Can we make unsigned byte in Java

Question

I am trying to convert a signed byte in unsigned. The problem is the data I am receiving is unsigned and Java does not support unsigned byte, so when it reads the data it tr

Answer 1

There are no primitive unsigned bytes in Java. The usual thing is to cast it to bigger type:

int anUnsignedByte = (int) aSignedByte & 0xff;

Answer 2

I'm not sure I understand your question.

I just tried this and for byte -12 (signed value) it returned integer 244 (equivalent to unsigned byte value but typed as an int):

  public static int unsignedToBytes(byte b) {
    return b & 0xFF;
  }

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    System.out.println(unsignedToBytes((byte) -12));
  }

Is it what you want to do?

Java does not allow to express 244 as a byte value, as would C. To express positive integers above Byte.MAX_VALUE (127) you have to use a different integral type, like short, int or long.

Answer 3

A side note, if you want to print it out, you can just say

byte b = 255;
System.out.println((b < 0 ? 256 + b : b));

Answer 4

As per limitations in Java, unsigned byte is almost impossible in the current data-type format. You can go for some other libraries of another language for what you are implementing and then you can call them using JNI.