Does using a Byte(8 bit integer), which still is typecasted and added to an integer(32 or 64 bit integer, depending on machine architecture/registers), reflect good programming practice.
Given that it is typecasted to int anyway, Would it be recommended to use an int itself instead? (At a micro level : using byte saves memory space but adds CPU overhead - for typecasting. Using int saves that CPU overhead while saving that memory.) Which one would you recommend.
Note : The Data Type Byte just suffices for the data field in question, by design(Unsigned value that never exceeds 255). I would like my solution to be optimized by design.