– Building blocks of the Java Programming language
– In Java, everything is an Object – except primitives
– Primitives exist because they are more efficient than their Object counterparts, but they are less flexible

Examples:

Primitive Object Counterpart
int Integer
double Double
float Float
char Character
boolean Boolean

– Primitives declares as instance variables get default values:

Primitive Default Value
int 0
double 0.0d
float 0.0f
char u000
boolean false

– The Primitives' Object Counterparts don't get a default value, they are just null if they aren't assigned a value

Homework

Please go through this useful document from Oracle (the owners of Java) and read up on the finer points of Java Primitives, <sarcasm>it's just captivating reading</sarcasm>:

http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/datatypes.html

Free Java Beginners Course

Start learning how to code today with our free beginners course. Learn more.