Editing Java syntax (section)

==Primitive types==
Primitive types in Java include integer types, floating-point numbers, [[UTF-16]] code units and a Boolean type. There are no unsigned types in Java except <code>char</code> type, which is used to represent UTF-16 code units. The lack of unsigned types is offset by introducing unsigned right shift operation (<code>>>></code>), which is not present in C++. Nevertheless, criticisms have been leveled about the lack of compatibility with C and C++ this causes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://darksleep.com/player/JavaAndUnsignedTypes.html|first=Sean|last=Owens|title=Java and unsigned int, unsigned short, unsigned byte, unsigned long, etc. (Or rather, the lack thereof)|access-date=April 21, 2010|archive-date=February 20, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220171410/http://darksleep.com/player/JavaAndUnsignedTypes.html|url-status=live}}</ref> <!-- This is a terrible citation. If you have a better one, use it. -->

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="6"|Primitive Types
|-
! Type Name
! [[Primitive wrapper class in Java|Wrapper class]]
! Value
! Range
! Size
! Default Value
|-
| <code>byte</code>
| <code>java.lang.Byte</code>
| integer
| −128 through +127
| 8-bit (1-byte)
| <code>0</code>
|-
| <code>short</code>
| <code>java.lang.Short</code>
| integer
| −32,768 through +32,767
| 16-bit (2-byte)
| <code>0</code>
|-
| <code>int</code>
| <code>java.lang.Integer</code>
| integer
| −2,147,483,648 through +2,147,483,647
| 32-bit (4-byte)
| <code>0</code>
|-
| <code>long</code>
| <code>java.lang.Long</code>
| integer
| −9,223,372,036,854,775,808 through<br/> +9,223,372,036,854,775,807
| 64-bit (8-byte)
| <code>0</code>
|-
| <code>float</code>
| <code>java.lang.Float</code>
| floating point number
| ±1.401298E−45 through ±3.402823E+38
| 32-bit (4-byte)
| <code>0.0f</code><ref>{{cite web|url=http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/datatypes.html|title=Primitive Data Types}}</ref>
|-
| <code>double</code>
| <code>java.lang.Double</code>
| floating point number
| ±4.94065645841246E−324 through<br/> ±1.79769313486232E+308
| 64-bit (8-byte)
| <code>0.0</code>
|-
| <code>boolean</code>
| <code>java.lang.Boolean</code>
| Boolean
| <code>true</code> or <code>false</code>
| 1-bit (1-bit)
| <code>false</code>
|-
| <code>char</code>
| <code>java.lang.Character</code>
| [[UTF-16]] code unit ([[Mapping of Unicode character planes#Basic Multilingual Plane|BMP]] character<br/>or a part of a surrogate pair)
| <code>'\u0000'</code> through <code>'\uFFFF'</code>
| 16-bit (2-byte)
| <code>'\u0000'</code>
|}

<code>char</code> does not necessarily correspond to a single character. It may represent a part of a [[UTF-16#Encoding of characters outside the BMP|surrogate pair]], in which case Unicode code point is represented by a sequence of two <code>char</code> values.

===Boxing and unboxing===
This language feature was introduced in [[J2SE 5.0]]. ''Boxing'' is the operation of converting a value of a primitive type into a value of a corresponding reference type, which serves as a wrapper for this particular primitive type. ''Unboxing'' is the reverse operation of converting a value of a reference type (previously boxed) into a value of a corresponding primitive type. Neither operation requires an explicit conversion.

Example:
<syntaxhighlight lang="java">
int foo = 42; // Primitive type
Integer bar = foo; /* foo is boxed to bar, bar is of Integer type,
                      which serves as a wrapper for int */
int foo2 = bar; // Unboxed back to primitive type
</syntaxhighlight>