Chapter 3. Java Data Structures

We have not the slightest idea what this equation means, but we may be sure that it means something very important.

—Benjamin Pierce, to his students, regarding a mathematical formula

In the last chapter we took a close look at how a simple program is written and executed in Java. This chapter takes a close look at working with data in Java programs. We will examine memory and storage of data on the stack and the heap, look at the eight primitive data types and operators, variable assignment, and coding conventions used by Java programmers.