what does assignment return in java

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• 1.1 Preface
• 1.2 Why Programming? Why Java?
• 1.3 Variables and Data Types
• 1.4 Expressions and Assignment Statements
• 1.5 Compound Assignment Operators
• 1.6 Casting and Ranges of Variables
• 1.7 Java Development Environments (optional)
• 1.8 Unit 1 Summary
• 1.9 Unit 1 Mixed Up Code Practice
• 1.10 Unit 1 Coding Practice
• 1.11 Multiple Choice Exercises
• 1.12 Lesson Workspace
• 1.3. Variables and Data Types" data-toggle="tooltip">
• 1.5. Compound Assignment Operators' data-toggle="tooltip" >

1.4. Expressions and Assignment Statements ¶

In this lesson, you will learn about assignment statements and expressions that contain math operators and variables.

1.4.1. Assignment Statements ¶

Remember that a variable holds a value that can change or vary. Assignment statements initialize or change the value stored in a variable using the assignment operator = . An assignment statement always has a single variable on the left hand side of the = sign. The value of the expression on the right hand side of the = sign (which can contain math operators and other variables) is copied into the memory location of the variable on the left hand side.

Figure 1: Assignment Statement (variable = expression) ¶

Instead of saying equals for the = operator in an assignment statement, say “gets” or “is assigned” to remember that the variable on the left hand side gets or is assigned the value on the right. In the figure above, score is assigned the value of 10 times points (which is another variable) plus 5.

The following video by Dr. Colleen Lewis shows how variables can change values in memory using assignment statements.

As we saw in the video, we can set one variable to a copy of the value of another variable like y = x;. This won’t change the value of the variable that you are copying from.

Click on the Show CodeLens button to step through the code and see how the values of the variables change.

The program is supposed to figure out the total money value given the number of dimes, quarters and nickels. There is an error in the calculation of the total. Fix the error to compute the correct amount.

Calculate and print the total pay given the weekly salary and the number of weeks worked. Use string concatenation with the totalPay variable to produce the output Total Pay = $3000 . Don’t hardcode the number 3000 in your print statement.

Assume you have a package with a given height 3 inches and width 5 inches. If the package is rotated 90 degrees, you should swap the values for the height and width. The code below makes an attempt to swap the values stored in two variables h and w, which represent height and width. Variable h should end up with w’s initial value of 5 and w should get h’s initial value of 3. Unfortunately this code has an error and does not work. Use the CodeLens to step through the code to understand why it fails to swap the values in h and w.

1-4-7: Explain in your own words why the ErrorSwap program code does not swap the values stored in h and w.

Swapping two variables requires a third variable. Before assigning h = w , you need to store the original value of h in the temporary variable. In the mixed up programs below, drag the blocks to the right to put them in the right order.

The following has the correct code that uses a third variable named “temp” to swap the values in h and w.

The code is mixed up and contains one extra block which is not needed in a correct solution. Drag the needed blocks from the left into the correct order on the right, then check your solution. You will be told if any of the blocks are in the wrong order or if you need to remove one or more blocks.

After three incorrect attempts you will be able to use the Help Me button to make the problem easier.

Fix the code below to perform a correct swap of h and w. You need to add a new variable named temp to use for the swap.

1.4.2. Incrementing the value of a variable ¶

If you use a variable to keep score you would probably increment it (add one to the current value) whenever score should go up. You can do this by setting the variable to the current value of the variable plus one (score = score + 1) as shown below. The formula looks a little crazy in math class, but it makes sense in coding because the variable on the left is set to the value of the arithmetic expression on the right. So, the score variable is set to the previous value of score + 1.

Click on the Show CodeLens button to step through the code and see how the score value changes.

1-4-11: What is the value of b after the following code executes?

• It sets the value for the variable on the left to the value from evaluating the right side. What is 5 * 2?
• Correct. 5 * 2 is 10.

