I am using DefaultMutableTreeNode to perform an operation in tree. The root is a multiply sign and the two children are integers. The tree is built, here are a few operations and their outputs:

Java Code: 
	      System.out.println("Root: "+root.getRoot());
	      System.out.println("get first child:” +root.getFirstChild());

Output for the above is:
Java Code: 
Root: *
get first child: 5
the value of the root and children will print with no problem, but I can’t use an inequality with them such as this:

Java Code: 
if(root.getRoot()== ‘*’)
…because root.getRoot() is a TreeNode type and ‘*’ is a char

for my application, the root is either going to be a +, -, *, or / sign, and the two children will be integers. I would like to use a switch or if statements to match the root node value to one of the 4 operators. any idea how to change or cast the value of a TreeNode to the value of a character type?

The end result is: If the left child has the value 5, the right child has the value 4, and the root is an ‘*’ sign, then the answer would be 20