Overview
This tutotial will talk about data type in Java programming language.
In computer science and computer programming, a data type or simply type is a classification of data which tells the compiler or interpreter how the programmer intends to use the data.
In Java Programming language there are two types of data:
- Primitive data type
- Non-primitive data type
Primitive data type
There are 8 types of primitive data types:
- boolean data type
- byte data type
- char data type
- short data type
- int data type
- long data type
- float data type
- 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 |
Non-primitive Datatypes
- Reference variables are created using defined constructors of the classes. They are used to access objects. These variables are declared to be of a specific type that cannot be changed. For example, Employee, Puppy, etc.
- Class objects and various type of array variables come under reference datatype.
- Default value of any reference variable is null.
- A reference variable can be used to refer any object of the declared type or any compatible type.
- Example: Animal animal = new Animal(“giraffe”);