Now that we're seen the vast scope of computer science, we'll narrow in on learning how to program in Java. This unit explores some basics of Java, including what syntax and style are, how to write comments, and what keywords are.
Understanding Syntax and Style
Programming languages are defined by their syntax, which are the rules that say what you can and can't type. It's what makes code look like code, and really, it's just a specific way for you to tell your computer what you want it to do. Style, on the other hand, refers to how we organize our code nicely and neatly for other humans to read.
Style is great because it makes our code readable for humans. Comments can also help in doing this.
Comments and Basic Javadoc Comments
This video explores how to write comments in Java, and gives a brief introduction to what Javadoc comments are.
Next up, we'll take a look at how to approach naming things in our programs.
Keywords and Programmer-Defined Names
Keywords refer to words that have special meanings in our programs. Programmer-defined names refer to the names that we as software engineers give to different things in our programs.
Now that we have an understanding of what syntax and style are, we'll move on to one final conceptual unit — arguably the most important one! — before we finally start coding ourselves.
