Understanding Long and Double Data Types
In Java, Long
and Double
are two distinct data types that serve different purposes. Understanding their characteristics and differences is crucial when working with numerical data.
Long Data Type
The Long
data type in Java is a 64-bit signed integer, capable of representing a range of values from -9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 9,223,372,036,854,775,807. It is commonly used to store large integer values that exceed the range of the int
data type.
long myLong = 9223372036854775807L;
Double Data Type
The Double
data type in Java is a 64-bit floating-point number, which allows for the representation of decimal values. It can store a much wider range of values compared to integer data types, with a precision of approximately 15-16 decimal digits.
double myDouble = 3.14159265358979;
The key difference between Long
and Double
is that Long
is an integer data type, while Double
is a floating-point data type. This means that Long
can only represent whole numbers, while Double
can represent both whole numbers and decimal values.