Java Midterm

Class

A blueprint for creating objects, providing initial state (data) and behavior (methods) for those objects.

Object

An instance of a class that has state and behavior defined by its class.

Encapsulation

The practice of restricting access to certain details of an object, exposing only what is necessary for an external interface.

Instance Data

Variables declared at the class level, unique to each object instance.

Constructor

A special method used for initializing new objects of a class, having the same name as the class.

Accessor Method

A method that returns the value of an instance variable.

Mutator Method

A method that changes the value of an instance variable.

Visibility Modifiers

Keywords in Java that control the accessibility of classes, methods, and variables (e.g., public, private, protected).

UML Class Diagram

A graphical representation of a class, its attributes, operations, and relationships with other classes.

ToString Method

A method that returns a string representation of an object, useful for debugging and logging.

Black Box

An encapsulated object that hides its internal workings, exposing only methods for interaction.

Local Data

Variables declared within a method, accessible only within that method.

Public Method

A method that can be called from outside the class, typically exposing the object's services.

Private Variable

A variable that can only be accessed within its own class, enforcing encapsulation.

MAX (in context of Die class)

A constant representing the maximum face value of a die, typically set to 6.

Support Method

A method that assists a service method but is not intended to be called by clients.

Expression

A combination of one or more operators and operands.

Arithmetic Operators

Operators used to perform arithmetic calculations: addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (*), division (/), and remainder (%)

Operator Precedence

A set of rules that determines the order in which operators are evaluated in expressions.

Remainder Operator (%)

Returns the remainder after dividing the first operand by the second.

Increment Operator (++)

An operator that increases the value of a variable by one.

Decrement Operator (--)

An operator that decreases the value of a variable by one.

Assignment Operator (=)

An operator that assigns the value of the right-hand side expression to the variable on the left-hand side.

Casting

The process of converting one data type into another by explicitly specifying the type.

Data Conversion

The process of converting data from one type to another, like treating an integer as a floating-point value.

Widening Conversion

A safe conversion from a smaller data type to a larger data type.

Narrowing Conversion

A conversion from a larger data type to a smaller data type, which can lead to loss of information.

Scanner Class

A class in Java that is used to read input values of various types from different sources.

nextLine() Method

A method of the Scanner class that reads an entire line of text until the end of the line.

Tokens

Elements separated by white space in the input, such as spaces, tabs, and new line characters.

Promotion

Automatic conversion of one data type to another during operations, usually from a smaller to a larger type.

Assignment Conversion

Occurs when a value of one type is assigned to a variable of a different type, allowing only widening conversions.

Character String

A sequence of characters treated as a single data type in programming.

String Literal

A fixed value represented by characters enclosed in double quotes.

println Method

A method used to print a string followed by a new line in Java.

print Method

A method used to print a string without advancing to a new line in Java.

String Concatenation Operator

The + operator used to combine two strings or a string with another data type.

Variable

A named storage location in memory that holds a value.

Assignment Statement

A statement that changes the value of a variable using the = operator.

Constant

An identifier whose value cannot be changed after its initial assignment.

Primitive Data Type

The basic data types provided by Java: byte, short, int, long, float, double, char, boolean.

Boolean Value

A value that represents either true or false.

Escape Sequences

Special character sequences in strings that represent characters that are not directly printable.

Character Set

An ordered list of characters, with each character assigned a unique number.

ASCII

A character encoding standard that uses a subset of Unicode, representing characters with 7 bits.

Unicode

A character encoding standard that defines characters for most of the world's writing systems using 16 bits.

do Statement

A statement that executes a block of code once and then repeats based on a condition.

do loop

A loop that ensures the body is executed at least once before the condition is checked.

for loop

A loop that consists of initialization, condition evaluation, and increment; executes a block of code multiple times.

syntax of a do statement

do { statement-list; } while (condition); The statement-list is executed once, then repeats until the condition is false.

conditional statement

A programming statement that executes based on a specified boolean condition.

initialization in a for loop

The part of a for loop where variables are initialized before execution.

increment in a for loop

The operation that updates the looping variable after each iteration.

infinite loop

A loop that never terminates because the condition for exiting is never met.

for-each loop

A loop designed to iterate over elements in a collection without explicitly managing the iterator.

while loop vs do loop

A while loop checks the condition before executing the body, while a do loop executes the body once before checking the condition.

