Java Programming Language Terms

Every programming language has certain characteristics that make the language work. The statements below describe the structure of Java programs and also give you some definitions of terms. Key words are boldfaced.

Java programs are made up of classes.

Classes are made up of local variables and methods.

Methods are made up of statements containing executable code.

Statements are made up of one or more expressions.

Expressions can be made up of a combination of literals, variables, and operators.

An operator is a symbol used to control how the terms of an expression are to be evaluated or manipulated. There are arithmetic operators, relational operators, logical operators, bitwise operators, and assignment operators.

A variable is a named placeholder where a value is stored during program execution.

A literal is a value that can be assigned to a value data type variable.

An expression is a statement or part of a statement whos variable and literal terms resolve to a specific value.

A method contains executable Java code. Java programs run methods to "do their thing."

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