Statements
A computer program is a list of "instructions" to be "executed" by a computer.
In a programming language, these programming instructions are called statements .
The following statement "instructs" the compiler to print the text "Java is fun!" to the screen:
Example
System.out.println("Java is fun!");It is important that you end the statement with a semicolon ; .
If you forget the semicolon ( ; ), an error will occur and the program will not run:
Example
System.out.println("Java is fun!")Tip
You can think of a statement like a sentence in English. Just as sentences end with a period . , Java statements end with a semicolon ; .
Many Statements
Most Java programs contain many statements.
The statements are executed, one by one, in the same order as they are written:
Example
System.out.println("Hello World!");
System.out.println("Have a good day!");
System.out.println("Learning Java is fun!");From the example above, we have three statements:
- System.out.println("Hello World!");
- System.out.println("Have a good day!");
- System.out.println("Learning Java is fun!");
The first statement is executed first (print "Hello World!" to the screen). Then the second statement is executed (print "Have a good day!" to the screen). And at last, the third statement is executed (print "Learning Java is fun!" to the screen).
You will learn more about statements while reading this tutorial. For now, just remember to always end them with a semicolon to avoid any errors.