Java questions reguarding data types

[Guest]

So I am learning java, and I have a few questions

So I understand that int is 32-bit, short is 16-bit and byte is 8-bit,

but what exactly do the bits mean? Is it how much space it can hold or how many characters or what.

Also, why would I use short or byte when I could use int, it holds more in some fashion, and is slightly easier to type.

 

Also why float over double/ vice versa

 

 

[Satlen]

Unless you need extreme accuracy when doing calculations the main two you will be using is int and double. Integers for when you are working with whole numbers, double with fractions/decimals. 

 

Here is the java doc for different data types http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/datatypes.html

 

More info on bits and bytes https://web.stanford.edu/class/cs101/bits-bytes.html

[olbaze]

Unless you need extreme accuracy when doing calculations the main two you will be using is int and double. Integers for when you are working with whole numbers, double with fractions/decimals. 

 

Here is the java doc for different data types http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/datatypes.html

 

More info on bits and bytes https://web.stanford.edu/class/cs101/bits-bytes.html

 

"Extreme accuracy" is a bit misleading, as it's far more likely that you'll stumble into a situation where int or even long simply aren't large enough. Something as simple as the 100th Fibonacci number is already well into BigInteger at nearly 20 times the maximum value of long.

 

But yes, as the java doc points out, the smaller types are mostly used for conserving memory when dealing with large arrays.