JAVA FAQ's I

What is the difference between application server and web server?

An web server is responsible for handling HttpRequests whereas appliation server is responsible for handling business logics. app server has inbuilt features like load balancing, clusters, caches and resource & connection pooling etc. Using application server we can develop reusable components. Application server is a super set of web server.

web server is used for executing JSP and servlets. application server is used for executing EJB related components

OOPS Concepts :
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Class --- template or prescription of an object.

Encapsulation : is the mechanism that binds code and data that it operates, keeps then secure so that no other code can acces without proper rights. We can make a class fully encapsulated, by making memeber variables as private and provide public methods to access that member variables. this will have lot of advantages as given below
a) provide constraints for the member variables (for example deny -ve number for square root)
b) depends upon the business logic v can set the state of an object.
c) if we are redifining the way the objects are stored, we can implement this in the method itself

Inheritance : is the process by which one object acquires properties of another objects.

Polymorphism : is the ability to take more than one form.

Abstraction : the user knows how to operate and don't know how it operates. this allows user to concentrate on his business logic without knowing the complexity of the object he uses.

If a instance variables is not declared it won't throw error. whereas method vaiables must be initialized.

Dynamic Binding : Super class reference can be assigned to a sub class object. this is the way java is implementing runtime polymorphism. (Dynamic Method Dispatch) (Method Overriding)

Superclass shouldn't be declared as private or protected.

Inner class can be static.

Static method can access only static method & static variable.

Difference between String and StringBuffer ?

String -- Immutable, concatenation in turn will call for the StringBuffer append method

StringBuffer --- Mutable, growable

Transient Modifier : if a variable is defined as transient, then while serialization, state of that variable can't be saved.

Reflection : is the way to find the properties of classes at run time. methods can be invoked

Volatile Modifier : there is no need to store the variable value in register that is changed frequently. thatzy v r specifying that variable as Volatile

Class.forName use : to create instance of an class & register that class. to generate a temporary handle for that class within the scope

Checked Exception : Compile time exception. ex.IOException should be caught.

Unchecked Exception : Run Time Exception, due to programmer error. ArrayIndexOutOfBoundException. Need not caught.

Difference between throw and throws :

throw -- to explicitly throw an exception
throws --- means that exception will be handled by the called method.

1. Difference between HashTable and hashMap ?
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Both provide key-value access to data. The Hashtable is one of the original collection classes in Java. HashMap is part of the new Collections Framework, added with Java 2, v1.2. The key difference between the two is that access to the Hashtable is synchronized on the table while access to the HashMap isn't. You can add it, but it isn't there by default. Another difference is that iterator in the HashMap is fail-safe while the enumerator for the Hashtable isn't. If you change the map while iterating, you'll know. And, a third difference is that HashMap permits null values in it, while Hashtable doesn't. For new code,we can use HashMap.

2.What is the diffrence between Array,Vector,ArryList,LinkedList and HashTable with HashMap with example and situation?
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Once u create an array (of any type) u can't change the array size at dynamically. it is not synchronized. U can view a Vector as a dynamic array. U can resize the vector at runtime. u can add/remove element in a vector at runtime. it is synchronized. An ArrayList is a class which implements the List interface. This again is resizable and u hav all the functionalities of a list. it is not synchronized. Note : u can hav duplicates in ArrayList. A LinkedList is an implementation of the calssical 'C' linked list. U can get, remove or insert elements. HashTable is basically a key-value pair collection. Key has to be unique. U can do get and put. HashMap is implementation of Map interface. U can hav null key or null value. Use when u require constant time performance.

3.What is the difference between servlet & CGI?
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For each HTTP request, CGI will start a new process. whereas in servlet, init() method will be called, only when first HTTP request came. for subsequent request an thread is created.

4.What is the difference between the Serlvet single threaded model and multi threaded model?
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Typically, a servlet class is instantiated the first time it is invoked. The same instance will be used over several client requests, so all members that are declared in that servlet are shared accross clients. That is what is meant by multi threaded model, multiple clients that access the same instance.
There are situations where you want to protect your servlet member variables from being modified by different clients. In this case, you can have your servlet implement the marker interface SingleThreadModel. Every time a client makes a request to a servlet that implements this interface, the engine will create a new instance of the servlet. For performance reasons, the engine can also maintain a instance pool, handing out instances as they are needed. Or it could also serialize client requests, executing one after another.

