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C

The Java Class Library

by Laura Lemay

This appendix provides a general overview of the classes available in the standard Java packages (that is, the classes that are guaranteed to be available in any Java implementation). This appendix is intended for general reference; for more information about class inheritance and the exceptions defined for each package, see Appendix B. For more specific information about each class and the methods within each class, see the API documentation from Sun at http://java.sun.com. A copy of the 1.0 API documentation is on the CD-ROM included with this book.

java.lang

The java.lang package contains the classes and interfaces that make up the core Java language.

(d)Interfaces

Cloneable

Inteface indicating that an object may be copied or cloned

Runnable

Methods for classes that want to run as threads

Classes

Boolean

Object wrapper for boolean values

Character

Object wrapper for char values

Class

Run-time representations of classes

ClassLoader

Abstract behavior for handling loading of classes

Compiler

System class that gives access to the Java compiler

Double

Object wrapper for double values

Float

Object wrapper for float values

Integer

Object wrapper for int values

Long

Object wrapper for long values

Math

Utility class for math operations

Number

Abstract superclass of all number classes (Integer, Float, and so on)

Object

Generic Object class, at top of inheritance hierarchy

Process

Abstract behavior for processes such as those spawned using methods in the System class

Runtime

Access to the Java run-time

SecurityManager

Abstract behavior for implementing security policies

String

Character strings

StringBuffer

Mutable strings

System

Access to Java's system-level behavior, provided in a platform-independent way

Thread

Methods for managing threads and classes that run in threads

ThreadDeath

Class of object thrown when a thread is asynchronously terminated.

ThreadGroup

A group of threads

Throwable

Generic Exception class; all objects thrown must be a Throwable

java.util

The java.util package contains various utility classes and interfaces, including random numbers, system properties, and other useful classes.

Interfaces

Enumeration

Methods for enumerating sets of values

Observer

Methods for allowing classes to observe Observable objects

Classes

BitSet

A set of bits

Date

The current system date, as well as methods for generating and parsing dates

Dictionary

An abstract class that maps between keys and values (superclass of HashTable)

Hashtable

A hash table

Observable

An abstract class for observable objects

Properties

A hashtable that contains behavior for setting and retrieving persistent properties of the system or of a class

Random

Utilities for generating random numbers

Stack

A stack (a last-in-first-out queue)

StringTokenizer

Utilities for splitting strings into a sequence of individual "tokens"

Vector

A growable array of Objects

java.io

The java.io package provides input and output classes and interfaces for streams and files.

Interfaces

DataInput

Methods for reading machine-independent typed input streams

DataOutput

Methods for writing machine-independent typed output streams

FilenameFilter

Methods for filtering file names

Classes

BufferedInputStream

A buffered input stream

BufferedOutputStream

A buffered output stream

ByteArrayInputStream

An input stream from a byte array

ByteArrayOutputStream

An output stream to a byte array

DataInputStream

Enables you to read primitive Java types (ints, chars, booleans, and so on) from a stream in a machine-independent way

DataOutputStream

Enables you to write primitive Java data types (ints, chars, booleans, and so on) to a stream in a machine-independent way

File

Represents a file on the host's file system

FileDescriptor

Holds onto the UNIX-like file descriptor of a file or socket

FileInputStream

An input stream from a file, constructed using a filename or descriptor

FileOutputStream

An output stream to a file, constructed using a filename or descriptor

FilterInputStream

Abstract class which provides a filter for input streams (and for adding stream functionality such as buffering)

FilterOutputStream

Abstract class which provides a filter for output streams (and for adding stream functionality such as buffering)

InputStream

An abstract class representing an input stream of bytes; the parent of all input streams in this package

LineNumberInputStream

An input stream that keeps track of line numbers

OutputStream

An abstract class representing an output stream of bytes; the parent of all output streams in this package

PipedInputStream

A piped input stream, which should be connected to a PipedOutputStream to be useful

PipedOutputStream

A piped output stream, which should be connected to a PipedInputStream to be useful (together they provide safe communication between threads)

PrintStream

An output stream for printing (used by System.out.println(...))

PushbackInputStream

An input stream with a 1-byte push back buffer

RandomAccessFile

Provides random-access to a file, constructed from filenames, descriptors, or objects

SequenceInputStream

Converts a sequence of input streams into a single input steam

StreamTokenizer

Converts an input stream into a sequence of individual tokens

StringBufferInputStream

An input stream from a String object

java.net

The java.net package contains classes and interfaces for performing network operations, such as sockets and URLs.

