Why do I get a number when I add chars?

Question

I once decided to add two chars together, and it gave me a number. Here's the code:

class Main {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    System.out.println('a'+'b');
  }
}

Output: 195.

I've searched in a lot of places, but I still couldn't figure out why a char + char = int. Can someone explain this to me?

NOTE: THIS IS NOT A DUPLICATE!! The other question is asking the data type of an added char. This question asks why this happens. Those are DIFFERENT QUESTIONS WITH DIFFERENT ANSWERS!

Here's a decent read on the subject: http://www.vias.org/javacourse/chap07_09.html — Tim Hunter, Mar 01 '21 at 20:13
You can check this answer here https://stackoverflow.com/a/8688708/9462470 — b_hunter, Mar 01 '21 at 20:15
A simplified way to think about is that `char` variables contain a number value which represents it's position in the ASCII table. Arithmetic operations using `char` have various behaviors depending on how it's used because a `char` contains a number value but represents an character so the system will perform automatic conversions depending on the context of its use. — Tim Hunter, Mar 01 '21 at 20:26

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 01 '21 at 20:11

1

You're adding their ASCII values:

'a'+'b' = 97+98 = 195

answered Mar 01 '21 at 20:11

Majed Badawi

27,616
4
25
48

score 1 · Answer 2 · 2021-03-01T20:32:23.387

1

5.1. Kinds of Conversion

This code implicitly casts them to String:

System.out.println("" + 'a' + 'b'); //ab

And this code casts to double:

System.out.println(.8 + 'a' + 'b'); //195.8

edited Mar 01 '21 at 20:32

answered Mar 01 '21 at 20:15

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 01 '21 at 20:16

1

If you want to concatanate, try this :

System.out.println("a"+"b");

answered Mar 01 '21 at 20:16

Lansana Diomande

70
1
5

Why do I get a number when I add chars?

3 Answers3

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