5. How to read environment variables from a Servlet?
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ServletConfig.getParameter(String param_name)


Q: What is the difference between an Interface and an Abstract class?

A: An Abstract class declares have at least one instance method that is declared abstract which will be implemented by the subclasses. An abstract class can have instance methods that implement a default behavior. An Interface can only declare constants and instance methods, but cannot implement default behavior.

All memeber variable of an interface is "public static final"

Q: What is the purpose of garbage collection in Java, and when is it used?

A: The purpose of garbage collection is to identify and discard objects that are no longer needed by a program so that their resources can be reclaimed and reused. A Java object is subject to garbage collection when it becomes unreachable to the program in which it is used.

Q: Describe synchronization in respect to multithreading.

A: With respect to multithreading, synchronization is the capability to control the access of multiple threads to shared resources. Without synchonization, it is possible for one thread to modify a shared variable while another thread is in the process of using or updating same shared variable. This usually leads to significant errors.

Q: Explain different way of using thread?

A: The thread could be implemented by using runnable interface or by inheriting from the Thread class. The former is more advantageous, 'cause when you are going for multiple inheritance..the only interface can help.

Q: What are pass by reference and passby value?

A: Pass By Reference means the passing the address itself rather than passing the value. Passby Value means passing a copy of the value to be passed.

Q: What is HashMap and Map?

A: Map is Interface and Hashmap is class that implements that.

Q: Difference between HashMap and HashTable?

A: The HashMap class is roughly equivalent to Hashtable, except that it is unsynchronized and permits nulls. (HashMap allows null values as key and value whereas Hashtable doesnt allow). HashMap does not guarantee that the order of the map will remain constant over time. HashMap is non synchronized and Hashtable is synchronized.

Q: Difference between Vector and ArrayList?

A: Vector is synchronized whereas arraylist is not.

Q: Difference between Swing and Awt?

A: AWT are heavy-weight componenets. Swings are light-weight components. Hence swing works faster than AWT.

Q: What is the difference between a constructor and a method?

A: A constructor is a member function of a class that is used to create objects of that class. It has the same name as the class itself, has no return type, and is invoked using the new operator.
A method is an ordinary member function of a class. It has its own name, a return type (which may be void), and is invoked using the dot operator.

Q: What is an Iterators?

A: Some of the collection classes provide traversal of their contents via a java.util.Iterator interface. This interface allows you to walk a collection of objects, operating on each object in turn. Remember when using Iterators that they contain a snapshot of the collection at the time the Iterator was obtained; generally it is not advisable to modify the collection itself while traversing an Iterator.

Q: State the significance of public, private, protected, default modifiers both singly and in combination and state the effect of package relationships on declared items qualified by these modifiers.

A: public : Public class is visible in other packages, field is visible everywhere (class must be public too)
private : Private variables or methods may be used only by an instance of the same class that declares the variable or method, A private feature may only be accessed by the class that owns the feature.
protected : Is available to all classes in the same package and also available to all subclasses of the class that owns the protected feature.This access is provided even to subclasses that reside in a different package from the class that owns the protected feature.
default :What you get by default ie, without any access modifier (ie, public private or protected).It means that it is visible to all within a particular package.

order : private, default, protected, public

Q: What is an abstract class?

A: Abstract class must be extended/subclassed (to be useful). It serves as a template. A class that is abstract may not be instantiated (ie, you may not call its constructor), abstract class may contain static data. Any class with an abstract method is automatically abstract itself, and must be declared as such.
A class may be declared abstract even if it has no abstract methods. This prevents it from being instantiated.

Q: What is static in java?

A: Static means one per class, not one for each object no matter how many instance of a class might exist. This means that you can use them without creating an instance of a class.Static methods are implicitly final, because overriding is done based on the type of the object, and static methods are attached to a class, not an object. A static method in a superclass can be shadowed by another static method in a subclass, as long as the original method was not declared final. However, you can't override a static method with a nonstatic method. In other words, you can't change a static method into an instance method in a subclass.

Q: What is final?

A: A final class can't be extended ie., final class may not be subclassed. A final method can't be overridden when its class is inherited. You can't change value of a final variable (is a constant).

Q: What if the main method is declared as private?

A: The program compiles properly but at runtime it will give "Main method not public." message.

Q: What if the static modifier is removed from the signature of the main method?

A: Program compiles. But at runtime throws an error "NoSuchMethodError".

Q: What if I write static public void instead of public static void?

