QUESTION 3:
Does it really matter that 12 was converted to 32 bits?
No. For example, the following is also an expression:
"This is" + " a string" + " expression"
The above expression creates a new string that is the concatenation of all the strings.
| Operator | Meaning | precedence |
|---|---|---|
| - | unary minus | highest |
| + | unary plus | highest |
| * | multiplication | middle |
| / | division | middle |
| % | remainder | middle |
| + | addition | low |
| - | subtraction | low |
But arithmetic expressions are especially important. As you have seen, Java has many operators for arithmetic:
All of these operators can be used on floating point numbers and on
integer numbers.
(However, the % operator is rarely used on floating point.)
For instance, / means integer division if both operands are integers,
and means floating point division if one or both operands are floating point.
An integer operation is always done with 32 bits or more.
If one or both operand is 64 bits (data type long) then the operation is
done with 64 bits.
Otherwise the operation is done with 32 bits, even if both operands are smaller than 32 bits.
For example, with 16 bit short variables,
the arithmetic is done using 32 bits:
short x = 12; // 16 bit short int result; // 32 bit int result = x / 3; // arithmetic will be done using 32 bits
The expression x / 3 divides a
32-bit 12 by a 32-bit 3 and puts the 32-bit answer in result.
The literal 3 automatically represents a 32-bit value.
Does it really matter that 12 was converted to 32 bits?