Lecture 2: Variables and

Primitive Data Types

MIT-AITI Kenya 2005
 In this lecture, you will learn…
• What a variable is
– Types of variables
– Naming of variables
– Variable assignment
• What a primitive data type is
• Other data types (ex. String)

MIT-Africa Internet
Technology Initiative
©2005
 What is a Variable?
• In basic algebra, variables are symbols
that can represent values in formulas.

• For example the variable x in the

formula f(x)=x2+2 can represent any
number value.

• Similarly, variables in computer program

are symbols for arbitrary data.
MIT-Africa Internet
Technology Initiative
©2005
 A Variable Analogy
• Think of variables as an empty box that
you can put values in.
• We can label the box with a name like
“Box X” and re-use it many times.
• Can perform tasks on the box without
caring about what’s inside:
– “Move Box X to Shelf A”
– “Put item Z in box”
– “Open Box X”
– “Remove contents from Box X”
MIT-Africa Internet
Technology Initiative
©2005
 Variables Types in Java
• Variables in Java have a type.
• The type defines what kinds of values a
variable is allowed to store.
• Think of a variable’s type as the size or
shape of the empty box.
• The variable x in f(x)=x2+2 is implicitly a
number.
• If x is a symbol representing the word
“Fish”, the formula doesn’t make sense.
MIT-Africa Internet
Technology Initiative
©2005
 Java Types
• Integer Types:
– int: Most numbers you’ll deal with.
– long: Big integers; science, finance, computing.
– short: Small integers. Legacy. Not very useful.
– byte: Very small integers, useful for generic data.
• Floating Point (Decimal) Types:
– float: Single-precision decimal numbers
– double: Double-precision decimal numbers.
• Other Types:
– String: Text strings.
– boolean: True or false.
– char: Latin Alphanumeric Characters
MIT-Africa Internet
Technology Initiative
©2005
 Declaring Variables in Java
• Variables are created by declaring their
type and their name as follows:
– type name;
• Declaring an integer named “x” :
– int x;
• Declaring a string named “greeting”:
– String greeting;
• We have not assigned values to these
variables; just made empty boxes.
MIT-Africa Internet
Technology Initiative
©2005
 Assigning Values to Variables
• Assign values to variables using the syntax:
– name = value;
• For example:
– x = 100;
– greeting = “Jambo”;
• Illegal to assign a variable the wrong type:
– x = “Jambo”;
– x = 1.2;
– greeting = 123;
• Can declare and assign in one step:
– int x = 100;
– String greeting = “Jambo”;
MIT-Africa Internet
Technology Initiative
©2005
 Naming Variables
• Variable names (or identifiers) may be any
length, but must start with:
– A letter (a – z),
– A dollar sign ($),
– Or, an underscore ( _ ).
• Identifiers cannot contain special operation
symbols like +, -, *, /, &, %, ^, etc.
• Certain reserved keywords in the Java
language are illegal.
• For example, “class”, “static”, “int”, etc.

MIT-Africa Internet
Technology Initiative
©2005
 Naming Variables
• Java is a case-sensitive - capitalization
matters.
• A rose is not a Rose is not a ROSE.
• Choose variable names that are
informative.
– Good: “int studentExamGrade;”
– Bad: “int tempvar3931;”
• “Camel Case”: Start variable names
with lower case and capitalize each
word: “camelsHaveHumps”.
MIT-Africa Internet
Technology Initiative
©2005
 POP QUIZ

• Which of the following are valid variable

names?
1. $amount
2. 6tally
3. my*Name
4. salary
5. _score
6. first Name
7. total#
8. short