1-4-12: What are the values of x, y, and z after the following code executes?

• x = 0, y = 1, z = 2
• These are the initial values in the variable, but the values are changed.
• x = 1, y = 2, z = 3
• x changes to y's initial value, y's value is doubled, and z is set to 3
• x = 2, y = 2, z = 3
• Remember that the equal sign doesn't mean that the two sides are equal. It sets the value for the variable on the left to the value from evaluating the right side.
• x = 1, y = 0, z = 3

1.4.3. Operators ¶

Java uses the standard mathematical operators for addition ( + ), subtraction ( - ), multiplication ( * ), and division ( / ). Arithmetic expressions can be of type int or double. An arithmetic operation that uses two int values will evaluate to an int value. An arithmetic operation that uses at least one double value will evaluate to a double value. (You may have noticed that + was also used to put text together in the input program above – more on this when we talk about strings.)

Java uses the operator == to test if the value on the left is equal to the value on the right and != to test if two items are not equal. Don’t get one equal sign = confused with two equal signs == ! They mean different things in Java. One equal sign is used to assign a value to a variable. Two equal signs are used to test a variable to see if it is a certain value and that returns true or false as you’ll see below. Use == and != only with int values and not doubles because double values are an approximation and 3.3333 will not equal 3.3334 even though they are very close.

Run the code below to see all the operators in action. Do all of those operators do what you expected? What about 2 / 3 ? Isn’t surprising that it prints 0 ? See the note below.

When Java sees you doing integer division (or any operation with integers) it assumes you want an integer result so it throws away anything after the decimal point in the answer, essentially rounding down the answer to a whole number. If you need a double answer, you should make at least one of the values in the expression a double like 2.0.

With division, another thing to watch out for is dividing by 0. An attempt to divide an integer by zero will result in an ArithmeticException error message. Try it in one of the active code windows above.

Operators can be used to create compound expressions with more than one operator. You can either use a literal value which is a fixed value like 2, or variables in them. When compound expressions are evaluated, operator precedence rules are used, so that *, /, and % are done before + and -. However, anything in parentheses is done first. It doesn’t hurt to put in extra parentheses if you are unsure as to what will be done first.

In the example below, try to guess what it will print out and then run it to see if you are right. Remember to consider operator precedence .

1-4-15: Consider the following code segment. Be careful about integer division.

What is printed when the code segment is executed?

• 0.666666666666667
• Don't forget that division and multiplication will be done first due to operator precedence.
• Yes, this is equivalent to (5 + ((a/b)*c) - 1).
• Don't forget that division and multiplication will be done first due to operator precedence, and that an int/int gives an int result where it is rounded down to the nearest int.

1-4-16: Consider the following code segment.

What is the value of the expression?

• Dividing an integer by an integer results in an integer
• Correct. Dividing an integer by an integer results in an integer
• The value 5.5 will be rounded down to 5

1-4-17: Consider the following code segment.

• Correct. Dividing a double by an integer results in a double
• Dividing a double by an integer results in a double

1-4-18: Consider the following code segment.

• Correct. Dividing an integer by an double results in a double
• Dividing an integer by an double results in a double

1.4.4. The Modulo Operator ¶

The percent sign operator ( % ) is the mod (modulo) or remainder operator. The mod operator ( x % y ) returns the remainder after you divide x (first number) by y (second number) so 5 % 2 will return 1 since 2 goes into 5 two times with a remainder of 1. Remember long division when you had to specify how many times one number went into another evenly and the remainder? That remainder is what is returned by the modulo operator.

Figure 2: Long division showing the whole number result and the remainder ¶

In the example below, try to guess what it will print out and then run it to see if you are right.

The result of x % y when x is smaller than y is always x . The value y can’t go into x at all (goes in 0 times), since x is smaller than y , so the result is just x . So if you see 2 % 3 the result is 2 .

1-4-21: What is the result of 158 % 10?

