1 CTH EDUCATION

Unit – 04: Classes and methods

 Class fundamentals,
 Declaring objects, assigning object to reference variables,
 Constructors (default and parameterized), overloading constructor,
 Understanding this keyword, finalize keyword, static keyword, final keyword,
 garbage collection,
 method introduction and returning a value from a method,
 Overloading method,
 Recursion,
 Introduction to inner and nested classes, command line argument.

Questions to be discussed:
1. What is class in java? How to declare class in java?
2. What is constructor? Explain different types of constructor in java.
3. What do you mean by constructor and destructor?
4. Differentiate between final and finalize in java.
5. What do you mean by method in java? Why we use method in java program?
6. Discuss about method overloading and constructor overloading in java.
7. What do you mean by recursive method? Explain it with example.
8. Write short notes on:
a. This keyword
b. Static keyword
c. Garbage collection

Diploma : CSE (All Paper) By : Alok Sir (Mob. No.: +91-80 84 370 470)
2 CTH EDUCATION
What is an object in Java?
 An object is a real-world entity.
 An entity that has state and behavior is known as an object.
 Example: chair, bike, marker, pen, table, car, etc.
 An object is an instance of a class.
 A class is a template or blueprint from which objects are created.
 So, an object is the instance (result) of a class.

How to Create Object in Java?

 The object is a basic building block of an OOPs language.
 In Java, we cannot execute any program without creating an object.
 Using the new keyword we create an object of the class.
Syntax:
ClassName object = new ClassName( );

Assigning object to reference variables:

 When we create an object of class then space is reserved in heap memory.
 Now, the space in the memory is created but how to access that space.
 Then, we create a reference variable which simply points out the Object.
 So simply we can say that the reference variable is used to point an object.
 By default, if no object is passed to a reference variable then it will store a null value.
Example:
Myclass D1= new Myclass( );
int i = 10;

What is a class in Java?

 A class is a group of objects which have common properties.
 It is a template or blueprint from which objects are created.
 It is a logical entity, it can't be physical.
 A class in Java can contain property and methods.

How to declare class in java? class class_name

 Java provides a reserved keyword class to define a class. {

 The keyword must be followed by the class name. // member variables

 Inside the class, we declare methods and variables. // class methods

}

Diploma : CSE (All Paper) By : Alok Sir (Mob. No.: +91-80 84 370 470)
3 CTH EDUCATION
Difference between object and class:

Object Class

Object is an instance of a class. It is a blueprint from which objects are created.

Object is a real world entity such as pen, laptop, Class is a group of similar objects.
mobile, bed, mouse, chair etc.

Object is a physical entity. Class is a logical entity.

Object is created through new keyword. Class is declared using class keyword.

Object is created many times as per requirement. Class is declared once.

Object allocates memory when it is created. Class doesn't allocated memory when it is created.

Constructor in java:
 Constructor are the special member function.
 It is used to initialize the data members of the class.
 Constructor has the same name as the class name.
 A constructor has no return type not even void.
 Constructors are automatically invoked (call) as soon as the object of its class is created.
 It is called constructor because it constructs the values at the time of object creation.
 It is not necessary to write a constructor for a class, because java compiler creates a default constructor
if your class doesn't have any.

How to declare Constructor?

 As we know that constructor has the same name as the class, thus it can be easily identified.
 Syntax:
class_name (arguments if any)
{
...
...
};

Diploma : CSE (All Paper) By : Alok Sir (Mob. No.: +91-80 84 370 470)
4 CTH EDUCATION
Types of constructor:
 There are two types of constructors in Java:
1. Default constructor, and
2. Parameterized constructor.

Default Constructor:
 A constructor having no arguments is called "Default Constructor.
 The default constructor is used to provide the default values to the object like 0, null, etc.

Parameterized Constructor:
 A constructor having arguments is called a parameterized constructor.
 The parameterized constructor is used to provide different values to distinct objects.
 We can have any number of parameters in the constructor.

Constructor overloading in Java:

 In Java, we can overload constructors like methods.
 It can be defined as the concept of having more than one constructor with different parameters so that
every constructor can perform a different task.
 They are differentiated by the compiler by the number of parameters in the list and their types.
Example:
class Student
{
variables of the class
Student()
{
………..
}
Student(parameters)
{
………..
};
}

Rules for creating Java constructor:

1. Constructor name must be the same as its class name.
2. A Constructor must have no return type.
3. A Java constructor cannot be abstract, static, final, and synchronized.

Diploma : CSE (All Paper) By : Alok Sir (Mob. No.: +91-80 84 370 470)
5 CTH EDUCATION
What is Destructor?
 A destructor is a member function of a class that deallocates the memory allocated to an object.
 A destructor is also declared and defined with the same name as that of the class.
 A destructor is preceded by a tilde (~) symbol.
 A single class has only a single destructor.

How to declare destructor?

Syntax:
~ class_name (no arguments)
{
...
...
};

Difference between constructor and destructor:

CONSTRUCTOR DESTRUCTOR

It allocates the memory to an object. It deallocates the memory of an object.

class_name( arguments if any ){ }; ~ class_name( no arguments ){ };

Constructor accepts argument Destructor does not accept any argument.

Constructor is called automatically, while the Destructor is called automatically, as block of

object is created. program terminates.

There can be multiple constructors in a class. There is always a single destructor in the class.

