Yes. Otherwise it would not be clear what its bits represent.
Here is a program that uses the variable payAmount
.
class Example
{
public static void main ( String[] args )
{
long payAmount = 123; //a declaration of a variable
System.out.println("The variable contains: " + payAmount );
}
}
The line long payAmount = 123;
is a declaration
of a variable.
A declaration of a variable is where a program
says that it needs a variable.
For our small programs, declaration statements
will be placed between the two braces of the main
method.
The declaration gives a name and a data type for the variable.
It may also ask that a particular value be placed in the variable.
In a high level language (such as Java)
the programmer does not need to worry about how the computer hardware
actually does what was asked.
If you ask for a variable of type long
, you get it.
Details like bytes and memory addresses are up to the Java compiler.
In the example program,
the declaration requests a 64 bit section of memory
named payAmount
which uses the primitive data type long
.
When the program starts running,
the variable will initially have the value 123 stored in it.
A variable cannot be used in a program unless it has been declared. A variable can be declared only once.
What do you think the program prints on the monitor? (You should be able to figure this out.)