• This would be the result of 158 divided by 10. modulo gives you the remainder.
• modulo gives you the remainder after the division.
• When you divide 158 by 10 you get a remainder of 8.

1-4-22: What is the result of 3 % 8?

• 8 goes into 3 no times so the remainder is 3. The remainder of a smaller number divided by a larger number is always the smaller number!
• This would be the remainder if the question was 8 % 3 but here we are asking for the reminder after we divide 3 by 8.
• What is the remainder after you divide 3 by 8?

1.4.5. FlowCharting ¶

Assume you have 16 pieces of pizza and 5 people. If everyone gets the same number of slices, how many slices does each person get? Are there any leftover pieces?

In industry, a flowchart is used to describe a process through symbols and text. A flowchart usually does not show variable declarations, but it can show assignment statements (drawn as rectangle) and output statements (drawn as rhomboid).

The flowchart in figure 3 shows a process to compute the fair distribution of pizza slices among a number of people. The process relies on integer division to determine slices per person, and the mod operator to determine remaining slices.

Figure 3: Example Flow Chart ¶

A flowchart shows pseudo-code, which is like Java but not exactly the same. Syntactic details like semi-colons are omitted, and input and output is described in abstract terms.

Complete the program based on the process shown in the Figure 3 flowchart. Note the first line of code declares all 4 variables as type int. Add assignment statements and print statements to compute and print the slices per person and leftover slices. Use System.out.println for output.

1.4.6. Storing User Input in Variables ¶

Variables are a powerful abstraction in programming because the same algorithm can be used with different input values saved in variables.

Figure 4: Program input and output ¶

A Java program can ask the user to type in one or more values. The Java class Scanner is used to read from the keyboard input stream, which is referenced by System.in . Normally the keyboard input is typed into a console window, but since this is running in a browser you will type in a small textbox window displayed below the code. The code below shows an example of prompting the user to enter a name and then printing a greeting. The code String name = scan.nextLine() gets the string value you enter as program input and then stores the value in a variable.

Run the program a few times, typing in a different name. The code works for any name: behold, the power of variables!

Run this program to read in a name from the input stream. You can type a different name in the input window shown below the code.

Try stepping through the code with the CodeLens tool to see how the name variable is assigned to the value read by the scanner. You will have to click “Hide CodeLens” and then “Show in CodeLens” to enter a different name for input.

The Scanner class has several useful methods for reading user input. A token is a sequence of characters separated by white space.

Run this program to read in an integer from the input stream. You can type a different integer value in the input window shown below the code.

A rhomboid (slanted rectangle) is used in a flowchart to depict data flowing into and out of a program. The previous flowchart in Figure 3 used a rhomboid to indicate program output. A rhomboid is also used to denote reading a value from the input stream.

Figure 5: Flow Chart Reading User Input ¶

Figure 5 contains an updated version of the pizza calculator process. The first two steps have been altered to initialize the pizzaSlices and numPeople variables by reading two values from the input stream. In Java this will be done using a Scanner object and reading from System.in.

Complete the program based on the process shown in the Figure 5 flowchart. The program should scan two integer values to initialize pizzaSlices and numPeople. Run the program a few times to experiment with different values for input. What happens if you enter 0 for the number of people? The program will bomb due to division by zero! We will see how to prevent this in a later lesson.

The program below reads two integer values from the input stream and attempts to print the sum. Unfortunately there is a problem with the last line of code that prints the sum.

Run the program and look at the result. When the input is 5 and 7 , the output is Sum is 57 . Both of the + operators in the print statement are performing string concatenation. While the first + operator should perform string concatenation, the second + operator should perform addition. You can force the second + operator to perform addition by putting the arithmetic expression in parentheses ( num1 + num2 ) .

