What is user-defined exception in java ?

Answer : User-defined expections are the exceptions defined by the application developer which are errors related to specific application. Application Developer can define the user defined exception by inherite the Exception class as shown below. Using this class we can throw new exceptions.

Java Example :

public class noFundException extends Exception {
}

Throw an exception using a throw statement:

public class Fund {

...
public Object getFunds() throws noFundException {

if (Empty()) throw new noFundException();
...

}
}

User-defined exceptions should usually be checked.

How to Make a Java Class Immutable ?

Making a class immutable.
Immutability must be familiar to every one when we talk about String & StringBuffer classes in java. Strings are considered immutable because the values contained in the reference variable cannot be changed. Whereas String Buffer is considered mutable because the value in a string buffer can be changed (i.e. mutable).

However I always thought how to make our user defined classes as immutable though I am unaware as to why any one would need this.

The reason perhaps might be clear once we have a look at the code.

Now in order to make a class immutable we must restrict changing the state of the class object by any means. This in turn means avoiding an assignment to a variable. We can achieve this through a final modifier. To further restrict the access we can use a private access modifier. Above do not provide any method where we modify the instance variables.

Still done? No. How if some body creates a sub class from our up till now immutable class? Yes here lies the problem. The new subclass can contain methods, which over ride our base class (immutable class) methods. Here he can change the variable values.

Hence make the methods in the class also final. Or a better approach. Make the immutable class itself final. Hence cannot make any sub classes, so no question of over ridding.

The following code gives a way to make the class immutable.

/*
Code Developed Satya
This code demonstrates the way to make a class immutable
*/

// The immutable class which is made final
final class MyImmutableClass
{
// instance var are made private & final to restrict the access

private final int count;
private final double value;

// Constructor where we can provide the constant value
public MyImmutableClass(int paramCount,double paramValue)
{
count = paramCount;
value = paramValue;
}

// provide only methods which return the instance var
// & not change the values

public int getCount()
{
return count;
}

public double getValue()
{
return value;
}
}

// class TestImmutable
public class TestImmutable
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
MyImmutableClass obj1 = new MyImmutableClass(3,5);

System.out.println(obj1.getCount());
System.out.println(obj1.getValue());

// there is no way to change the values of count & value-
// no method to call besides getXX, no subclassing, no public access to var -> Immutable
}
}

The possible use of immutable classes would be a class containing a price list represented for a set of products.
Otherwise also this represents a good design.

garbage collection

Garbage collection is an important part of Java's security strategy. Garbage collection is also called automatic memory management as JVM automatically removes the unused variables/objects from the memory. The name "garbage collection" implies that objects that are no longer needed by the program are "garbage" and can be thrown away. A more accurate and up-to-date metaphor might be "memory recycling." When an object is no longer referenced by the program, the heap space it occupies must be recycled so that the space is available for subsequent new objects. The garbage collector must somehow determine which objects are no longer referenced by the program and make available the heap space occupied by such unreferenced objects. In the process of freeing unreferenced objects, the garbage collector must run any finalizers of objects being freed. In Java, it is good idea to explicitly assign null into a variable when no more in use.

what are the different ways to create objects in Java?

There are five different ways (I really don’t know is there a sixth way to do this) to create objects in java:

1. Using new keyword
This is the most common way to create an object in java. I read somewhere that almost 99% of objects are created in this way.

MyObject object = new MyObject();

2. Using Class.forName()
If we know the name of the class & if it has a public default constructor we can create an object in this way.

MyObject object = (MyObject) Class.forName("subin.rnd.MyObject").newInstance();

3. Using clone()
The clone() can be used to create a copy of an existing object.

MyObject anotherObject = new MyObject();
MyObject object = anotherObject.clone();

4. Using object deserialization
Object deserialization is nothing but creating an object from its serialized form.

ObjectInputStream inStream = new ObjectInputStream(anInputStream );
MyObject object = (MyObject) inStream.readObject();Now you know how to create an object. But its advised to create objects only when it is necessary to do

5. Using classloader

like this.getClass().getClassLoader().loadClass(”com.amar.myobject”).newInstance();

How to iterate Map in java?

No direct iteration over Maps -- Get Set of keys or key-value pairs from Map to iterate.
Maps do not provide an iterator() method as do Lists and Sets. A Set of either keys (keySet()) or key-value Map.Entry elements (entrySet()) can be obtained from the Map, and one can iterate over that.

Example:

public static void dumpMap(Map mp) {
Iterator it = mp.entrySet().iterator();
while (it.hasNext()) {
Map.Entry pairs = (Map.Entry)it.next();
System.out.println(pairs.getKey() + " = " + pairs.getValue());
}
}