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Java Basic Data Types
Variables are nothing but reserved
memory locations to store values. This means that
when you
create a variable you reserve
some space in memory.
Based on the data
type of a variable, the operating system allocates
memory and decides what can
be stored
in the reserved memory. Therefore, by assigning
different data types to variables, you
can store integers, decimals, or
characters in these variables.
There
are two data types available in Java:
1.
Primitive Data
Types
2.
Reference/Object Data Types
Primitive Data Types:
There
are eight primitive data types supported by Java.
Primitive data types are predefined by the
language and named by a key word. Let
us now look into detail about the eight primitive
data
types.
byte:
Byte data type is a 8-bit
signed two.s complement integer.
Minimum value is -128 (-2^7)
Maximum value is 127
(inclusive)(2^7 -1)
Default
value is 0
Byte data type
is used to save space in large arrays, mainly in
place of integers, since a
byte is four
times smaller than an int.
Example : byte a = 100 , byte b = -50
short:
Short
data type is a 16-bit signed two's complement
integer.
Minimum value is -32,768 (-2^15)
Maximum value is
32,767(inclusive) (2^15 -1)
Short data type can also be used to
save memory as byte data type. A short is 2 times
smaller than an int
Default value is 0.
Example : short s= 10000 , short r =
-20000