Primitive Data Types in Java

Table of Contents

What is Primitive Data Type

A data type that consists of an atomic, indivisible value, and that is defined without the help of any other data types, is known as a primitive data type.

Also Read: Introduction to Java Programming - Java Development Kit(JDK) and Java Runtime Environment(JRE)

Java data types are divided into two categories: boolean data type and numeric data type. The numeric data type can be further subdivided into integral and floating-point types. All primitive data types and their categories are shown in below figure.

Primitive Data Types in Java - int, char, byte, short, long, float, double and boolean 3 — **Credit: Oreilly - Beginning Java 8 Fundamentals**

1. int datatype

It is 32-bit Signed two's complement integer which can store value from -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647.
It take 4 bytes of memory to store the value. More on Oracle Official Documentation.

Example

In this example, we are declaring variable a as primitive data type int which stores value 5.

[root@localhost ~]# vi example.java
class example
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
int a=5;
System.out.println("Value of int type variable is: " + a);
}
}

Compile Your Program

[root@localhost ~]# javac example.java

Run Your Program

[root@localhost ~]# java example
Value of int type variable is: 5

2. char datatype

It is a Single 16-bit Unicode Character.
It takes 2 bytes of Memory to store the value. More on Oracle Official Documentation.

Example

In this example, we are declaring variable a as primitive data type char which stores character 'a'.

[root@localhost ~]# vi example.java
class example
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
char a='a';
System.out.println("Value of char type variable is: " + a);
}
}

Compile Your Program

[root@localhost ~]# javac example.java

Run Your Program

[root@localhost ~]# java example
Value of char type variable is: a

3. byte datatype

It is an 8-bit signed two's complement Integer which can store value from -128 to 127.
It takes 1 byte of memory to store the value. More on Oracle Official Documentation.

Example

In this example, we are declaring variable a as primitive data type byte which stores value 114.

[root@localhost ~]# vi example.java
class example
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
byte a=114;
System.out.println("Value of byte type variable is: " + a);
}
}

Compile Your Program

[root@localhost ~]# javac example.java

Run Your Program

[root@localhost ~]# java example
Value of byte type variable is: 114

4. short datatype

It is a 16-bit signed two's complement Integer which can store value from -32,768 to 32,767.
It takes 2 bytes of memory to store the value.

Example

In this example, we are declaring variable a as primitive data type short which stores value 9000.

[root@localhost ~]# vi example.java
class example
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
short a=9000;
System.out.println("Value of short type variable is: " + a);
}
}

Compile Your Program

[root@localhost ~]# javac example.java

Run Your Program

[root@localhost ~]# java example
Value of short type variable is: 9000

5. long datatype

It is a 64-bit two's complement integer which can store value from 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 9,223,372,036,854,775,807.
It takes 8 bytes of memory to store the value.
Value must end with 'L'.

Example

In this example, we are declaring variable a as primitive data type long which stores value 9000000000000000.

[root@localhost ~]# vi example.java
class example
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
long a=9000000000000000L;
System.out.println("Value of long type variable is: " + a);
}
}

Compile Your Program

[root@localhost ~]# javac example.java

Run Your Program

[root@localhost ~]# java example
Value of long type variable is: 9000000000000000

6. float datatype

It is a single-precision 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point which store fractional numbers.
It takes 4 bytes of memory to store the value.
Value must end with 'f'.

Example

In this example, we are declaring variable a as primitive data type float which stores value 5.988978.

[root@localhost ~]# vi example.java
class example
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
float a=5.988978f;
System.out.println("Value of float type variable is: " + a);
}
}

Compile Your Program

[root@localhost ~]# javac example.java

Run Your Program

[root@localhost ~]# java example
Value of float type variable is: 5.988978

7. double datatype

It is a single-precision 64-bit IEEE 754 floating point which store fractional numbers.
It takes 8 bytes of memory to store the value.

Example

In this example, we are declaring variable a as primitive data type double which stores value 5.98657667998978.

[root@localhost ~]# vi example.java
class example
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
double a=5.98657667998978d;
System.out.println("Value of double type variable is: " + a);
}
}

Compile Your Program

[root@localhost ~]# javac example.java

Run Your Program

[root@localhost ~]# java example
Value of double type variable is: 5.98657667998978

8. boolean datatype

It stores only two possible values - true or false.
It only requires 1 bit of memory to store the value.

Example

In this example, we are declaring variable a as primitive data type boolean which stores value true.

[root@localhost ~]# vi example.java
class example
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
boolean a=true;
System.out.println("Value of boolean type variable is: " + a);
}
}

Compile Your Program

[root@localhost ~]# javac example.java

Run Your Program

[root@localhost ~]# java example
Value of boolean type variable is: true

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What is Primitive Data Type