Understand primitive data types in Java

Data types are cornerstones of a programming language. The Java language has 8 primitive types: boolean, byte, char, double, float, int, long, and short.

A boolean type represents either true or false value.

A char type represents a single character, such as 'a', 'B', 'c', ...Actually char type is 16-bit integer number (un-signed).

The others are numeric types. The following section lists the primitive types which represent numbers in the Java language (the char type is also included because it is actually a number type):

Integer numbers:

• byte: 8 bit (1 byte)

minimum value: -128 (-27)

maximum value: 127 (27-1)

• char: 16 bit (2 bytes)

minimum value: 0

maximum value: 65,535

• short: 16 bit (2 bytes)

minimum value: -32,768 (-215)

maximum value: 32,767 (215-1)

• int: 32 bit (4 bytes)

minimum value:  -2,147,483,648 (-231)

maximum value: 2,147,483,647 (231-1)

• long: 64 bit (8 bytes)

minimum value:  approx. -9,2 billions of billion (-263)

maximum value:  approx. 9,2 billions of billion (-263-1)

Floating-point numbers:

• float: 32 bit (4 bytes):
• double: 64 bit (8 bytes):

There are 4 integer types: byte, short, int, and long.

There are 2 floating point number types: float and double.

Related Tutorials:

• Summary of all keywords in Java
• Some notes about arrays in Java
• Some notes about numeric literals in Java

Other Recommended Tutorials:

• 9 Rules about Constructors in Java
• 12 Rules and Examples About Inheritance in Java
• 12 Rules of Overriding in Java You Should Know
• 10 Java Core Best Practices Every Java Programmer Should Know
• Understand Interfaces in Java
• Understand how variables are passed in Java

About the Author:

Nam Ha Minh is certified Java programmer (SCJP and SCWCD). He began programming with Java back in the days of Java 1.4 and has been passionate about it ever since. You can connect with him on Facebook and watch his Java videos on YouTube.