Advanced Java/Declaring float and long Literals
A Quick Review[edit | edit source]
A literal is an expression that represents a constant value. For example, a char literal is always surrounded by two single-quotes: 'c'.
Numeric literals are simpler: just type in the number. For example, to instantiate an int with the value of four, you know to type
int foo = 4;
By default, a numeric literal is considered as an int type by the JVM if it doesn't have a decimal point. Otherwise, it's considered a double.
floats and longs[edit | edit source]
To specify a numeric literal as a long instead of an int, add an L (for long) to the end of the literal. Either capital or lowercase will work, but a lowercase 'l' can easily be confused with the numeral '1', especially in monospace fonts.
long bar = 2974802746820L;
To specify a numeric literal as a float instead of a double, add an F (for float) to the end of the literal. Again, either capital or lowercase will work.
float bam = 2.71828f; float baz = 3.14159F;
Why Does This Matter?[edit | edit source]
Since a double is longer than a float, and thus can hold more significant digits, the compiler will complain if you try to stuff a double value into a float variable. If you're defining a variable with a literal value, you can tell the compiler that you really do want a float by using the F suffix.
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