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An identifier is the name of an element in the code. There are certain standard naming conventions to follow when selecting names for elements. Identifiers in Java are case-sensitive. An identifier can contain: Any Unicode character that is a letter (including numeric letters like Roman numerals) or digit. Currency sign (such as ¥).
A snippet of Java code with keywords highlighted in blue and bold font. In the Java programming language, a keyword is any one of 68 reserved words [1] that have a predefined meaning in the language. Because of this, programmers cannot use keywords in some contexts, such as names for variables, methods, classes, or as any other identifier. [2]
In computer science, a literal is a textual representation (notation) of a value as it is written in source code. [1] [2] Almost all programming languages have notations for atomic values such as integers, floating-point numbers, and strings, and usually for Booleans and characters; some also have notations for elements of enumerated types and compound values such as arrays, records, and objects.
Which character sequences constitute identifiers depends on the lexical grammar of the language. A common rule is alphanumeric sequences, with underscore also allowed (in some languages, _ is not allowed), and with the condition that it can not begin with a numerical digit (to simplify lexing by avoiding confusing with integer literals) – so foo, foo1, foo_bar, _foo are allowed, but 1foo is ...
longer identifiers may be disfavored because of visual clutter; It is an open research issue whether some programmers prefer shorter identifiers because they are easier to type, or think up, than longer identifiers, or because in many situations a longer identifier simply clutters the visible code and provides no perceived additional benefit.
A character literal is a type of literal in programming for the representation of a single character's value within the source code of a computer program.. Languages that have a dedicated character data type generally include character literals; these include C, C++, Java, [1] and Visual Basic. [2]
For instance, the lexical grammar for many programming languages specifies that a string literal starts with a " character and continues until a matching " is found (escaping makes this more complicated), that an identifier is an alphanumeric sequence (letters and digits, usually also allowing underscores, and disallowing initial digits), and ...
A notable example is in Java, where const and goto are reserved words — they have no meaning in Java but they also cannot be used as identifiers. By reserving the terms, they can be implemented in future versions of Java, if desired, without breaking older Java source code.