Thread: Fitting a large primitive into a small reference variable

for example,this program :

public class test{
 
	public static void main(String[] args)
		{
			byte i = (byte) 550;
			System.out.println(i);
		}
}

outputs the number 38 instead of 550,can somebody explain that to me?


thanks in advance

That is because a byte is 8 bits while a int is 32 bits. Also, Java primitives are signed, which means the largest number a byte can hold is 127. So, stuffing the number 550 into a byte overflows allotted space gives you a different number.

Read more here:

Primitive Data Types (The Java™ Tutorials > Learning the Java Language > Language Basics)

well,i know the size of each type,but can you explain to me why am i getting this number in particular,and not anything else?

Ok here we go

Lowest byte: -128
Highest byte: 127

The thing is that when you assign 128 to a byte it will in fact be -128 as the sign bit changes and 129 will effectively be -127, 130 will be -126 etc.

Since this is the case, you can calculate this fairly simple.

550 - 128 - 128 - 128 - 128 = 38

Its sort of hard to explain, you need to play around with it to understand it.

Everything above 127 will start over from -128 so to speak.

550 - 128 = 422

422 - 128 = 294

294 - 128 = 166

166 - 128 = 38 // Now this is the first value that fits in the byte so thats the value we get

I'm sure this makes little or no sense, but there you go, play around with it

// Json

Originally Posted by Json

Ok here we go

Lowest byte: -128
Highest byte: 127

The thing is that when you assign 128 to a byte it will in fact be -128 as the sign bit changes and 129 will effectively be -127, 130 will be -126 etc.

Since this is the case, you can calculate this fairly simple.

550 - 128 - 128 - 128 - 128 = 38

Its sort of hard to explain, you need to play around with it to understand it.

Everything above 127 will start over from -128 so to speak.

550 - 128 = 422

422 - 128 = 294

294 - 128 = 166

166 - 128 = 38 // Now this is the first value that fits in the byte so thats the value we get

I'm sure this makes little or no sense, but there you go, play around with it

// Json

now I get it,thanks a lot


another question,does the SCJP exam have any questions related to this topic?

You might see a question which tries to store 128 into a byte and you just need to recognise that it will be a compiler error because its a too large number for a byte.

// Json

You might see a question which tries to store 128 into a byte and you just need to recognise that it will be a compiler error because its a too large number for a byte

what if 127? it will compile ryt?

Originally Posted by chronoz13

what if 127? it will compile ryt?

Yes. As Json pointed out, the range for a byte is -128 to 127.

Originally Posted by Json

You might see a question which tries to store 128 into a byte and you just need to recognise that it will be a compiler error because its a too large number for a byte.

// Json

so it won't attempt an explicit cast,right?

Originally Posted by helloworld922

Java will only implicitly cast upwards:

bytes -> shorts -> ints -> longs -> floats -> doubles -> String

(technically, char's can be cast to int's implicitly)

Anything else must be explicitly casted (Note: String's can't be explicitly casted down!)

byte a = 128; // compiler error
byte a = (byte) 128; // compiles fine

I didn't even mention implicit casting,how is this relevant?

Originally Posted by helloworld922

Casting is casting. Implicit casting just means you don't have to specify what you're casting to, so Java will "implicitly" cast it for you.

int a = 5;
double b = a;

Java will see this as:

int a = (int) 5;
double b = (double) a;

You asked when the compiler would throw an error, and I just told you.

no,you got me wrong


i was asking about the exam,won't I get a question with explicit casting?

just like the example in the original post

byte a = 128; // compiler error
byte a = (byte) 128; // compiles fine

how is it possible when this

byte a =  (byte) 128

?
what will be the logic behind this?..
i mean...how did it became fine? when the range of byte is only -128 to 127?