More information on using the Scanner class can be found here https://www.w3schools.com/java/java_user_input.asp

1.4.7. Programming Challenge : Dog Years ¶

In this programming challenge, you will calculate your age, and your pet’s age from your birthdates, and your pet’s age in dog years. In the code below, type in the current year, the year you were born, the year your dog or cat was born (if you don’t have one, make one up!) in the variables below. Then write formulas in assignment statements to calculate how old you are, how old your dog or cat is, and how old they are in dog years which is 7 times a human year. Finally, print it all out.

Calculate your age and your pet’s age from the birthdates, and then your pet’s age in dog years. If you want an extra challenge, try reading the values using a Scanner.

1.4.8. Summary ¶

Arithmetic expressions include expressions of type int and double.

The arithmetic operators consist of +, -, * , /, and % (modulo for the remainder in division).

An arithmetic operation that uses two int values will evaluate to an int value. With integer division, any decimal part in the result will be thrown away, essentially rounding down the answer to a whole number.

An arithmetic operation that uses at least one double value will evaluate to a double value.

Operators can be used to construct compound expressions.

During evaluation, operands are associated with operators according to operator precedence to determine how they are grouped. (*, /, % have precedence over + and -, unless parentheses are used to group those.)

An attempt to divide an integer by zero will result in an ArithmeticException to occur.

The assignment operator (=) allows a program to initialize or change the value stored in a variable. The value of the expression on the right is stored in the variable on the left.

During execution, expressions are evaluated to produce a single value.

The value of an expression has a type based on the evaluation of the expression.

1.7 Java | Assignment Statements & Expressions

An assignment statement designates a value for a variable. An assignment statement can be used as an expression in Java.

After a variable is declared, you can assign a value to it by using an assignment statement . In Java, the equal sign = is used as the assignment operator . The syntax for assignment statements is as follows:

An expression represents a computation involving values, variables, and operators that, when taking them together, evaluates to a value. For example, consider the following code:

You can use a variable in an expression. A variable can also be used on both sides of the =  operator. For example:

In the above assignment statement, the result of x + 1  is assigned to the variable x . Let’s say that x is 1 before the statement is executed, and so becomes 2 after the statement execution.

To assign a value to a variable, you must place the variable name to the left of the assignment operator. Thus the following statement is wrong:

Note that the math equation  x = 2 * x + 1  ≠ the Java expression x = 2 * x + 1

Which is equivalent to:

And this statement

is equivalent to:

Note: The data type of a variable on the left must be compatible with the data type of a value on the right. For example, int x = 1.0 would be illegal, because the data type of x is int (integer) and does not accept the double value 1.0 without Type Casting .

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Java provides many types of operators to perform a variety of calculations and functions, such as logical , arithmetic , relational , and others. With so many operators to choose from, it helps to group them based on the type of functionality they provide. This programming tutorial will focus on Java’s numerous a ssignment operators.

Before we begin, however, you may want to bookmark our other tutorials on Java operators, which include:

• Arithmetic Operators
• Comparison Operators
• Conditional Operators
• Logical Operators
• Bitwise and Shift Operators

Assignment Operators in Java

As the name conveys, assignment operators are used to assign values to a variable using the following syntax:

The left side operand of the assignment operator must be a variable, whereas the right side operand of the assignment operator may be a literal value or another variable. Moreover, the value or variable on the right side must be of the same data type of the operand on the left side. Otherwise, the compiler will raise an error. Assignment operators have a right to left associativity in that the value given on the right-hand side of the operator is assigned to the variable on the left. Therefore, the right-hand side variable must be declared before assignment.

You can learn more about variables in our programming tutorial: Working with Java Variables .

Types of Assignment Operators in Java

Java assignment operators are classified into two types: simple and compound .

The Simple assignment operator is the equals ( = ) sign, which is the most straightforward of the bunch. It simply assigns the value or variable on the right to the variable on the left.

Compound operators are comprised of both an arithmetic, bitwise, or shift operator in addition to the equals ( = ) sign.

