Data Types Reference Types

Data Types Reference Types Objective To understand what reference types are The need to study reference types To understand Java standard packages To differentiate between Java defined types and user defined types To have a deeper understanding of the String class To get acquainted with the Math class To get acquainted with the Wrapper classes

Data Types Reference Types Reference types - any data type that is composed of primitive data types as its based type. In other words, it is an aggregate of primitive types. Reference types in Java are: The array data structure, and The class data type. In this section we will briefly discuss the concept of array. We will discuss the class type to the extent of the fundamental classes of Java.

Reference Types - Array Array An array is a set of storage locations set aside to hold one type of data. It is simply a means where by we can store values of the same type by using one generic name. The list of items are stored linearly Hence the items can be accessed by their relative position in the list. Arrays are real objects in Java. Storage space is allocated for an array during execution time. The concept will be discussed fully in future lesson

Reference Types - Array Data arr 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 indeces This is the most we will say about arrays for now

Reference Types - Class The concept of class as you know is the fundamental construct upon which Java is built. A class serves as a blueprint or a template for a certain type of object. All data types other than the primitive type or the array must be addressed in terms of class. This is evident in the way that we have been using class. For instance, going back to the class Book. In order to use this class we had to declare variables of the type: That is, Book b1; for instance

Reference Types - Standard Packages Java has a vast and rich collection of classes. These classes are stored in respective directories and subdirectories. Each directory or subdirectory is called, a package. Programmers can use these classes in their specific applications. There are several packages in Java. Two of the most important packages in the language are java and javax.

Java Standard Packages java and javax packages, along with their sub-packages. Some of the subpackages also contain sub-packages of their own The sub-package lang is a special package is for general programming The sub-package javax is designed for Graphical User Interface programming (GUI)

Java Standard Package- lang The java.lang package contains classes that are fundamental to Java. All of the classes in this package are available in your program automatically. That is, as soon as the Java compiler is loaded, all of these classes are loaded into every Java source file.

Java Standard Package- lang

Java Standard Package- lang Chief among these fundamental classes are the following: Object String Math System The wrapper classes - for each primitive type there is a corresponding class. Byte Short Integer Long Character Float Double Boolean Void

The class Object See the Application Programmers Interface (API) Class String Math Wrapper classes - Byte, Short, Integer, Long, Character, Float, Double, Boolean, and Void.

Input and Output Operations There are three other important operations that are performed on data. Input operations Output operations, and Formatting operations. We have been generating outputs already but it was not dealt with formally. Input Operations - There are several ways to input data into a program: Java Input/Output classes The DOS prompt The Scanner Class JOptionPane Class

JOptionPane Input/Output Dialog Boxes Capabilities 1. Create input dialog boxes 2. Create output windows

JOptionPane Input Dialog Boxes There are four kinds of standard dialogs: 1. Message dialog shows a message and waits for the user to click OK. 2. Confirmation dialog shows a question and ask for confirmation such as OK or Cancel. 3. Option dialog shows a question and gets the user s response from a set of options. 4. Input dialog shows a question and gets the user s input from a text field, a combo box, or list.

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JOptionPane Input Dialog You must import the class JOptionPane import javax.swing.joptionpane; The class contains: Several constructors, and Several class methods that deals with dialog boxes. The general construct of these methods is as follows: showxxxxdialog( parameter_list) Where XXXX is any of the four dialog box types. We will only be concerned with the input dialog type.

Using JOptionPane for Input 1. import javax.swing.joptionpane; 2. class optionpane 3. { 4. public static void main(string[] arg) 5. { 6. String str = JOptionPane.showInputDialog( "Read data ); 7. } 8. }

Using JOptionPane for Input Type the value 123.45 This value is returned as a String String str = JOptionPane.showInputDialog( "Read data ); That is, str = 123.45

Using the Wrapper class - Double Convert the string value to a double by using the parsedouble method 1. import javax.swing.joptionpane; 2. class convert_string 3. { 4. public static void main(string[] arg) 5. { 6. String str = JOptionPane.showInputDialog("Read data"); 7. double x = Double.parseDouble(str); 8. } 9. }

Build a Single Class for Input 1. import javax.swing.joptionpane; 2. class GetData 3. { 4. static String str; 5. static double getdouble(string s) 6. { 7. str = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(s); 8. return Double.parseDouble(str); 9. } 10. static int getint(string s) 11. { 12. str = JOptionPane.showInputDialog(s); 13. return Integer.parseInt(str); 14. } 15. static String getword(string s) 16. { 17. return JOptionPane.showInputDialog(s); 18. } 19. }

Build a Single Class for Input (Another view) 1. import javax.swing.joptionpane; 2. class GetData 3. { 4. static double getdouble(string s) 5. { 6. return Double.parseDouble( getword(s) ); 7. } 8. static char getchar(string s) 9. { 10. String str = getword(s); 11. return str.charat(0); 12. } 13. static int getint(string s) 14. { 15. return Integer.parseInt(getWord(s)); 16. } 17. static String getword(string s) 18. { 19. return JOptionPane.showInputDialog(s); 20. } 21. }

Using the GetData Class 1. class TestGetData 2. { 3. public static void main(string[] arg) 4. { 5. int x = GetData.getInt("Type an integer value"); 6. double y = GetData.getDouble("Type a double value"); 7. String name = GetData.getWord("Enter a Name"); 8. System.out.println("Your name is: " + name + "\nyour age is: " 9. + x + "\nyou have $" + y); 10. } 11. }

yy Dialog box when Line 5 is executed. Dialog box when Line 6 is executed. Dialog box when Line 7 is executed.

The output The output