Say4b: Typecasting

[David Junta]

If I have a long variable and I want to get an int value from it, I think I typecast it like this:
long argNum = Long.parseLong( whole );
int billNum = ( (int)argNum / 1000000000 );
But what happens if you cast argNum as an integer and argNum is larger than the largest number that Integer can handle? Will it still get cast?

[bill bozeman]

A cast will always work, but if the number is too big, it will get cut off. By casting something you are telling the compiler, I know that this is dangerous because I am going from a larger value down to a smaller value, but trust me, I know what I am doing.
For example if you have this:

int i = 254;
byte b = (byte)i ;
System.out.println( b );

The output will be -2
This has to do with the bit representation. The 32 bits for the int 254 will be cut down to 8 bits for a byte. The 24 high level bits will be lost, and what remains is the bit pattern for -2.
Bill