Java syntax: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 01:06, 16 July 2023

Revision as of 20:15, 26 July 2023

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The '''syntax of Java''' is [[syntax|the set of rules]] defining how a [[Java (programming language)|Java]] program is written and interpreted.

The [[syntax]] is mostly derived from [[C (programming language)|C]] and [[C++]]. Unlike in C++, in Java there are no global functions or variables, but there are data members which are also regarded as [[global variable]]s. All code belongs to [[class (computer science)|classes]] and all values are [[object (computer science)|objects]]. The only exception is the [[primitive types]], which are not represented by a class instance for performance reasons (though can be automatically converted to objects and vice versa via [[#Boxing and unboxing|autoboxing]]). Some features like [[operator overloading]] or [[unsigned integer]] types are omitted to simplify the language and to avoid possible programming mistakes.

The Java syntax has been gradually extended in the course of numerous major [[JDK]] [[Java version history|releases]], and now supports capabilities such as [[generic programming]] and [[function literals]] (called lambda expressions in Java). Since 2017, a new JDK version is released twice a year, with each release bringing incremental improvements to the language.