Which Converts to Long Data Type?
Introduction
In programming, data types are a fundamental concept. They define the nature of the data that can be stored in a variable.
One such data type is the long data type. In this article, we will explore which values can be converted to the long data type.
What is the long data type?
The long data type is used to store whole numbers that may range from a very large negative value to a very large positive value. It provides a larger range compared to other integer data types such as int or short.
Values that can be converted to long
Integers
Integers are whole numbers without any fractional or decimal part. All integer values within the range of -9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 9,223,372,036,854,775,807 (inclusive) can be directly assigned or converted to the long data type.
Floating-Point Numbers
Floating-point numbers are numbers with both an integer and fractional part. While they cannot be directly assigned to a long variable due to potential loss of precision, they can be explicitly casted using appropriate conversion functions or operators. The fractional part will be discarded during the conversion.
Strings
Strings are sequences of characters enclosed in quotes. In some programming languages like Java and C#, strings can be parsed into their respective numeric counterparts using conversion functions like Long.parseLong() or Long.valueOf(). However, it is important to ensure that the string represents a valid numeric value; otherwise, an exception may occur.
Values that cannot be converted to long
Floating-Point Infinity and NaN (Not-a-Number)
Special floating-point values like infinity and NaN cannot be directly converted to the long data type. These values represent mathematical concepts outside the range of normal numbers and require special handling.
Non-Numeric Strings
Strings that do not represent a valid numeric value cannot be converted to a long. Attempting to do so will result in an exception being thrown.
Conclusion
Understanding which values can be converted to the long data type is essential when working with numeric data in programming. Integers, floating-point numbers (with appropriate casting), and certain strings can all be converted to long.
However, it’s important to handle special cases such as infinity, NaN, and non-numeric strings appropriately to avoid errors in your code.