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20 CHAPTER 2. BASICS<br />
memory that holds a value that a program can use and change as it executes.<br />
primitive types<br />
The <strong>Java</strong> programming language requires us to declare the type of data to be<br />
associated <strong>with</strong> a variable. <strong>Java</strong> makes a distinction between primitive data<br />
types and other data types defined via classes. In the <strong>Java</strong> class libraries<br />
there are many pre-defined classes, for example: String and System. The<br />
<strong>Java</strong> language contains eight primitive data types: byte, short, int, long,<br />
float, double, char and boolean:<br />
• byte, short, int, andlong are used for cases where the data is to be<br />
treated as whole numbers (numbers <strong>with</strong>out a fractional component).<br />
For example, 33, 498, -100 are whole numbers. These data types differ<br />
<strong>with</strong> regards to the magnitude of number they can represent.<br />
• float and double are used for cases where the data is numeric and<br />
where one expects values to have a fractional component such as:<br />
101.5, 26.334, -55.5. When written we show them <strong>with</strong> a decimal<br />
point. Again, these two types differ <strong>with</strong> regards to size in terms of<br />
the number of significant digits and in the magnitude of the number<br />
they can represent.<br />
• char is used when there are individual characters to be handled. Examples<br />
of individual characters are ’a’, ’b’, ’q’, ’$’. Values are<br />
enclosed in single quotes.<br />
• boolean is used when the situation requires one to work <strong>with</strong> logical<br />
values of true and false. In a <strong>Java</strong> program these values are written<br />
just as we do in English: true, false.<br />
A <strong>Java</strong> programmer declares a variable in a declaration statement, and then<br />
uses the variable name later in a program to assign a value, to alter the<br />
current value, and to reference the value currently stored. Two example<br />
programs follow; in Listing 2.1 the program defines and uses a variable, and<br />
in Listing 2.2 the program alters the value stored in a variable.<br />
In Listing 2.1 note the following:<br />
• In line 10 an int variable named i is declared,<br />
• In line 11 the value 14 is assigned to i (that is, the value 14 is stored<br />
in the memory location reserved for i),<br />
• Line 12 displays the value of i