Keywords are special reserved words in java. There are 48 reserved keywords in the java language. These keywords cannot be used as names for a variable,class or method. In addition to these 48 reserved keywords java also reserves : true, false and null. These also may not be used for names of variables, classes. Any book on Java that you refer to will enumerate these reserved keywords. Hope it is clear.
Yes, keywords are reserved words. Many books on java list the keywords and the reserved words together. Some books have 49 reserved/keywords. But why are the 3 extra reserved words not keywords? Why are they different? Marilyn
JavaBeginnersFaq "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift; that's why they call it the present." Eleanor Roosevelt
The following character sequences, formed from ASCII letters, are reserved for use as keywords and cannot be used as identifiers (�3.8): Keyword: one of abstract default if private this boolean do implements protected throw break double import public throws byte else instanceof return transient case extends int short try catch final interface static void char finally long strictfp volatile class float native super while const for new switch continue goto package synchronized The keywords const and goto are reserved, even though they are not currently used. This may allow a Java compiler to produce better error messages if these C++ keywords incorrectly appear in programs. While true and false might appear to be keywords, they are technically Boolean literals (�3.10.3). Similarly, while null might appear to be a keyword, it is technically the null literal (�3.10.7).
> Half of my Java books include true, false and null as > keywords - half don't