Short/Integer

[mew]

java.lang.Number has following subclasses:
BigDecimal, BigInteger, Byte, Double, Float, Integer, Long, Short

I am exploring datatypes and I am confused when to use Short and when to use Integer. It appears to me that both can save same values.

Code:

		Short s = 22;
		Integer i = 23;

Thanks in advance.

[hardwired]

Yes, up to the max value for the short data type. Then you have to use int up until you reach its max value. Then you have to use long.

Code:

System.out.printf("max short value = %d%n" +
                          "max int value   = %d%n" +
                          "max long value  = %d%n",
                           Short.MAX_VALUE, Integer.MAX_VALUE,
                           Long.MAX_VALUE);

[mew]

Great. That was helpful.
So using Integer for values less than 32767 is waste of memory.

[comando2929]

If all your doing is storing and looking up the data, a short or byte is just fine. However, if you do any other processing with a non int type, it must be converted to an int which causes a slow down in calculations. This is further explained at.

Java Primative Speed