Basic Terms in Java

Below are some critical terms necessary to understand Java Programming Language. Make sure you go through all of them..

Variable :The primary way programming languages store state.

Method:A way of doing something: A programmer-defined expression. Takes inputs, does actions, and then returns outputs.

Type + Name:The general way of declaring something in Java.

Class:A blueprint for a type of object; a user-defined type of object. In a car metaphor, a engineers' blueprints and designs for a car.

Instance:A member of a class; an object. In a car metaphor, a physical, drive-able car, which may differ in state and behavior from other cars.

Constructor:A special kind of method that initializes a newly created object. Its return type and name are combined, and must be the name of the class in which this special method is declared.

Object-Oriented Paradigm:

The programming paradigm that holds that "computers can model any relevant task as interactions among a system of objects"

Object:

Something that has state and behavior. Interchangeable with "instance of a class.

Reference:The location of an object in memory; the way Java "stores" large objects in small variables

Primitive Type:The eight, frequently used types in Java that, for optimization purposes, are NOT objects. These are the only types that are lower case.(byte,short,int,long,float,double,boolean,char)

Declaration:The process of telling the compiler that the programmer is defining something new.

Compiler

The "middle-man" between programmer and computer that converts high-level, human-readable code into machine code.