Beginning Java 7

C H A P T E R  4

Touring Language APIs

Java's standard class library provides various language-oriented APIs. Most of these APIs reside in the java.lang package and its subpackages, although a few APIs reside in java.math. Chapter 4 first introduces you to the java.lang/subpackage Math and StrictMath, Package, Primitive Type Wrapper Class, Reference, Reflection, String, StringBuffer and StringBuilder, System, and Threading APIs. This chapter then introduces you to java.math's BigDecimal and BigInteger APIs.

Math and StrictMath

The java.lang.Math class declares double constants E and PI that represent the natural logarithm base value (2.71828...) and the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter (3.14159...). E is initialized to 2.718281828459045 ...