public int skipWhitespaces(){
  int skipped=0;
  while (pos < length && source.charAt(pos) == ' ') {
    skipped++;
    pos++;
  }
  return skipped;
}

public int skipWhitespaces ( ) { int skipped = 0 ; while ( pos < length && source . charAt ( pos ) == ' ' ) { skipped ++ ; pos ++ ; } return skipped ; }
skips the whitespace characters and advances the reader to the next non whitespace character .
