Keywords

There are certain words with a specific meaning in java which tell (help) the compiler what the program is supposed to do. These Keywords cannot be used as variable names, class names, or method names. Keywords in java are case sensitive, all characters being lower case.

Keywords are reserved words that are predefined in the language; see the table below (Taken from Sun Java Site). All the keywords are in lowercase.

abstract    default    if            private      this

boolean     do         implements    protected    throw

break       double     import        public       throws

byte        else       instanceof    return       transient

case        extends    int           short        try

catch       final      interface     static       void

char        finally    long          strictfp     volatile

class       float      native        super        while

const       for        new           switch

continue    goto       package       synchronized

Keywords are marked in yellow as shown in the sample code below
/** This class is a Hello World Program used to introduce
the Java Language*/
public class HelloWorld {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println(”Hello World”); //Prints output to console
}
}


Some Tricky Observations: The words virtual, ifdef, typedef, friend, struct and union are all words related to
the C programming language. const and goto are Java keywords. The word finalize is the name of a method
of the Object class and hence not a keyword. enum and label are not keywords.