Constructors can be overloaded. Destructor can not be overloaded.

This keyword:
 It is a keyword that refers to the current object in a method or constructor.
 If the name of instance variable and local variable are same then at the runtime JVM gets confused.
 To avoid this type of problem “this” keyword is used.
 It is used to call default constructor of its own class.
 It is used to called parametrized constructor of its own class.
 “this” can be passed as argument in the constructor call.
 “this” can be used to return the current class instance from the method.

Diploma : CSE (All Paper) By : Alok Sir (Mob. No.: +91-80 84 370 470)
6 CTH EDUCATION
Static keyword:
 It is a keyword which is used to make a variable or method constant.
 If you declare any variable as static, it is known as a static variable.
 The static keyword is used for efficient memory management.
 The static variable gets memory only once in the class area at the time of class loading.
 We can apply static keyword with variables, methods, blocks and nested classes.

Final Keyword:
 The final keyword in java is used to restrict the user.
 Using the final keyword means that the value can’t be modified in future.
 The final keyword can be used with class method and variable.
 A final class cannot be inherited, a final method cannot be overridden and a final variable cannot be
reassigned.

Difference between final, finally and finalize:

Final finally finalize

final is the keyword which is used finally is the block in Java finalize is the method in Java
to apply restrictions on a class, Exception Handling to execute which is used to perform clean up
method or variable. the important code whether the processing just before object is
exception occurs or not. garbage collected.

Final keyword is used with the Finally block is always related to finalize() method is used with the
classes, methods and variables. the try and catch block in objects.
exception handling.

Once declared, final variable then finally block runs the important Finalize method performs the
it cannot be modified, overridden code even if exception occurs or cleaning activities with respect to
& inherited. not & cleans up all the resources the object before its destruction.
used in try block

Final method is executed only Finally block is executed as soon finalize method is executed just
when we call it. as the try-catch block is before the object is destroyed.
executed.

Diploma : CSE (All Paper) By : Alok Sir (Mob. No.: +91-80 84 370 470)
7 CTH EDUCATION
What are Methods in Java?
 A method in Java is a block of code that performs specific actions mentioned in it.
 Method runs only when it is called.
 You can insert values or parameters into methods, and they will only be executed when called.
 They are also referred to as functions.

Why we use methods in Java?

 It allows code reusability (define once and use multiple times)
 You can break a complex program into smaller chunks of code
 It increases code readability

How to Declare Methods in Java?

 You can only create a method within a class.
Syntax:
Return_type function_name (parameters)
{
//method body
}

Return Type:
 It defines the return type of the method.
 In the above syntax, “int” is the return type.
 We can mention void as the return type if the method returns no value.

Method Overloading in Java:

 Method Overloading is a feature that allows a class to have multiple methods with the same name but
with different number, sequence or type of parameters.
 In short multiple methods with same name but with different signatures.
 For example:
add(int a, int b) //having two int parameters
add(int a, int b, int c) //having three int parameters
 Method overloading increases the readability of the program.
 There are different ways to overload the method:
1. By changing number of arguments
2. By changing the data type of parameters
3. Changing the order sequence of parameters

Diploma : CSE (All Paper) By : Alok Sir (Mob. No.: +91-80 84 370 470)
8 CTH EDUCATION
Recursion in Java:
 The process in which a method calls itself directly or indirectly is called recursion.
 A method in java that calls itself is called recursive method.
 It makes the code compact but complex to understand.
 Using recursive algorithm, certain problems can be solved quite easily.

factorial(n) = n * factorial(n - 1) *……….1 where n ≥ 1

Exp: factorial(5) = 5 * 4 * 3 * 2* 1 = 120

Syntax:
return_type method_name( )
{
//code to be executed
method_name();//calling same method
}

Write a Java program to find the factorial of a number?

public class Main
{
static int factorial(int n)
{
if(n==0 || n=1)
{
return 1;
}
else
{
return n * factorial(n-1);
}
}
public static void main(String[] args)
{
Int x = 5;
System.out.println(“The value of factorial x is:” + factorial(x));
}
}

Diploma : CSE (All Paper) By : Alok Sir (Mob. No.: +91-80 84 370 470)
9 CTH EDUCATION
Garbage collection:
 When Java programs run on the JVM, objects are created on the heap, which is a portion of memory
dedicated to the program.
 Eventually, some objects will no longer be needed.
 The garbage collector finds these unused objects and deletes them to free up memory.
 It is the process by which Java programs perform automatic memory management.
 In other words, it is a way to destroy the unused objects.

Java Inner Classes (Nested Classes):

 In java, just like data member and member function we can also create a class as its member.
 The class is written within the class is called inner class.
Class outer
 The class that holds the inner class is called outer class.
{
 The inner class is also known as nested class.
int a;
Example:
void add()
{ }
class inner
{
}
}
Command-line argument:
 It is an argument i.e. passed at the time of running the Java program.
 In the command line, the arguments passed from the console can be received in the java program and
they can be used as input.
 The users can pass the arguments during the execution bypassing the command-line arguments
inside the main( ) method.
 We need to pass the arguments as space-separated values.
 We can pass both strings and primitive data types (int, double, float, char, etc) as command-line
arguments.

Diploma : CSE (All Paper) By : Alok Sir (Mob. No.: +91-80 84 370 470)