Equals Operator (=) Java Example

First, let’s learn to use the one-and-only simple assignment operator – the Equals ( = ) operator – with the help of a Java program. It includes two assignments: a literal value to num1 and the num1 variable to num2 , after which both are printed to the console to show that the values have been assigned to the numbers:

The += Operator Java Example

A compound of the + and = operators, the += adds the current value of the variable on the left to the value on the right before assigning the result to the operand on the left. Here is some sample code to demonstrate how to use the += operator in Java:

The -= Operator Java Example

Made up of the – and = operators, the -= first subtracts the variable’s value on the right from the current value of the variable on the left before assigning the result to the operand on the left. We can see it at work below in the following code example showing how to decrement in Java using the -= operator:

The *= Operator Java Example

This Java operator is comprised of the * and = operators. It operates by multiplying the current value of the variable on the left to the value on the right and then assigning the result to the operand on the left. Here’s a program that shows the *= operator in action:

The /= Operator Java Example

A combination of the / and = operators, the /= Operator divides the current value of the variable on the left by the value on the right and then assigns the quotient to the operand on the left. Here is some example code showing how to use the  /= operator in Java:

%= Operator Java Example

The %= operator includes both the % and = operators. As seen in the program below, it divides the current value of the variable on the left by the value on the right and then assigns the remainder to the operand on the left:

Compound Bitwise and Shift Operators in Java

The Bitwise and Shift Operators that we just recently covered can also be utilized in compound form as seen in the list below:

• &= – Compound bitwise Assignment operator.
• ^= – Compound bitwise ^ assignment operator.
• >>= – Compound right shift assignment operator.
• >>>= – Compound right shift filled 0 assignment operator.
• <<= – Compound left shift assignment operator.

The following program demonstrates the working of all the Compound Bitwise and Shift Operators :

Final Thoughts on Java Assignment Operators

This programming tutorial presented an overview of Java’s simple and compound assignment Operators. An essential building block to any programming language, developers would be unable to store any data in their programs without them. Though not quite as indispensable as the equals operator, compound operators are great time savers, allowing you to perform arithmetic and bitwise operations and assignment in a single line of code.

Read more Java programming tutorials and guides to software development .

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Assignment Operator in Java with Example

Assignment operator is one of the simplest and most used operator in java programming language. As the name itself suggests, the assignment operator is used to assign value inside a variable. In java we can divide assignment operator in two types :

• Assignment operator or simple assignment operator
• Compound assignment operators

What is assignment operator in java

The = operator in java is known as assignment or simple assignment operator. It assigns the value on its right side to the operand(variable) on its left side. For example :

The left-hand side of an assignment operator must be a variable while the right side of it should be a value which can be in the form of a constant value, a variable name, an expression, a method call returning a compatible value or a combination of these.

The value at right side of assignment operator must be compatible with the data type of left side variable, otherwise compiler will throw compilation error. Following are incorrect assignment :

Another important thing about assignment operator is that, it is evaluated from right to left . If there is an expression at right side of assignment operator, it is evaluated first then the resulted value is assigned in left side variable.

Here in statement int x = a + b + c; the expression a + b + c is evaluated first, then the resulted value( 60 ) is assigned into x . Similarly in statement a = b = c , first the value of c which is 30 is assigned into b and then the value of b which is now 30 is assigned into a .

The variable at left side of an assignment operator can also be a non-primitive variable. For example if we have a class MyFirstProgram , we can assign object of MyFirstProgram class using = operator in MyFirstProgram type variable.

Is == an assignment operator ?

No , it's not an assignment operator, it's a relational operator used to compare two values.

Is assignment operator a binary operator

Yes , as it requires two operands.