A: Program compiles and runs properly.

Q: What if I do not provide the String array as the argument to the method?

A: Program compiles but throws a runtime error "NoSuchMethodError".

Q: What is the first argument of the String array in main method?

A: The String array is empty. It does not have any element. This is unlike C/C++ where the first element by default is the program name.

Q: If I do not provide any arguments on the command line, then the String array of Main method will be empty of null?

A: It is empty. But not null.

Q: How can one prove that the array is not null but empty?

A: Print args.length. It will print 0. That means it is empty. But if it would have been null then it would have thrown a NullPointerException on attempting to print args.length.

Q: What environment variables do I need to set on my machine in order to be able to run Java programs?

A: CLASSPATH and PATH are the two variables.

Q: Can an application have multiple classes having main method?

A: Yes it is possible. While starting the application we mention the class name to be run. The JVM will look for the Main method only in the class whose name you have mentioned. Hence there is not conflict amongst the multiple classes having main method.

Q: Can I have multiple main methods in the same class?

A: No the program fails to compile. The compiler says that the main method is already defined in the class.

Q: Do I need to import java.lang package any time? Why ?

A: No. It is by default loaded internally by the JVM.

Q: Can I import same package/class twice? Will the JVM load the package twice at runtime?

A: One can import the same package or same class multiple times. Neither compiler nor JVM complains abt it. And the JVM will internally load the class only once no matter how many times you import the same class.

Q: What are Checked and UnChecked Exception?

A: A checked exception is some subclass of Exception (or Exception itself), excluding class RuntimeException and its subclasses.
Making an exception checked forces client programmers to deal with the possibility that the exception will be thrown. eg, IOException thrown by java.io.FileInputStream's read() method·
Unchecked exceptions are RuntimeException and any of its subclasses. Class Error and its subclasses also are unchecked. With an unchecked exception, however, the compiler doesn't force client programmers either to catch the
exception or declare it in a throws clause. In fact, client programmers may not even know that the exception could be thrown. eg, StringIndexOutOfBoundsException thrown by String's charAt() method· Checked exceptions must be caught at compile time. Runtime exceptions do not need to be. Errors often cannot be.

Q: What is Overriding?

A: When a class defines a method using the same name, return type, and arguments as a method in its superclass, the method in the class overrides the method in the superclass.
When the method is invoked for an object of the class, it is the new definition of the method that is called, and not the method definition from superclass. Methods may be overridden to be more public, not more private.

Q: What are different types of inner classes?

A: Nested top-level classes, Member classes, Local classes, Anonymous classes

Nested top-level classes- If you declare a class within a class and specify the static modifier, the compiler treats the class just like any other top-level class.
Any class outside the declaring class accesses the nested class with the declaring class name acting similarly to a package. eg, outer.inner. Top-level inner classes implicitly have access only to static variables.There can also be inner interfaces. All of these are of the nested top-level variety.

Member classes - Member inner classes are just like other member methods and member variables and access to the member class is restricted, just like methods and variables. This means a public member class acts similarly to a nested top-level class. The primary difference between member classes and nested top-level classes is that member classes have access to the specific instance of the enclosing class.

Local classes - Local classes are like local variables, specific to a block of code. Their visibility is only within the block of their declaration. In order for the class to be useful beyond the declaration block, it would need to implement a
more publicly available interface.Because local classes are not members, the modifiers public, protected, private, and static are not usable.

Anonymous classes - Anonymous inner classes extend local inner classes one level further. As anonymous classes have no name, you cannot provide a constructor.

Q: Are the imports checked for validity at compile time? e.g. will the code containing an import such as java.lang.ABCD compile?

A: Yes the imports are checked for the semantic validity at compile time. The code containing above line of import will not compile. It will throw an error saying,can not resolve symbol
symbol : class ABCD
location: package io
import java.io.ABCD;

Q: Does importing a package imports the subpackages as well? e.g. Does importing com.MyTest.* also import com.MyTest.UnitTests.*?

A: No you will have to import the subpackages explicitly. Importing com.MyTest.* will import classes in the package MyTest only. It will not import any class in any of it's subpackage.

Q: What is the difference between declaring a variable and defining a variable?

A: In declaration we just mention the type of the variable and it's name. We do not initialize it. But defining means declaration + initialization.
e.g String s; is just a declaration while String s = new String ("abcd"); Or String s = "abcd"; are both definitions.

Q: What is the default value of an object reference declared as an instance variable?

