Explicit Casting

Explicit casting is when you manually convert a larger data type into a smaller one. This can lead to data loss, so Java doesn’t do it automatically.

Order

Requires manual cast - may lose precision or overflow

double → float → long → int → short → byte

Example

double d = 9.55;
int x = (int) d; // double → int (manual cast)
System.out.println(x); // 9 (decimal part lost)

Risk of data loss!

int big = 130;
byte small = (byte) big;
System.out.println(small); // -126
 
// Byte range: -128 to 127
// Value wraps around if out of range

Tip

Use explicit casting when:

• You’re going from larger → smaller.
• You understand and accept potential data loss.

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Parent: _Casting & Types