MIT-Africa Internet
Technology Initiative
©2005
 Integer Types
• There are four primitive integer data
types: byte, short, int, long.
• Each types has a maximum value,
based on their binary representation:
– Bytes: 8-bits, ± 128
– Short: 16-bits, ± 215 ≈ 32,000
– Int: 32-bits, ± 231 ≈ 2 billion
– Long: 32-bits, ± 263 ≈ really big
• Integer Overflows: What happens if we
store Bill Gates’ net worth in an int?
MIT-Africa Internet
Technology Initiative
©2005
 String Type
• Strings are not a primitive. They are what’s
called an Object, which we will discuss later.
• Strings are sequences of characters
surrounded by “double quotations”.
• Strings are constants and cannot be changed
after they are created.
• Strings have a special append operator + that
creates a new String:
– String greeting = “Jam” + “bo”;
– String bigGreeting = greeting + “!”;

MIT-Africa Internet
Technology Initiative
©2005
 Floating Point Types
• Initialize doubles as you would write a
decimal number:
– double y = 1.23;
– double w = -3.21e-10; // -3.21x10-10
• Use a trailing ‘d’ to force a value to be double:
– double y = 1d/3; // y = .333333333
– double z = 1/3; // z = 0.0 … Why?
• Floats can be initialized like doubles, but
need a trailing ‘f’:
– float z = 1.23f;
• Doubles are more precise than Floats, but
may take longer to perform operations.
MIT-Africa Internet
Technology Initiative
©2005
 Boolean Type
• Boolean is a data type that can be used
in situations where there are two
options, either true or false.
• The values true or false are case-
sensitive keywords. Not True or TRUE.
• Booleans will be used later for testing
properties of data.
• Example:
– boolean monsterHungry = true;
– boolean fileOpen = false;
MIT-Africa Internet
Technology Initiative
©2005
 Character Type
• Character is a data type that can be used to
store a single characters such as a letter,
number, punctuation mark, or other symbol.

• Characters are a single letter enclosed in

single quotes. Don’t confuse with Strings.

• Example:
– char firstLetterOfName = 'e' ;
– char myQuestion = '?' ;
MIT-Africa Internet
Technology Initiative
©2005
 POP QUIZ
• What data types would you use to
store the following types of
information?:
1. Population of Kenya int
2. World Population long
3. Approximation of π double
4. Open/closed status of a file boolean
5. Your name String
6. First letter of your name char
7. $237.66 double
MIT-Africa Internet
Technology Initiative
©2005
 A Note on Statements
• A statement is a command that causes
something to happen.
• All statements are terminated by semicolons ;
• Declaring a variable is a statement.
• Assigning a value to a variable is a statement.
• Method (or function) calls are statements:
– System.out.println(“Hello, World”);
• In lecture 4, we’ll learn how to control the
execution flow of statements.

MIT-Africa Internet
Technology Initiative
©2005
 Appendix I: Reserved Words
abstract assert boolean break byte

case catch char class const

continue default do double else
extends final finally float for
goto if implements import instanceof

int interfac long native new

e
package private protected public return
short static strictfp super switch
synchronized this throw throws transient

try void violate while

MIT-Africa Internet
Technology Initiative
©2005
 Appendix II: Primitive Data Types
• This table shows all primitive data types along
with their sizes and formats:

Data Type Description

byte Variables of this kind can have a value from:
-128 to +127 and occupy 8 bits in memory
short Variables of this kind can have a value from:
-32768 to +32767 and occupy 16 bits in memory
int Variables of this kind can have a value from:
-2147483648 to +2147483647 and occupy 32 bits in memory
long Variables of this kind can have a value from:
-9223372036854775808 to +9223372036854775807 and
occupy 64 bits in memory

MIT-Africa Internet
Technology Initiative
©2005
 Appendix II: Primitive Data Types
Real Numbers
Data Type Description

float Variables of this kind can have a value from:

1.4e(-45) to 3.4e(+38)

double Variables of this kind can have a value from:

4.9e(-324) to 1.7e(+308)

Other Primitive Data Types

char Variables of this kind can have a value from:
A single character
boolean Variables of this kind can have a value from:
True or False

MIT-Africa Internet
Technology Initiative
©2005