Java is one of the world’s most widely used programming languages for software development. Used to develop mobile and web apps, Internet of Things devices and cloud computing services – its popularity remains undiminished today! Boasting robust security and performance features it continues to lead the field for digital innovation and services delivery.
Step one to creating a program in Java is writing the code. While any text editor will suffice for this process, an integrated development environment (IDE) such as Eclipse may provide greater assistance by correcting syntax and autocomplete functions automatically. Furthermore, Eclipse saves time through automating manual compilation processes.
Start by opening the terminal and navigating to a directory where you want to write your program. Create a new file, and type:
While not particularly exciting, this program serves as an easy way to test out newly created files. Simply write some text and press CTRL+X to exit, save and close before pressing ENTER to confirm and close.
If your Linux distribution supports it, you can also run this code directly from the command line by typing javac and entering its full file name. This will compile and run it automatically for you, so that you can check if everything is working as expected.
Beginners to Java can find it intimidating, as there are numerous concepts that need to be understood before attempting to write their own code, such as classes and objects. Because Java is an object-oriented language, every piece of code must belong to a class; each class acts like a template that describes its function; likewise each class can contain subclasses whose attributes inherit from its superclass.
A typical Java method contains a parameter list. This begins with an @param tag followed by the parameter name and description – always nouns; additionally, Javadoc adds an additional dash between them both.
Java offers another essential concept known as polymorphism, in which one method can be invoked with multiple parameters – for instance, drawing images could be done via calling draw(*args).
No wonder many of the world’s leading brands and technology giants have chosen Java as their language of choice for developing apps and websites – it is highly powerful, secure, and flexible, helping improve scalability while decreasing overall cost of ownership. If you want to begin developing your own Java programs today then check out a free LearnQuest course now!