AP Computer Science A - Unit 1: Primitive Types

Java

A high-level, class-based, object-oriented programming language known for its platform independence.

Pascal case

A naming convention where each word in a compound word is capitalized, and there are no spaces between words.

System.out.println

A Java statement used to print output to the console.

String literal

Specific text or numbers enclosed in double quotation marks.

Variable

A named storage location in a computer's memory used to hold data that can be manipulated during program execution.

Local variable

A variable declared inside a method and is only accessible within that method.

Camel case

A naming convention where the first letter of each word is capitalized except for the first word, and there are no spaces between words.

Primitive data types

Basic data types built into Java, including byte, short, int, long, float, double, boolean, and char.

Casting

Converting a value from one data type to another in Java.

Simple assignment operator

The equal sign (=) used to assign a value to a variable.

Arithmetic operators

Symbols such as +, -, *, / used to perform mathematical operations in Java.

Arithmetic Operator

Symbols used in programming to perform mathematical operations on variables or values, such as addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (*), division (/), and modulus (mod).

Modulus Operator

An operator (%) used to find the remainder of a division operation between two numbers.

Unary Operators

Operators that act on a single operand, such as increment (++) and decrement (--), providing shortcuts for operations like adding or subtracting 1.

Division (int vs

Different behaviors of division based on the data types involved, where int division truncates decimal points, while double division retains decimal precision.

Operator Precedence

The order in which operators are evaluated in an expression, with some operators having higher precedence than others, and the use of parentheses to control the order of operations.

Widening

The process of converting a smaller data type to a larger data type, such as converting an int to a double, to add precision. Widening can happen automatically.

Narrowing

The process of converting a larger data type to a smaller data type, such as converting a double to an int. Narrowing must be done manually to avoid data loss.

Overflow

Occurs when a value exceeds the maximum limit that a data type can hold, leading to unexpected behavior like rolling over to the minimum value or causing errors.

Casting

The explicit conversion of a data type to another data type, done manually to ensure data is handled correctly, especially when narrowing is involved.