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As we know java follows unicode system which supports all alphabets of many languages. I searched and found that Unicode value for अ is 2309 and value for आ is 2310 which are alphabets of DEVANAGRI language. The code i have written is something like this.

class Test
{
    public static void main(String args[])
    {
        char a=(char)2310;
        System.out.println(a);
    }
}

No matters I write 2309 or 2310 the output is '?' always. How this is happening?

Manish Kumar
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  • try executing it in a for loop from 0, you will get all character values – sidgate Jan 25 '16 at 08:26
  • You may have to change your IDE settings, in Eclipse go to Window -> Preferences -> General -> Workspace : Text file encoding. If you're using e.g. gradle you'll have to change compiler encoding setting too. – DamianoPantani Jan 25 '16 at 08:26
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    @Damiano: Why would the *compiler* settings be relevant? The source code is entirely in ASCII. – Jon Skeet Jan 25 '16 at 08:26
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    Where are you trying to print the results? In an IDE, on a command line, something else? What operating system are you using? All of these are relevant to the problem. – Jon Skeet Jan 25 '16 at 08:27
  • Did you try preceding it with `\u`? – endowzoner Jan 25 '16 at 08:27
  • This is a configuration issue. On my local machine 2309 does cast to अ – CarbonAssassin Jan 25 '16 at 08:28
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    @FleshWound: That would be for a character literal. There are no character literals here. The code is fine. – Jon Skeet Jan 25 '16 at 08:28
  • i tried it with \u also still output is '?' and i am using window 7 jdk 1.8 and executing the program on command line – Manish Kumar Jan 25 '16 at 08:37
  • @JonSkeet `(char)2310` of course is also a character literal - these can be anything between `0` and `FFFF` - which is a subset of Unicode. What he was suggesting is simply a method to negate the simplest of mistakes, if it doesnt work with both representations the cause most likely is not the value itself – specializt Jan 25 '16 at 08:49
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    @specializt: No, it's not. 2310 is an integer literal and it's being cast to a `char`. It's a constant expression of type `char`, but it's not a character literal. See http://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jls/se8/html/jls-3.html#jls-3.10.4 for what character literals look like. And no, there is no compiler setting which would be relevant in this case. – Jon Skeet Jan 25 '16 at 09:30
  • @JonSkeet You probably should lookup your own terms in the JLS or oracle documentation ... this is getting quite shameful for you so ... i recommend stopping right about now. `(char)2310` will result in a character literal which is equivalent to its numeric codepoint - the fact that `char` cannot store supplementary characters isnt really important unless you need them – specializt Jan 25 '16 at 09:34
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    @specializt: I never mentioned supplementary characters. Nothing "results" in a literal - either an expression in source code is a character literal or it isn't. In this case, it isn't. It's an integer literal which is being cast to `char`. That's a constant `char` expression, with exactly the same value whether you actually use a character literal (`'\u0905'` or a character literal with the character itself in the right encoding for your compiler settings) or the integer literal cast to `char`. – Jon Skeet Jan 25 '16 at 09:43
  • You're contradicting yourself with your own words .... just saying. I think its best to stop now, your holy crusade wont change anything. – specializt Jan 25 '16 at 09:45
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    Nope, no contradiction here. Happy to discuss this in chat further if you want, after you read http://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jls/se8/html/jls-3.html#jls-3.10.4, http://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jls/se8/html/jls-3.html#jls-3.10.1 and http://docs.oracle.com/javase/specs/jls/se8/html/jls-15.html#jls-15.28 – Jon Skeet Jan 25 '16 at 09:49
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    Let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/101569/discussion-between-jon-skeet-and-specializt). – Jon Skeet Jan 25 '16 at 09:49
  • Just as a test, can you try: `new PrintStream(System.out, true, "UTF-8").println(a);` instead of `System.out.println(a);`? – Jcl Jan 25 '16 at 10:22
  • @specializt I implore you take some time out to read this - http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/9134/jon-skeet-facts – Suhas Jan 25 '16 at 22:29
  • Possible duplicate of [What is character encoding and why should I bother with it](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10611455/what-is-character-encoding-and-why-should-i-bother-with-it) – Raedwald Jan 27 '16 at 07:36

1 Answers1

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you are trying to print characters that are not supported by character set of console. you can try changing console character set as mentioned here Can't print hindi characters

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