Interfaces

ContentHandlerFactory

Methods for creating ContentHandler objects

SocketImplFactory

Methods for creating socket implementations (instance of the SocketImpl class)

URLStreamHandlerFactory

Methods for creating URLStreamHandler objects

Classes

ContentHandler

Abstract behavior for reading data from a URL connection and constructing the appropriate local object, based on MIME types

DatagramPacket

A datagram packet (UDP)

DatagramSocket

A datagram socket

InetAddress

An object representation of an Internet host (host name, IP address)

ServerSocket

A server-side socket

Socket

A socket

SocketImpl

An abstract class for specific socket implementations

URL

An object representation of a URL

URLConnection

Abstract behavior for a socket that can handle various Web-based protocols (http, ftp, and so on)

URLEucoder

Turns strings into x-www-form-urlencoded format

URLStreamHandler

Abstract class for managing streams to object referenced by URLs

java.awt

The java.awt package contains the classes and interfaces that make up the Abstract Windowing Toolkit.

Interfaces

LayoutManager

Methods for laying out containers

MenuContainer

Methods for menu-related containers

Classes

BorderLayout

A layout manager for arranging items in border formation

Button

A UI pushbutton

Canvas

A canvas for drawing and performing other graphics operations

CardLayout

A layout manager for HyperCard-like metaphors

Checkbox

A checkbox

CheckboxGroup

A group of exclusive checkboxes (radio buttons)

CheckboxMenuItem

A toggle menu item

Choice

A popup menu of choices

Color

An abstract representation of a color

Component

The abstract generic class for all UI components

Container

Abstract behavior for a component that can hold other components or containers

Dialog

A window for brief interactions with users

Dimension

An object representing width and height

Event

An object representing events caused by the system or based on user input

FileDialog

A dialog for getting file names from the local file system

FlowLayout

A layout manager that lays out objects from left to right in rows

Font

An abstract representation of a font

FontMetrics

Abstract class for holding information about a specific font's character shapes and height and width infor-mation

Frame

A top-level window with a title

Graphics

Abstract behavior for representing a graphics context, and for drawing and painting shapes and objects

GridBagConstraints

Constraints for components laid out using GridBagLayout

GridBagLayout

A layout manager that aligns components horizontally and vertically based on their values from GridBagConstraints

GridLayout

A layout manager with rows and columns; elements are added to each cell in the grid

Image

An abstract representation of a bitmap image

Insets

Distances from the outer border of the window; used to lay out components

Label

A text label for UI components

List

A scrolling list

MediaTracker

A way to keep track of the status of media objects being loaded over the net

Menu

A menu, which can contain menu items and is a container on a menubar

MenuBar

A menubar (container for menus)

MenuComponent

The abstract superclass of all menu elements

MenuItem

An individual menu item

Panel

A container that is displayed

Point

An object representing a point (x and y coordinates)

Polygon

An object representing a set of points

Rectangle

An object representing a rectangle (x and y coordinates for the top corner, plus width and height)

Scrollbar

A UI scrollbar object

TextArea

A multiline, scrollable, editable text field

TextComponent

The superclass of all editable text components

TextField

A fixed-size editable text field

Toolkit

Abstract behavior for binding the abstract AWT classes to a platform-specific toolkit implementation

Window

A top-level window, and the superclass of the Frame and Dialog classes

java.awt.image

The java.awt.image package is a subpackage of the AWT that provides classes for managing bitmap images.

Interfaces

ImageConsumer

Methods for receiving image data created by an ImageProducer

ImageObserver

Methods to track the loading and construction of an image

ImageProducer

Methods for producing image data received by an ImageConsumer

Classes

ColorModel

An abstract class for managing color information for images

CropImageFilter

A filter for cropping images to a particular size

DirectColorModel

A specific color model for managing and translating pixel color values

FilteredImageSource

An ImageProducer that takes an image and an ImageFilter object and produces an image for an ImageConsumer

ImageFilter

A filter that takes image data from an ImageProducer, modifies it in some way, and hands it off to a ImageConsumer

IndexColorModel

A specific color model for managing and translating color values in a fixed-color map

MemoryImageSource

An image producer that gets its image from memory; used after constructing an image by hand

PixelGrabber

An ImageConsumer that retrieves a subset of the pixels in an image

RGBImageFilter

Abstract behavior for a filter that modifies the RGB values of pixels in RGB images

java.awt.peer

The java.awt.peer package is a subpackage of AWT that provides the (hidden) platform-specific AWT classes (for example, for Motif, Macintosh, or Windows 95) with platform-independent interfaces to implement. Thus, callers using these interfaces need not know which platform's window system these hidden AWT classes are currently implementing.

Each class in the AWT that inherits from either Component or MenuComponent has a corresponding peer class. Each of those classes is the name of the Component with -Peer added (for example, ButtonPeer, DialogPeer, and WindowPeer). Because each one provides similar behavior, they are not enumerated here.

java.applet

The java.applet package provides applet-specific behavior.

Interfaces

AppletContext

Methods to refer to the applet's context

AppletStub

Methods for implementing applet viewers

AudioClip

Methods for playing audio files

Classes

Applet

The base applet class

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