Mathematics, Computer Science, and Statistics
Bloomsburg University

Communicating in Java

You will often be judged in your professional career by how well you communicate. For a computing professional, this means, among other things, that you must be able to express technical ideas confidently using proper terminology. Right now you are trying to learn Java, and the ability to ask and respond to questions in a literate way is a crucial skill. You can definitely develop that skill if you are committed to doing so. For extra motivation, if you need it, imagine yourself in a job interview discussing code with a prospective employer.

Let me make all of this more concrete by giving you a list of some terms that, at this point, you should be able to use correctly in complete and meaningful sentences. When analyzing code, you should be able to point out where these terms apply:

constructor
accessor/mutator
object reference
instance variable
local variable
class variable
method parameter
implicit parameter
access specifier
return type
overloaded method
overridden method
null pointer exception

You should be able to comfortably discuss the following concepts:

The relationship between classes and objects
Invoking a method on an object
The state of an object
The scope of a variable
Instance vs. class methods
Return type
Primitive vs. user-defined types
Syntax vs. logical errors

Here are some additional terms that do not apply directly to code. They are more general. You should be able to talk about each of them in a clear and precise way.

JVM
package
compiler

If you are uncomfortable using any of the terms listed on this page, that's OK as long as you do something about it: talk to me (in class or out of class), discuss them with a friend, study them in our textbook, visit an online forum for programmers ... do something to remove the learning obstacle that is presented by an inadequate technical vocabulary.