Java char type
Description
In Java, char stores characters. Java uses Unicode to represent characters. Unicode can represent all of the characters found in all human languages.
Size
Java char is a 16-bit type.
Value Range
The range of a char is 0 to 65,536.
There are no negative chars.
Literals
Characters in Java are indices into the Unicode character set.
character is represented inside a pair of single quotes.
For example, 'a', 'z', and '@'.
Example
Here is a program that demonstrates char variables:
public class Main {
public static void main(String args[]) {
char ch1, ch2;
/* w w w. j av a 2 s. c om*/
ch1 = 88; // code for X
ch2 = 'Y';
System.out.print("ch1 and ch2: ");
System.out.println(ch1 + " " + ch2);//ch1 and ch2: X Y
}
}
The code above generates the following result.
ch1 is assigned the value 88,
which is the ASCII (and Unicode) value that corresponds to the letter X.
char type value can be used as an integer type and
you can perform arithmetic operations.
public class Main {
public static void main(String args[]) {
char ch1;//from w w w. ja va 2 s.c o m
ch1 = 'X';
System.out.println("ch1 contains " + ch1);//ch1 contains X
ch1 = (char)(ch1 + 1); // increment ch1
System.out.println("ch1 is now " + ch1);//ch1 is now Y
}
}
Example 2
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] argv) {
char ch = 'a';
/*from w w w . jav a 2 s . c om*/
System.out.println("ch is " + ch);//ch is a
ch = '@';
System.out.println("ch is " + ch);//ch is @
ch = '#';
System.out.println("ch is " + ch);//ch is #
ch = '$';
System.out.println("ch is " + ch);//ch is $
ch = '%';
System.out.println("ch is " + ch);//ch is %
}
}
The code above generates the following result.
Example 3
The following code stores unicode value into a char variable.
The unicode literal uses \uxxxx format.
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int x = 75;/* w ww .j a va 2 s.co m*/
char y = (char) x;
char half = '\u00AB';
System.out.println("y is " + y + " and half is " + half);
}
}
The code above generates the following result.