A: null unless we define it explicitly.

Q: Can a top level class be private or protected?

A: No. A top level class can not be private or protected. It can have either "public" or no modifier. If it does not have a modifier it is supposed to have a default access.If a top level class is declared as private the compiler will complain that the "modifier private is not allowed here". This means that a top level class can not be private. Same is the case with protected.

Q: What type of parameter passing does Java support?

A: Java supports both pass by value as well as pass by reference.

Q: Primitive data types are passed by reference or pass by value?

A: Primitive data types are passed by value.

Q: Objects are passed by value or by reference?

A: Objects are always passed by reference. Thus any modifications done to an object inside the called method will always reflect in the caller method.

Q: What is serialization?

A: Serialization is a mechanism by which you can save the state of an object by converting it to a byte stream.

Q: How do I serialize an object to a file?

A: The class whose instances are to be serialized should implement an interface Serializable. Then you pass the instance to the ObjectOutputStream which is connected to a fileoutputstream. This will save the object to a file.

Q: Which methods of Serializable interface should I implement?

A: The serializable interface is an empty interface, it does not contain any methods. So we do not implement any methods.

Q: How can I customize the seralization process? i.e. how can one have a control over the serialization process?

A: Yes it is possible to have control over serialization process. The class should implement Externalizable interface. This interface contains two methods namely readExternal and writeExternal. You should implement these methods and write the logic for customizing the serialization process.

Q: What is the common usage of serialization?

A: Whenever an object is to be sent over the network, objects need to be serialized. Moreover if the state of an object is to be saved, objects need to be serilazed.

Q: What is Externalizable interface?

A: Externalizable is an interface which contains two methods readExternal and writeExternal. These methods give you a control over the serialization mechanism. Thus if your class implements this interface, you can customize the serialization process by implementing these methods.

Q: What happens to the object references included in the object?

A: The serialization mechanism generates an object graph for serialization. Thus it determines whether the included object references are serializable or not. This is a recursive process. Thus when an object is serialized, all the included objects are also serialized alongwith the original object.

Q: What one should take care of while serializing the object?

A: One should make sure that all the included objects are also serializable. If any of the objects is not serializable then it throws a NotSerializableException.

Q: What happens to the static fields of a class during serialization? Are these fields serialized as a part of each serialized object?

A: Yes the static fields do get serialized. If the static field is an object then it must have implemented Serializable interface. The static fields are serialized as a part of every object. But the commonness of the static fields across all the instances is maintained even after serialization.

Q: Does Java provide any construct to find out the size of an object?

A: No there is not sizeof operator in Java. So there is not direct way to determine the size of an object directly in Java.
[ Received from Sandesh Sadhale] TOP

Q: Does importing a package imports the subpackages as well? e.g. Does importing com.MyTest.* also import com.MyTest.UnitTests.*?

A: Read the system time just before the method is invoked and immediately after method returns. Take the time difference, which will give you the time taken by a method for execution.
To put it in code...

long start = System.currentTimeMillis ();
method ();
long end = System.currentTimeMillis ();

System.out.println ("Time taken for execution is " + (end - start));

Remember that if the time taken for execution is too small, it might show that it is taking zero milliseconds for execution. Try it on a method which is big enough, in the sense the one which is doing considerable amonut of processing.

Q: What are wrapper classes?

A: Java provides specialized classes corresponding to each of the primitive data types. These are called wrapper classes. They are e.g. Integer, Character, Double etc.

Q: Why do we need wrapper classes?

A: It is sometimes easier to deal with primitives as objects. Moreover most of the collection classes store objects and not primitive data types. And also the wrapper classes provide many utility methods also. Because of these resons we need wrapper classes. And since we create instances of these classes we can store them in any of the collection classes and pass them around as a collection. Also we can pass them around as method parameters where a method expects an object.

Q: What are checked exceptions?

A: Checked exception are those which the Java compiler forces you to catch. e.g. IOException are checked Exceptions.

Q: What are runtime exceptions?

A: Runtime exceptions are those exceptions that are thrown at runtime because of either wrong input data or because of wrong business logic etc. These are not checked by the compiler at compile time.

Q: What is the difference between error and an exception?

A: An error is an irrecoverable condition occurring at runtime. Such as OutOfMemory error. These JVM errors and you can not repair them at runtime. While exceptions are conditions that occur because of bad input etc. e.g. FileNotFoundException will be thrown if the specified file does not exist. Or a NullPointerException will take place if you try using a null reference. In most of the cases it is possible to recover from an exception (probably by giving user a feedback for entering proper values etc.).

