Examining Java Data Types

Variables are locations in memory that are used to store information. Java supports a variety of data types, which dictate the type of information that can be stored in a variable. You create a variable in Java by specifying the type of the variable and an identifier that uniquely identifies the variable. Let us revisit an earlier example:

int age = 55;
String name = "Ernie";

The first line of code declares a variable named age whose data type is int, which is an integer (whole number) data type. The second line of code declares a variable named name whose data type is String, which holds text. Both of these variable declarations set aside memory for each variable. The data type determines the amount of memory set aside. For example, a Java int is a 32-bit number, so 32 bits of memory are set aside for an int variable. Java data types can be grouped into two major categories:

1. simple: a core data type that is not derived from any other type and represents a single piece of information (also called a primitive data type)
2. composite: a data type based on simple types that is used to represent more complex information

The char data type stores individual characters of text such as A, E, I, etc. Characters include text letters and symbols such as & and %, as well as special control characters that are not printable. A string of text in Java can always be broken down into a series of characters. As an example, consider the string of text "JERRY". This string of text consists of the five characters J, E, R, R, and Y. The relationship between characters and strings is significant because the number of characters in a string determines the string's length. Unlike C/C++, Java strings are not implemented as arrays of characters. Even though you can access characters within a string, Java strings use their own data type. More specifically, the String class is used to represent strings in Java. You will learn more about the String class a little later in the module.

• Character Literals: A char literal is represented by a single character in single quotes:
  

  char a = 'a';
  char b = '@';
  

  
  You can also type in the Unicode value of the character, using the Unicode notation of prefixing the value with \u as follows:
  

  char letterN = '\u004E'; // The letter 'N'
  

  
  Characters are just 16-bit unsigned integers under the hood, which means you can assign a number literal, assuming it will fit into the unsigned 16-bit range (0 to 65535). For example, the following are all legal:
  

  char a = 0x892;  // hexadecimal literal
  char b = 982;      // int literal
  char c = (char)70000; // The cast is required; 70000 is out of char range
  char d = (char) -98;    // cast negative number, legal
  

  
  And the following are illegal and produce "compiler errors":
  

  char e = -29; // Possible loss of precision; needs a cast
  char f = 70000; // Possible loss of precision; needs a cast
  

  
  You can also use an escape code (the backslash) if you want to represent a character that cannot be typed in as a literal, including the characters for linefeed, newline, horizontal tab, backspace, and quotes:
  

  char c = '\"'; // A double quote
  char d = '\n'; // A newline
  char tab = '\t'; // A tab
  

You need floating-point numbers where you expect decimal numbers. For example, can you define the probability of an event occurring as an integer? No, probability is expressed as a real value between 0 and 1, (0,1). Table 6.4 lists probable scenarios in which the corresponding data is stored as a floating-point number.

• Store Decimal Numbers: In Java, you can use the float and double primitive data types to store decimal numbers. float requires less space than double, but it can store a smaller range of values than double. float is less precise than double and cannot accurately represent certain numbers, even if they arein range. The same limitation applies to double, even if it is a data type that offer more precision.
  Figure 6.5 lists the sizes and ranges of values for float and double.
  

  

  
  Sample code of Float assignment:

  float average = 20.123F;
  float orbit = 1763.67f;
  double inclination = 119.1750;
  

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