Java: Declare unsigned Integer

First, I have also only barely believed it, but there are indeed no unsigned types available in Java. You can only use the usual integer types such as int (32 Bit), long (64 Bit), byte (8 Bit) or short (16 Bit) that are all signed.

That is only the data type char (8 bit, value range from 0 to 65535) available in Java that is quasi "unsigned". Unfortunately, there is no equivalent for larger types.

However, there was a little change since Java 8. Admittedly, the integer types are still signed in Java 8 and there is also no possibility to explicitly declare an integer as unsigned, but there are some new methods available that are designed in a way, that they can internally handle "unsigned types":

int i = Integer.parseUnsignedInt("4294967295");
string si = Integer.toUnsignedString(i);
System.out.println(i);   // -1
System.out.println(si);  // 4294967295

long l = Long.parseUnsignedLong("18446744073709551615");
string sl = Long.toUnsignedString(l);
System.out.println(l);   // -1
System.out.println(sl);  // 18446744073709551615

This example shows how you can use the new methods and where there limits are.
2016-08-05 at 21:20

If it is very important for you to use unsigned integers in Java, you can also use an external library such as Guava.

This library contains (for example) the following classes:

• UnsignedInteger
• UnsignedLong

Those classes are publishing functions such as .plus(), .minus(), .times(), .dividedBy() or .mod() so that you can calculate with them.

You can find some introduction hier.
2016-08-06 at 21:16