Type casting

Convert a value from one data type to another data type is known as type casting. Type casting is when  a value of one primitive data type is assigned to another data type.

There are two types of type casting:

• Widening Type Casting
• Narrowing Type Casting

1. Widening Type Casting

Converting a lower data type into a higher one is called widening type casting. It is also known as implicit conversion or casting down. It is done automatically.

byte -> short -> char -> int -> long -> float -> double

This is done when

• Both data types must be compatible with each other.
• The target type must be larger than the source type.

2. Narrowing Type Casting

Converting a higher data type into a lower one is called narrowing type casting. It is also known as explicit conversion or casting up. It is done manually by the programmer. If casting is not done then the compiler reports a compile-time error.

double -> float -> long -> int -> char -> short -> byte