The Java® Virtual Machine Specification, Java SE 7 Edition, Third Edition

2.3. Primitive Types and Values

The primitive data types supported by the Java Virtual Machine are the numeric types, the boolean type (§2.3.4), and the returnAddress type (§2.3.3).

The numeric types consist of the integral types (§2.3.1) and the floating-point types (§2.3.2).

The integral types are:

• byte, whose values are 8-bit signed two’s-complement integers, and whose default value is zero

• short, whose values are 16-bit signed two’s-complement integers, and whose default value is zero

• int, whose values are 32-bit signed two’s-complement integers, and whose default value is zero

• long, whose values are 64-bit signed two’s-complement integers, and whose default value is zero

• char, whose values are 16-bit unsigned integers representing ...