Assignment operator program in Java

a = 2 b = 2 c = 4 d = 4 e = false

Java compound assignment operators

The assignment operator can be mixed or compound with other operators like addition, subtraction, multiplication etc. We call such assignment operators as compound assignment operator. For example :

Here the statement a += 10; is the short version of a = a + 10; the operator += is basically addition compound assignment operator. Similarly b *= 5; is short version of b = b * 5; the operator *= is multiplication compound assignment operator. The compound assignment can be in more complex form as well, like below :

List of all assignment operators in Java

The table below shows the list of all possible assignment(simple and compound) operators in java. Consider a is an integer variable for this table.

How many assignment operators are there in Java ?

Including simple and compound assignment we have total 12 assignment operators in java as given in above table.

What is shorthand operator in Java ?

Shorthand operators are nothing new they are just a shorter way to write something that is already available in java language. For example the code a += 5 is shorter way to write a = a + 5 , so += is a shorthand operator. In java all the compound assignment operator(given above) and the increment/decrement operators are basically shorthand operators.

Compound assignment operator program in Java

a = 20 b = 80 c = 30 s = 64 s2 = 110 b2 = 15

What is the difference between += and =+ in Java?

An expression a += 1 will result as a = a + 1 while the expression a =+ 1 will result as a = +1 . The correct compound statement is += , not =+ , so do not use the later one.

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Operators are used to perform operations on variables and values.

In the example below, we use the + operator to add together two values:

Try it Yourself »

Although the + operator is often used to add together two values, like in the example above, it can also be used to add together a variable and a value, or a variable and another variable:

Java divides the operators into the following groups:

• Arithmetic operators
• Assignment operators
• Comparison operators
• Logical operators
• Bitwise operators

Arithmetic Operators

Arithmetic operators are used to perform common mathematical operations.

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Java Assignment Operators

Assignment operators are used to assign values to variables.

In the example below, we use the assignment operator ( = ) to assign the value 10 to a variable called x :

The addition assignment operator ( += ) adds a value to a variable:

A list of all assignment operators:

Java Comparison Operators

Comparison operators are used to compare two values (or variables). This is important in programming, because it helps us to find answers and make decisions.

The return value of a comparison is either true or false . These values are known as Boolean values , and you will learn more about them in the Booleans and If..Else chapter.

In the following example, we use the greater than operator ( > ) to find out if 5 is greater than 3:

Java Logical Operators

You can also test for true or false values with logical operators.

Logical operators are used to determine the logic between variables or values:

Java Bitwise Operators

Bitwise operators are used to perform binary logic with the bits of an integer or long integer.

Note: The Bitwise examples above use 4-bit unsigned examples, but Java uses 32-bit signed integers and 64-bit signed long integers. Because of this, in Java, ~5 will not return 10. It will return -6. ~00000000000000000000000000000101 will return 11111111111111111111111111111010

In Java, 9 >> 1 will not return 12. It will return 4. 00000000000000000000000000001001 >> 1 will return 00000000000000000000000000000100

Test Yourself With Exercises

Multiply 10 with 5 , and print the result.

Start the Exercise

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Overview of Java

• Introduction to Java
• The Complete History of Java Programming Language
• C++ vs Java vs Python
• How to Download and Install Java for 64 bit machine?
• Setting up the environment in Java
• How to Download and Install Eclipse on Windows?
• JDK in Java
• How JVM Works - JVM Architecture?
• Differences between JDK, JRE and JVM
• Just In Time Compiler
• Difference between JIT and JVM in Java
• Difference between Byte Code and Machine Code
• How is Java platform independent?

Basics of Java

• Java Basic Syntax
• Java Hello World Program
• Java Data Types
• Primitive data type vs. Object data type in Java with Examples
• Java Identifiers

Operators in Java

• Java Variables
• Scope of Variables In Java

Wrapper Classes in Java

Input/output in java.

