Ship
from David Barnes' book this year, the notes on averages available
here are still very relevant, and the example code still available.
So you should read these notes and experiment with the code. You should also
read the material in your textbook(s) on while loops. Remember that
different textbooks introduce material on programming in different orders,
so you may find the section on while loops comes after other material on
aspects of programming with Java that we haven't covered yet. Any site on
the web which introduces Java will have a section on loops in Java (though
often selection statement using if are introduced
first). Here's a few examples of suitable further reading:
The term aliasing for the way that two variables can refer to the same object in Java is not always used in textbooks, but it's an important concept even if not always given that name. You can find "aliasing" in the index of the Barnes textbook. But the idea is explained (though not given that name) in section 3.8 (page 126) of the Horstmann textbook. Some slides on object concepts, such as aliasing, produced at Yale University can be found here.
Matthew Huntbach 17th October 2000