Only thePrompt is given a default value for reasons which will be explained below. It does not actually specify at this stage the number of String s which will be stored in it, merely that it is an iteration. An iterative structure such as this is known as an array . The final two variables, minimumOption and maximumOption identify the range of acceptable responses. The declaration of private attributes concludes with lines 0017 and 0018.
Streams are places where data can be sent out of, or received into, a program.
The destination, or origin, of the data can include disk files, modems, network connections or, for System.out , the screen and, for System.in , the keyboard. When information is sent to the screen no special processing of the data is required and so the System.out stream, which is a raw stream , can be used. When information is obtained from the keyboard raw data would not be especially useful. The raw data stream from the keyboard only knows about characters and not about integers, strings or floating point values. The declaration of the keyboard java.io.DataInputStream object, on lines 0017 and 0018, provides a stream which knows about the formatting of data.