Java Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 2-18.
9.
In the Outline view, click on displayName( ).
Notice that the source code is shifted to display the item that was clicked (i.e., the displayName method) and the
name of the item clicked is selected. In addition, in the marker bar (located to the left of the line numbers) a blue bar
indicates the source code that comprises the clicked item.
In addition to quickly moving to locations within the source code, RAD allows “hiding” portions of the source
code. Notice the circles with a minus sign to the left of each method header (for instance, lines 7 and 12). These lines
are the start of a block of source code (or comments). Moving the mouse cursor over the circle will display a black
bracket that indicates the lines “controlled” by the circle. Clicking the circle will hide the indicated lines, in this case,
the body of the method. (You can tell there is hidden code because the minus sign will change to a plus sign.
In addition, if you look at the line numbers, you will see that some line numbers are missing.) Again, this is
a useful tool for “simplifying” the source code that is displayed.
10.
Click on the green circle with the white C, next to Employee in the outline view.
Within the source code, the cursor is moved to the class name in the class header. As your classes get larger
moving within the source code using the outline view is very handy.
Although icons are helpful, they do not thoroughly explain the various variables and methods. Fortunately,
there is wealth of documentation available online that does.
Tutorial: Exploring the JRE through Online Documentation
There are several sites that provide a wealth of information for Java programmers. We will show a couple.
Start Internet Explorer and enter
http://download.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/
1.
A nice diagram is displayed that shows the various components of the JDK and JRE (see Figure
2-19
). As you
can see there is a lot more to both of these than we have discussed (or will discuss). You can click on any of the
components in the diagram to get further information.
