Learn Java with Projects

3

Operators and Casting

In Chapter 2, we learned that variables are simply named pigeonholes and contain values. These values vary and Java provides eight primitive data types accordingly. These primitive types cater for whole numbers (byte, char, short, int, and long), decimal numbers (float and double), and the literals true and false (boolean).

We also learned how to declare a variable. As Java is a strongly typed language, this means you must give every variable a data type immediately upon declaration. This is where primitive data types are very useful.

Now that we know how to declare variables, let’s do something interesting with them. By the end of this chapter, you will be able to combine variables using Java’s various operators. In ...