What is a variable in Java

Variables in a computer program is similar to variables in mathematics. In mathematics we use to define variable to solve a problem, similarly in computer programming we use to define variables in a program to solve a problem or accomplish a task.

Think of variable as a "Bucket" or "Envelope" where you can store information. These bucket has a name called as variable name. The information stored in a bucket can be accessed later in program by it's name. They are called variables because the information stored in it can be changed. Basic syntax of declaring a variable in java is:

 Data_Type variable_name = value;

Here in place of Data_Type you need to specify the data type of variable, after that the name of the variable and then the variable value at right side of = operator with a semicolon(;) at the end of the declaration. For example :

  int age = 20; // variable name age with data type as int and value as 20	

Now let's understand the different components of a variable declaration :

• Data_Type of variable - Mandatory
• Name of variable - Mandatory
• Value of variable - Optional

Each variable must have a Data Type, it can be primitive or non primitive data type. The data type of a variable represents what type of data that variable can store. For example int data type can store integer type values like 10, 20, 1000 etc while float data type can store float type values like 1.2, 10.5, 0.25 etc.

Each variable must also have a Name. The name of a variable is used to refer that variable value inside the program. The name of a variable must be unique. There are some rules and convention for writing variable names, you will get the detail about this in naming convention for identifiers tutorial.

Each variable will also have a value, either it is given by programmer or a default value is assigned by java as per it's data type. So if you declare a variable like below java will assign a default value.

  int num1;

Here as we have not assigned any value to variable num1, java assigns a default value which is 0 for int data type. Refer the data type tutorial to see the default values for each data type in java.

Variable declaration and initialization in Java

Declaration and initialization of variable are two terms that is used most frequently with variables. Declaration means declaring or creating a variable while Initialization means assigning some value to that variable.

  int speed; // Declaring or creating a variable name speed
  speed = 100;  // Initializing variable speed with value as 100
  int num1, num2; // Declaring variable num1 and num2
  num1 = 10; num2 = 20  // Initializing variable num1 and num2
  int count = 10;  // Declaration and initialization together of variable count
  double a= 10.5, b = 20.25; // Declaration and initialization together of variable a and b	

Variable program in Java

 class VariableProgram {
   public static void main(String [] args) {          
      // declaring single variable
      int a = 20;  
      // declaring multiple variable
      int b = 30, c = a, d; 
      d = a + b;
      System.out.println("d = " +d);            	
      double pi = 3.14159; 
      System.out.println("value of pi = " +pi);            
      boolean e = true, f = a>c;  
      System.out.println("e = "+e+ "\nf = "+f);             
    }
 }

Output:

Following are some of the common mistakes in declaring variables in java :

 int a = 20 // missing semicolon(;) at the end. Correct is ->  int a = 20; 
 int b c; // two variables must be separated by comma(,) if declared in same line. Correct is -> int b, c;
 int d = 20.5; // Can't assign float value in int data type
 int p, int q; // Correct is -> int p; int q;  or int p, q;
 int p = int q; // Right side of = operator must be an expression or value, not variable declaration

Variables can be declared at different places inside a program like inside class, methods, constructors, blocks etc. As per the declaration places, variables are divided in different types which we will see in the next tutorial.

We can also use access modifiers with variable declarations which decides the accessibility of variables in java. Refer access modifiers in java tutorial to get more detail about that.