Programming Corner

I wrote this back in March, 2012 for my Object-Oriented Programming class at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth. I got this out of the "vault" because my son, who is in High School, has a friend who had a question on this very topic. I thought I had posted this to my blog and was shocked when I learned that was not the case. So, here we go... The equals method In my opinion, this is probably the most overlooked topic taught in Java. I have worked (and still work) with developers who seem to struggle with the concept of object comparison in Java. In Data Structures, you may have learned this concept. I will attempt to illustrate and simplify this concept using a "real life" example. For my illustration, I will use the famous Russian Dolls. A "Russian Doll," as it is typically known, is a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside the other. Basically, all dolls with the exception of the smallest one are hollowed so t...

We are up to 26 grayed out keywords! Considering that the two keywords with asterisks are not going to be covered, that's 54% keywords covered. With those keywords, you can write simple classes that can do all sorts of tasks. You can change the flow of operations by using flow-control keywords like if/else and loop operations using for, while, and do/while. You can also skip iterations while looping or terminate loops early by using continue and break respectively. This blog will illustrate a more effective way (in certain cases) to change flow of operations by using the keyword switch . I suggest that if you have not read any of the articles in Java Keyword series, go back read them before proceeding further. Also, go back and read the one about Data Types. All of these articles are from September 2018. That should help you find them quickly. You can also use the "search" option at the top of this page. Java keyword list abstract continue for ne...

This should be a short one. This blog deals with the use of only two keywords: break and continue . The Java keyword list has 24 keywords grayed out. That almost 50% of keywords covered by these series of articles. I suggest that if you have not read any of the articles in Java Keyword series, go back read them before proceeding further. Also, go back and read the one about Data Types. All of these articles are from September 2018. That should help you find them quickly. You can also use the "search" option at the top of this page. Java keyword list abstract continue for new switch assert default goto * package synchronized boolean do if private this break double implements protected throw byte else import public throws case enum instanceof return transient catch extends int short try char final interface static void class finally long strictfp volatile const * float native super while ...

EDITORIAL NOTE : This article was published briefly back in 2016 and quickly set back to draft because I wasn't happy with its contents. It is a shame that it was taking me three years to revisit this topic and work on a new and improved version. At least, I'm hoping it will be to the liking you the reader. Keep in mind that the opening paragraph will still read as if I just wrote it for my (former) students at Texas Wesleyan. I started working on lecture on the topic of Object-Oriented (OO) Programming by gathering some material, old and new, when I realized this might be good and simple post for my second attempt at blogging. To be completely honest, in the 8 hours I spent collecting information and preparing material for this week's lecture, I realized I still made some of the mistakes I am about to blog about. I am actually hoping I can write a series of postings regarding Object-Oriented Programming (OOP). But to do so, I must start from the very beginning. ...

The Java keyword list has 21 keywords grayed out. That puts us at 42% of keywords covered by these series of articles. Amazingly, that's almost enough knowledge to built simple applications. I suggest that if you have not read any of the articles in Java Keyword series, go back read them before proceeding further. Also, go back and read the one about Data Types. All of these articles are from September 2018. That should help you find them quickly. You can also use the "search" option at the top of this page. This article will cover the keywords used for looping: for , do , and while , as well as the keywords used to change the flow of loops: break and continue . Java keyword list abstract continue for new switch assert default goto * package synchronized boolean do if private this break double implements protected throw byte else import public throws case enum instanceof return transient catch extends int ...

The Java keyword list has 19 keywords grayed out. That puts us at 38% of keywords covered by these series of articles. Amazingly, that's almost sufficient to built simple applications. I suggest that if have not read any of the articles in Java Keyword series, you read them before proceeding further. Also, go back and read the one about Data Types. All of these articles are from September 2018. That should help you find them quickly. This article will only cover the if and else keywords. Java keyword list abstract continue for new switch assert default goto * package synchronized boolean do if private this break double implements protected throw byte else import public throws case enum instanceof return transient catch extends int short try char final interface static void class finally long strictfp volatile const * float native super while Keyword marked with an asterisk (*) are keywords...

This is not a break in my Java Keyword series. This is a continuation of the series that focuses in two things. The primary goal is to explain what an interface is (which differentiates them from classes) and go over a few examples that illustrate why interfaces are not just needed, but essential for robust and reusable software solutions. Because of new improvements introduced with Java 8, I will also introduced the concept of default methods; although will do so in a separate article... A second part to this one. I feel doing that is necessary for keeping the scope of this article as narrow as possible for the sake of simplicity and clarity. Interestingly enough, how to use interfaces will also be covered in a separate article where I will be discussing the Object-Oriented concept of inheritance. In the new article, I will be emphasizing in the keywords extends , implements , and super . The Java keyword list has 18 keywords grayed out. This article will only cover th...

This is not a break in my Java Keyword series. This is a continuation of the series that focuses in two things. The first part will focus on the anatomy of a class, which I have covered (somewhat) already. The second part focuses in the concept of a class constructor. Lastly, and as a related topic to that second part is how to invoke class constructors and explains what happens when this occurs (which I have somewhat covered already). View this article as a way to tie loose ends before moving on to other topics. In the end, I will wrap up the keywords class and the new operator. Java keyword list abstract continue for new switch assert default goto * package synchronized boolean do if private this break double implements protected throw byte else import public throws case enum instanceof return transient catch extends int short try char final interface static void class finally long strictfp volatile ...