Scala Cookbook

2.2. Converting Between Numeric Types (Casting)

Problem

You want to convert from one numeric type to another, such as from an Int to a Double.

Solution

Instead of using the “cast” approach in Java, use the to* methods that are available on all numeric types. These methods can be demonstrated in the REPL (note that you need to hit Tab at the end of the first example):

scala> val b = a.to[Tab]
toByte     toChar     toDouble   toFloat    toInt      toLong
toShort    toString

scala> 19.45.toInt
res0: Int = 19

scala> 19.toFloat
res1: Float = 19.0

scala> 19.toDouble
res2: Double = 19.0

scala> 19.toLong
res3: Long = 19

scala> val b = a.toFloat
b: Float = 1945.0

Discussion

In Java, you convert from one numeric type to another by casting the types, like this:

int a = (int) 100.00;

But in Scala, you use the to* methods, as shown in this recipe.

If you want to avoid potential conversion errors when casting from one numeric type to another, you can use the related isValid methods to test whether the type can be converted before attempting the conversion. For instance, a Double object (via RichDouble) has methods like isValidInt and isValidShort:

scala> val a = 1000L
a: Long = 1000

scala> a.isValidByte
res0: Boolean = false

scala> a.isValidShort
res1: Boolean = true

See Also

The RichDouble class