Java Variables

A variable is a container which holds the value while the java program is
executed. A variable is assigned with a datatype.

Variable is a name of memory location. There are three types of variables

in java: local, instance and static.

There are two types of data types in java: primitive and non-primitive.

Variable

Variable is name of reserved area allocated in memory. In other words, it

is a name of memory location. It is a combination of "vary + able" that
means its value can be changed.

1. int data=50;//Here data is variable

Types of Variables

There are three types of variables in java:

o local variable
o instance variable
o static variable
1) Local Variable

A variable declared inside the body of the method is called local variable. You can use this
variable only within that method and the other methods in the class aren't even aware that
the variable exists.

A local variable cannot be defined with "static" keyword.

2) Instance Variable

A variable declared inside the class but outside the body of the method, is called instance
variable. It is not declared as static.

It is called instance variable because its value is instance specific and is not shared among
instances.
 3) Static variable

A variable which is declared as static is called static variable. It cannot be local. You can
create a single copy of static variable and share among all the instances of the class.
Memory allocation for static variable happens only once when the class is loaded in the
memory.

Example to understand the types of variables in java

class A{
int data=50;//instance variable
static int m=100;//static variable
void method(){
int n=90;//local variable
}
}//end of class

Java Variable Example: Add Two Numbers

class Simple{
public static void main(String[] args){
int a=10;
int b=10;
int c=a+b;
System.out.println(c);
}}

Output:

20

Java Variable Example: Widening

class Simple{
public static void main(String[] args){
int a=10;
float f=a;
System.out.println(a);
System.out.println(f);
}}
 Output:

10
10.0

Java Variable Example: Narrowing (Typecasting)

class Simple{
public static void main(String[] args){
float f=10.5;
//int a=f;//Compile time error
int a=(int)f;
System.out.println(f);
System.out.println(a);
}}

Output:

10.5
10

Java Variable Example: Overflow

class Simple{
public static void main(String[] args){
//Overflow
int a=130;
byte b=(byte)a;
System.out.println(a);
System.out.println(b);
}}

Output:

130
-126
 Data Types in Java

Data types specify the different sizes and values that can be stored in the
variable. There are two types of data types in Java:

1. Primitive data types: The primitive data types include boolean,

char, byte, short, int, long, float and double.
2. Non-primitive data types: The non-primitive data types include
Classes, Interfaces, and Arrays.

Java Primitive Data Types

In Java language, primitive data types are the building blocks of data
manipulation. These are the most basic data types available in Java
language.

Java is a statically-typed programming language. It means, all variables

must be declared before its use. That is why we need to declare variable's
type and name.

There are 8 types of primitive data types:

o boolean data type

o byte data type
o char data type
o short data type
o int data type
o long data type
o float data type
o double data type
Data Type Default Value Default size

boolean false 1 bit

char '\u0000' 2 byte

byte 0 1 byte

short 0 2 byte

int 0 4 byte

long 0L 8 byte

float 0.0f 4 byte

double 0.0d 8 byte

Boolean Data Type

The Boolean data type is used to store only two possible values: true and false. This data
type is used for simple flags that track true/false conditions.

The Boolean data type specifies one bit of information, but its "size" can't be defined
precisely.

Example: Boolean one = false

Byte Data Type

The byte data type is an example of primitive data type. It isan 8-bit signed two's
complement integer. Its value-range lies between -128 to 127 (inclusive). Its minimum
value is -128 and maximum value is 127. Its default value is 0.

The byte data type is used to save memory in large arrays where the memory savings is
most required. It saves space because a byte is 4 times smaller than an integer. It can also
be used in place of "int" data type.

Example: byte a = 10, byte b = -20

Short Data Type

The short data type is a 16-bit signed two's complement integer. Its value-range lies
between -32,768 to 32,767 (inclusive). Its minimum value is -32,768 and maximum value is
32,767. Its default value is 0.

The short data type can also be used to save memory just like byte data type. A short data
type is 2 times smaller than an integer.

Example: short s = 10000, short r = -5000

Int Data Type

The int data type is a 32-bit signed two's complement integer. Its value-range lies between
- 2,147,483,648 (-2^31) to 2,147,483,647 (2^31 -1) (inclusive). Its minimum value is -
2,147,483,648and maximum value is 2,147,483,647. Its default value is 0.

The int data type is generally used as a default data type for integral values unless if there is
no problem about memory.

Example: int a = 100000, int b = -200000

Long Data Type

The long data type is a 64-bit two's complement integer. Its value-range lies between -
9,223,372,036,854,775,808(-2^63) to 9,223,372,036,854,775,807(2^63 -1)(inclusive). Its
minimum value is - 9,223,372,036,854,775,808and maximum value is
9,223,372,036,854,775,807. Its default value is 0. The long data type is used when you need
a range of values more than those provided by int.

Example: long a = 100000L, long b = -200000L

Float Data Type

The float data type is a single-precision 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point.Its value range is
unlimited. It is recommended to use a float (instead of double) if you need to save memory
in large arrays of floating point numbers. The float data type should never be used for
precise values, such as currency. Its default value is 0.0F.

Example: float f1 = 234.5f

Double Data Type

The double data type is a double-precision 64-bit IEEE 754 floating point. Its value range is
unlimited. The double data type is generally used for decimal values just like float. The
double data type also should never be used for precise values, such as currency. Its default
value is 0.0d.

Example: double d1 = 12.3

Char Data Type

The char data type is a single 16-bit Unicode character. Its value-range lies between
'\u0000' (or 0) to '\uffff' (or 65,535 inclusive).The char data type is used to store
characters.

Example: char letterA = 'A'

Why char uses 2 byte in java and what is \u0000 ?

It is because java uses Unicode system not ASCII code system. The \u0000 is the lowest
range of Unicode system.
Unicode System

Unicode is a universal international standard character encoding that is capable of representing

most of the world's written languages.

Why java uses Unicode System?

Before Unicode, there were many language standards:

o ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) for the United States.
o ISO 8859-1 for Western European Language.
o KOI-8 for Russian.
o GB18030 and BIG-5 for chinese, and so on.
o

Problem
This caused two problems:

1. A particular code value corresponds to different letters in the various language standards.
2. The encodings for languages with large character sets have variable length. Some

common characters are encoded as single bytes, other require two or more byte.

Solution
To solve these problems, a new language standard was developed i.e. Unicode System.

In unicode, character holds 2 byte, so java also uses 2 byte for characters.

lowest value:\u0000

highest value:\uFFFF