• How to Take Input From User in Java?
• Scanner Class in Java
• Java.io.BufferedReader Class in Java
• Difference Between Scanner and BufferedReader Class in Java
• Ways to read input from console in Java
• System.out.println in Java
• Difference between print() and println() in Java
• Formatted Output in Java using printf()
• Fast I/O in Java in Competitive Programming

Flow Control in Java

• Decision Making in Java (if, if-else, switch, break, continue, jump)
• Java if statement with Examples
• Java if-else
• Java if-else-if ladder with Examples
• Loops in Java
• For Loop in Java
• Java while loop with Examples
• Java do-while loop with Examples
• For-each loop in Java
• Continue Statement in Java
• Break statement in Java
• Usage of Break keyword in Java

return keyword in Java

• Java Arithmetic Operators with Examples
• Java Unary Operator with Examples
• Java Assignment Operators with Examples
• Java Relational Operators with Examples
• Java Logical Operators with Examples
• Java Ternary Operator with Examples
• Bitwise Operators in Java
• Strings in Java
• String class in Java
• Java.lang.String class in Java | Set 2
• Why Java Strings are Immutable?
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• String vs StringBuilder vs StringBuffer in Java
• StringTokenizer Class in Java
• StringTokenizer Methods in Java with Examples | Set 2
• StringJoiner Class in Java
• Arrays in Java
• Arrays class in Java
• Multidimensional Arrays in Java
• Different Ways To Declare And Initialize 2-D Array in Java
• Jagged Array in Java
• Final Arrays in Java
• Reflection Array Class in Java
• util.Arrays vs reflect.Array in Java with Examples

OOPS in Java

• Object Oriented Programming (OOPs) Concept in Java
• Why Java is not a purely Object-Oriented Language?
• Classes and Objects in Java
• Naming Conventions in Java
• Java Methods

Access Modifiers in Java

• Java Constructors
• Four Main Object Oriented Programming Concepts of Java

Inheritance in Java

Abstraction in java, encapsulation in java, polymorphism in java, interfaces in java.

• 'this' reference in Java
• Inheritance and Constructors in Java
• Java and Multiple Inheritance
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• Association, Composition and Aggregation in Java
• Comparison of Inheritance in C++ and Java
• abstract keyword in java
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• Difference between Inheritance and Polymorphism
• Dynamic Method Dispatch or Runtime Polymorphism in Java
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Constructors in Java

• Copy Constructor in Java
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• Private Constructors and Singleton Classes in Java

Methods in Java

• Static methods vs Instance methods in Java
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• Differences between Interface and Class in Java
• Functional Interfaces in Java
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• Marker interface in Java
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• Need of Wrapper Classes in Java
• Different Ways to Create the Instances of Wrapper Classes in Java
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• Java.Lang.Byte class in Java
• Java.Lang.Short class in Java
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Keywords in Java

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• Public vs Protected vs Package vs Private Access Modifier in Java
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Memory Allocation in Java

• Java Memory Management
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Classes of Java

• Understanding Classes and Objects in Java
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Packages in Java

• Packages In Java
• How to Create a Package in Java?
• Java.util Package in Java
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• Java Collection Tutorial

Exception Handling in Java

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• Differences between IPv4 and IPv6
• Difference between Connection-oriented and Connection-less Services
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JDBC - Java Database Connectivity

• Introduction to JDBC (Java Database Connectivity)
• JDBC Drivers
• Establishing JDBC Connection in Java
• Types of Statements in JDBC
• JDBC Tutorial
• Java 8 Features - Complete Tutorial

In Java, return is a reserved keyword i.e., we can’t use it as an identifier. It is used to exit from a method, with or without a value. Usage of return keyword as there exist two ways as listed below as follows: 

Case 1: Methods returning a value

Case 2: methods not returning a value.

Let us illustrate by directly implementing them as follows:

For methods that define a return type, return statement must be immediately followed by return value. 

Output explanation: When we are calling a class GFG method that has return sum which returns the value of sum and that’s value gets displayed on the console.

