In Java, char stores characters.
Java uses Unicode to represent characters. Unicode can represent all of the characters found in all human languages.
Java char is a 16-bit type. The range of a char is 0 to 65,536.
There are no negative chars.
More information about Unicode can be found at http://www.unicode.org.
Here is a program that demonstrates char variables:
public class Main {
public static void main(String args[]) {
char ch1, ch2;
ch1 = 88; // code for X
ch2 = 'Y';
System.out.print("ch1 and ch2: ");
System.out.println(ch1 + " " + ch2);//ch1 and ch2: X Y
}
}
ch1 is assigned the value 88, which is the ASCII (and Unicode) value that corresponds to the letter X.
char can be used as an integer type and you can perform arithmetic operations.
public class Main {
public static void main(String args[]) {
char ch1;
ch1 = 'X';
System.out.println("ch1 contains " + ch1);//ch1 contains X
ch1 = (char)(ch1 + 1); // increment ch1
System.out.println("ch1 is now " + ch1);//ch1 is now Y
}
}