the event handler must be a type of event. For example:
public void itemStateChanged (ItemEvent e) {…Body…};
is the proper syntax. In the body of the event handler, the client specifies what is done
when that event happens. For example, when button1 is clicked, then the program stops
execution. Thus, the client programs that within the event handler. The event handler is
there just to show that the program supports event listening and handling. The events
themselves are programmed within the event handler. (Sebesta)
Other Issues
While some programming languages have some issues, such as expensive
compilers, Java does not really have any issues. It is a free programming language, with
many free IDEs to utilize it with. There are not any known bugs in the language and the
compiler is free, which usually comes with the language.
Evaluation
Readability
The overall simplicity of Java is extremely simple. The language is definitely not
difficult to read, and flows quite nicely. Java does support feature multiplicity, but all are
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simplistic enough to understand by looking at them. The only operator that is overloaded
in Java is the + operator. The + operator can be used for addition and for adding on
variables and concatenating strings. While this may reduce readability, the overall
simplicity gains bonus points.
The orthogonality of Java is another facet of the language that adds to the
readability. Java is extremely simple and efficient, and also allows primitive constructs
to be transformed into data structures. For example, double[] arr, creates an array named
arr that has double values. The data types in Java are a little expansive, but are ultimately
used for certain scenarios, which programming languages should offer. This does
decrease the readability, but does increase the number of tools at the clients disposal.
Java offers many, many options for keywords, and this ultimately affects the
readability of Java the most. The client has many options for which keywords to use
where, and this will also have an effect on the writability of Java too. However, on a
positive note, the form and meaning of statement design in Java is straightforward. The
only setback is the use of keywords, since there are so many. Because of the vast
amounts of keywords, Java’s readability is hindered in the sense that there are many
keywords to learn and memorize.
Writability
Since Java is an extremely simple and orthogonal language, the writability of it is
fairly great. Exception handling and the access of creating data structures with such ease
certainly does added credibility that Java is an extremely well-writable language. The
support for abstraction in Java both helps and hinders it. The readability of abstract types
in Java is fairly complicated, but the writablity gains from it. Abstraction , such as trees
and graphs, allows Java to handle certain events that no other programming language
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may handle, but the readability is hindered from it. Thus, it is both hindered and helped
from it.
Expressivity is another facet of determining writability. Java offers very simple
methods for expressivity and the readability of them is quite nice as well. Java offers the
unary assignment operators, which increase the writability of Java. For example, it is
much easier for a client to write a++;, rather than writing a = a + 1;. Not much
readability is lost here either.
Reliability
The motto for Java when it was first brought to fruition was “Write Once, Run
Anywhere”. Thus, the reliability of Java is extremely exponential in value. Java is one
of the most reliable programming languages to date, because the client can write the code
once and it will run anywhere in the world. In addition, the type checking at compile
time is extremely desirable. This prevents the code from being run with errors in it,
which some modern programming languages do not come with. These errors are
detected early, which, in turn, requires less cost and time to fix them.
Since Java supports vast amounts of exception handling, this adds to its reliability
immensely. The ability for a program to detect a run-time error, take corrective
measures, then continuing its natural programming adds great depth to reliability, and
Java executes this beautifully.
Finally, readability and writability also affect the reliability of a programming
language. Since Java is extremely writable and very much readable, it results in being a
very reliable programming language. Programs that are difficult to read are difficult to
write and/or modify. Thus, Java’s readability and writability add to its reliability.
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Cost
The cost of Java is almost as admirable as its reliability. Java is a really cheap
language to obtain, learn and implement. The cost for training people in Java is minute,
in fact, it can be rounded to the cost of a textbook introducing people to Java. That is
how simple and easy Java is. Writing, compiling, and executing Java code is also
inexpensive, since Java is easily read, written and reliable. The compilers for Java are
very reliable and quick, so hardly any cost is expended there and as to executing code.
One can optimize code to shorten compile time, but this is unnecessary for small
programs.
Since Java is extremely reliable, the cost for it diminishes rapidly. Java does
requires updates every now and then, usually within a year to two, but these updates cost
nothing money-wise. The only thing that costs for the update is memory on the clients
CPU, but this is hardly a concern. Portability is Java’s middle name, and slogan as well.
The portability of Java gives it a much cheaper cost, and, ultimately, one of the cheapest
modern programming languages.
Overall
The success and aspiration of Java give it its power and flexibility that already
characterizes it. Java was just aimed at consumer electronics in the beginning, but now
powers many complex systems and complex programs. The influx of its success drafted
it as becoming the universal programming language. However, lately, this saying has lost
its momentum, because certain programming languages are used for certain scenarios.
Java is no different. Therefore, like the universe, Java is expanding as a language, but
remains just as dense.
22
Appendix
The following is a Java program that simulates a Hangman game.
import java.util.Scanner;
public class Assignment_9_1
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
char reply = 'y';
while(reply == 'y' || reply == 'Y')
{
String[] words = {"hitman", "final", "fantasy",
"cloud", "squall", "cyan"};
String word = words[(int) (Math.random() * 6)];
StringBuilder unknown = new StringBuilder();
for(int i = 0; i < word.length(); i++)
unknown.append("*");
Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
int j = 0;
while(j < 6)
{
if(unknown.toString().indexOf("*") == -1)
break;
System.out.printf("(Guess) Enter a letter in
word %s > ", unknown);
String in = input.next();
String guess = in.substring(0,1);
if(word.indexOf(guess) == -1)
{
System.out.printf("\t%s is not in the
word.\n", guess);
j++;
}
else
{
if(unknown.indexOf(guess) >= 0)
System.out.printf("\t%s is already in the
word.\n", guess);
else
{
for(int k = 0; k < word.length(); k++)
if(word.substring(k, k +
1).equalsIgnoreCase(guess))
unknown.replace(k, k + 1, guess);
}
Appendix
}
}
if( j == 6)
System.out.println("You Lost!");
System.out.printf("The word is %s. You missed %d
time(s).\n", word, j);
System.out.print("Do you want to guess another
word? Enter y or n > ");
reply = input.next().charAt(0);
}
}
}
ii
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