Java Loops

Statements in Java that allow executing a block of code multiple times based on a condition.

Repetition Statements

Statements that execute a code block repeatedly; often referred to as loops.

While Loop

A loop that executes as long as the specified condition evaluates to true.

Boolean Expressions

Expressions that evaluate to either true or false, controlling the logic of loops and conditionals.

Sentinel Value

A special input value used to signify the end of data input.

Infinite Loop

A loop that does not terminate because the loop condition remains true indefinitely.

Input Validation

The process of ensuring that user input is correct and falls within acceptable limits.

Nested Loops

A loop inside another loop, where the inner loop executes completely for each iteration of the outer loop.

Running Sum

A cumulative total that updates as new values are inputted into a program.

Palindrome

A word, phrase, or sequence that reads the same backward as forward.

Comparing Data

The process of evaluating and relating information using boolean expressions in programming.

Floating Point Values

Numerical values with decimal points; comparisons using == can lead to inaccuracies.

Tolerance

A threshold value determining if two floating point numbers are considered equal based on their closeness.

Unicode

A standardized character encoding system that assigns numerical values to characters for consistent representation.

Lexicographic Ordering

Ordering based on the character set, not strictly alphabetical, where uppercase letters precede lowercase.

Equals Method

A method used in Java to compare two string objects for equality based on their character content.

Switch Statement

A control statement that chooses one of many options, based on the evaluation of an expression.

Break Statement

A command used in switch statements to terminate a case and prevent fall-through to subsequent cases.

ArrayList Class

A resizable array implementation in Java that allows storage and manipulation of lists of objects.

Generics

A feature in Java allowing the definition of classes, interfaces, and methods with placeholder types.

Conditional Operator

An operator that evaluates a boolean condition and returns one of two expressions based on that condition.

Wrapper Classes

Classes in Java that encapsulate primitive data types to be used as objects in data structures like ArrayList.

Conditional Statement

A statement that allows a choice between different actions based on a condition.

Boolean Expression

An expression that evaluates to either true or false, often using relational or equality operators.

if statement

A control structure that executes a statement if its boolean condition evaluates to true.

if-else Statement

A control structure that executes one statement if the condition is true, and another if it is false.

Logical Operators

Operators that combine boolean expressions: Logical AND (&&), Logical OR (||), and Logical NOT (!).

Block Statement

A group of statements enclosed in braces ({}) that can be used as a single statement in control structures.

Nested if Statement

An if statement that is placed inside another if statement, allowing for multiple levels of conditions.

Relational Operators

Operators used to compare two values, returning a boolean result:

Equality Operator

The operator (==) that checks if two values are equal.

Assignment Operator

The operator (=) that assigns a value to a variable.

Truth Table

A table that shows all possible true/false values for logical expressions.

Scanner

A class in Java used to read input from various sources, including user input.

NumberFormat

A class in Java that allows for formatting numbers, including currency.

MAX Constant

A constant used to represent the maximum boundary value in various conditions.

Random Class

A class in Java used to generate pseudo-random numbers.

Method Declaration

Specifies the code that will be executed when the method is invoked.

Method Header

Begins a method declaration and includes the method name, return type, and parameter list.

Return Type

Indicates the type of value that a method sends back to the calling location.

Void Return Type

Indicates that a method does not return a value.

Local Data

Variables declared inside a method, created each time the method is called and destroyed when finished.

Formal Parameters

Parameters specified in the method declaration that receive actual parameters during invocation.

Driver Program

A program that drives the use of other parts of a program, often used for testing.