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!");
Example explained
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).
Note: 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.