Q: How to create custom exceptions?

A: Your class should extend class Exception, or some more specific type thereof.

Q: If I want an object of my class to be thrown as an exception object, what should I do?

A: The class should extend from Exception class. Or you can extend your class from some more precise exception type also.

Q: If my class already extends from some other class what should I do if I want an instance of my class to be thrown as an exception object?

A: One can not do anytihng in this scenarion. Because Java does not allow multiple inheritance and does not provide any exception interface as well.

Q: What happens to an unhandled exception?

A: One can not do anytihng in this scenarion. Because Java does not allow multiple inheritance and does not provide any exception interface as well.

Q: How does an exception permeate through the code?

A: An unhandled exception moves up the method stack in search of a matching When an exception is thrown from a code which is wrapped in a try block followed by one or more catch blocks, a search is made for matching catch block. If a matching type is found then that block will be invoked. If a matching type is not found then the exception moves up the method stack and reaches the caller method. Same procedure is repeated if the caller method is included in a try catch block. This process continues until a catch block handling the appropriate type of exception is found. If it does not find such a block then finally the program terminates.

Q: What are the different ways to handle exceptions?

A: There are two ways to handle exceptions,
1. By wrapping the desired code in a try block followed by a catch block to catch the exceptions. and
2. List the desired exceptions in the throws clause of the method and let the caller of the method hadle those exceptions.

Q: Q: What is the basic difference between the 2 approaches to exception handling...1> try catch block and 2> specifying the candidate exceptions in the throws clause?
When should you use which approach?

A: In the first approach as a programmer of the method, you urself are dealing with the exception. This is fine if you are in a best position to decide should be done in case of an exception. Whereas if it is not the responsibility of the method to deal with it's own exceptions, then do not use this approach. In this case use the second approach. In the second approach we are forcing the caller of the method to catch the exceptions, that the method is likely to throw. This is often the approach library creators use. They list the exception in the throws clause and we must catch them. You will find the same approach throughout the java libraries we use.

Q: Is it necessary that each try block must be followed by a catch block?

A: It is not necessary that each try block must be followed by a catch block. It should be followed by either a catch block OR a finally block. And whatever exceptions are likely to be thrown should be declared in the throws clause of the method.

Q: If I write return at the end of the try block, will the finally block still execute?

A: Yes even if you write return as the last statement in the try block and no exception occurs, the finally block will execute. The finally block will execute and then the control return.

Q: If I write System.exit(0); at the end of the try block, will the finally block still execute?

A: No in this case the finally block will not execute because when you say System.exit (0); the control immediately goes out of the program, and thus finally never executes.

Process : Program that is currently executing

Thread : Smaller unit of a progam.

Order of Acces Modifiers : (lower visibility to higher) private, default, protected, public

Overridden Method rules :

a) Lower visiblity methods can be overridden by higher visibility methods (Ex: private methods cam be overridden by default, protected or public method)
b) Higher Visibility methods can't be overridden by lower visibility methods (Ex: public methods can't be overridden by anytyhing other than public method)
c) a default method can be overridden by protected or public method and not by private method.
d) return type of overridden method must be identical

Exceptions :
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a) order of exception catch in try/catch block should be from sub classes to base class
b) An overriding method may not throw an exception other than that of the exception thrown by the original exception

Thread :
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a) Thread can be started by calling Start method, which will put thread in 'ready' state
b) once thread started, run() method will be executed
c) yield() is a static method, causes current thread to move to 'ready' state
d) sleep() is a static method, which cause currently running thread to be idle for certain for certain period of time.
e) wait() put an executing thread in wait state. give CPU & gives up lock & goes into object waiting pool.
f) notify() and notifyAll() method put waiting threads into ready state
g) wait, notify and notifyAll methods are from the class 'Object' & these r not static methods

JDBC :
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Statement :
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execute --- Returns boolean
executeBatch ---- Returns int[] (Returns affected row count or 0 for DDL)
executeUpdate ---- same as above
executeQuery --- Returns ResultSet

Webservices : is a collection of protocols that is useful for exchanging data between two applications that is running on different environments.

SOAP : is a XML based protocol for exhanging data between two applications that is running on different environments.It has three parts. an envelope, a set of encoding rules & convention for representing remote procedure calls and responses.

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