How to Generate Random Numbers in Java between Range - Example Tutorial

In software development and programming world we often needs to generate random numbers, some time random integers in a range e.g. 1 to 100 etc. Thankfully, Random number generation in Java is easy as Java API provides good support for random numbers via java.util.Random class, Math.random() utility method and recently ThreadLocalRandom class in Java 7, along with more popular features like String in Switch and ARM blocks. While random() method seems most convenient way of generating randoms in Java it only return random doubles, on the other hand by using Random,  you can generate pseudo-random integer, floating point numbers e.g. double and even random boolean values. In this article Java tutorial, we will see how to generate random numbers in Java, examples to generating random integers and real numbers, and random numbers within a range e.g. between 1 to 6. we will also explore difference between Math.random() and java.util.Random class in Java.

Difference between Abstract class vs Interface in Java and When to use them

When to use interface and abstract class is one of the most popular object oriented design questions and almost always asked in Java, C# and C++ interviews. In this article, we will mostly talk in context of Java programming language, but it equally applies to other languages as well. Question usually starts with difference between abstract class and interface in Java, which is rather easy to answer, especially if you are familiar with syntax of Java interface and abstract class. Things start getting difficult when interviewer ask about when to use abstract class and interface in Java, which is mostly based upon solid understanding of popular OOPS concept like Polymorphism, Encapsulation, Abstraction, Inheritance and Composition. Many programmer fumbles here, which is natural because most of them haven't gone through real system design process and haven’t seen the impact of choosing one over other. Repercussion of design decisions are best known during maintenance phase, a good design allows seamless evolution while maintaining a fragile design is nightmare. As I have said previously, some time object oriented design interview questions also helps to understand a topic better, but only if you are willing to do some research and not just mugging the answer. Questions like when to use abstract class and interface falls under same category. In order to best understand this topic, you need to work out some scenarios, examples etc. It's best to get this kind of knowledge as part of your work but even if you don't get there, you can supplement them by reading some good books like Head First design pattern and doing some object-oriented software design exercises. In this article, we will learn difference between abstract class and interface in Java programming language and based upon our understanding of those differences, we will try to find out some tips and guidelines to decide when its better to use abstract class over interface or vice-versa.

How to Find if Linked List contains Loops or Cycles in Java - Coding Question

Write a Java program to check if a linked list is circular or cyclic,  and how do you find if a linked list contains loop or cycles in Java are some common linked list related data structure interview questions asked in various Java Interviews. This is some time asked as follow-up question of basic linked list questions like inserting element at beginning, middle and end of linked list or finding length of linked list. In order to solve linked list related algorithmic question in Java, you need to be familiar with concept of singly linked list, doubly linked list and circular linked list. Until stated specifically, most questions are based on singly linked list. For those who are not familiar of linked list data structure, its a collection of nodes. Each node contains two parts data and address, where address part points to another node in linked list. Last node of linked list, often referred as tail points to null. Also a singly list can only move in one direction, towards end. Now, let's come back to this question. Good thing about this question is that, it can also be solved by using two pointer approach discussed in How to find middle element of linked list in single pass. If a linked list contains a loop or cycle it is known as circular or cyclic linked list. As I said we can use two pointer approach to check if a linked list is circular or not.