Beginning Programming with Java For Dummies, 5th Edition

Chapter 6

Using the Building Blocks: Variables, Values, and Types

IN THIS CHAPTER

Declaring variables

Assigning values to variables

Working with numbers

Using Java types

Back in 1946, John von Neumann wrote a groundbreaking paper about the newly emerging technology of computers and computing. Among other things, he established one fundamental fact: For all their complexity, the main business of computers is to move data from one place to another. Take a number — the balance in a person’s bank account. Move this number from the computer’s memory to the computer’s processing unit. Add a few dollars to the balance and then move it back to the computer’s memory. The movement of data … that’s all there is; there ain’t no more.

Good enough! This chapter shows you how to move your data around.

Using Variables

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