Time Complexity of the above Method:

Time Complexity: O(1) Auxiliary Space : O(1)

For methods that do not return a value, return statement in Java can be skipped. here there arise two cases when there is no value been returned by the user as listed below as follows:

#1: Method not using return statement in void function

• #2: Methods with return type void  

Note: Return statement not required ( but can be used ) for methods with return type void. We can use “return;” which means not return anything . 

#2: Methods with void return type

Example 1-A:

Output explanation: If the statement if(j<9) is true then control exits from the method and does not execute the rest of the statement of the RR method and hence comes back again to main() method .

Now moving ahead geek you must be wondering what if we do use return statement at the end of the program?

return statement can be used at various places in the method but we need to ensure that it must be the last statement to get executed in a method.

Note : return statement need not to be last statement in a method, but it must be last statement to execute in a method. 

Example 1-B:

Output explanation: 

As the condition (i<9) becomes true, it executes return statement, and hence flow comes out of ‘demofunction’ method and comes back again to main. Following this, the return statement must be the last statement to execute in a method, which means there is no point in defining any code after return which is clarified below as follows:

Example 2A:

Example 2-B:

Note: In the above program we do uncomment statements it will throw an error.

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The Java Tutorials have been written for JDK 8. Examples and practices described in this page don't take advantage of improvements introduced in later releases and might use technology no longer available. See Java Language Changes for a summary of updated language features in Java SE 9 and subsequent releases. See JDK Release Notes for information about new features, enhancements, and removed or deprecated options for all JDK releases.

Returning a Value from a Method

A method returns to the code that invoked it when it

• completes all the statements in the method,
• reaches a return statement, or
• throws an exception (covered later),

whichever occurs first.

You declare a method's return type in its method declaration. Within the body of the method, you use the return statement to return the value.

Any method declared void doesn't return a value. It does not need to contain a return statement, but it may do so. In such a case, a return statement can be used to branch out of a control flow block and exit the method and is simply used like this:

If you try to return a value from a method that is declared void , you will get a compiler error.

Any method that is not declared void must contain a return statement with a corresponding return value, like this:

The data type of the return value must match the method's declared return type; you can't return an integer value from a method declared to return a boolean.

The getArea() method in the Rectangle Rectangle class that was discussed in the sections on objects returns an integer:

This method returns the integer that the expression width*height evaluates to.

The getArea method returns a primitive type. A method can also return a reference type. For example, in a program to manipulate Bicycle objects, we might have a method like this:

Returning a Class or Interface

If this section confuses you, skip it and return to it after you have finished the lesson on interfaces and inheritance.

When a method uses a class name as its return type, such as whosFastest does, the class of the type of the returned object must be either a subclass of, or the exact class of, the return type. Suppose that you have a class hierarchy in which ImaginaryNumber is a subclass of java.lang.Number , which is in turn a subclass of Object , as illustrated in the following figure .

The class hierarchy for ImaginaryNumber

Now suppose that you have a method declared to return a Number :

The returnANumber method can return an ImaginaryNumber but not an Object . ImaginaryNumber is a Number because it's a subclass of Number . However, an Object is not necessarily a Number — it could be a String or another type.

You can override a method and define it to return a subclass of the original method, like this:

This technique, called covariant return type , means that the return type is allowed to vary in the same direction as the subclass.

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Java Bitwise AND Assignment (&=) Operator

Java bitwise and assignment.

In Java, Bitwise AND Assignment Operator is used to compute the Bitwise AND operation of left and right operands, and assign the result back to left operand. In this tutorial, we will learn how to use Bitwise AND Assignment operator in Java, with examples.

The syntax to compute bitwise AND a value of 2 and value in variable x , and assign the result back to x using Bitwise AND Assignment Operator is

In the following example, we take a variable x with an initial value of 9 , add bitwise AND it with value of 2 , and assign the result to x , using Bitwise AND Assignment Operator.

In this Java Tutorial , we learned about Bitwise AND Assignment Operator in Java, with examples.

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