How to get the value of Integer.MAX_VALUE in Java without using the Integer class

Question

I have this question that has completely stumped me. I have to create a variable that equals Integer.MAX_VALUE... (in Java)

// The answer must contain balanced parentesis
public class Exercise{

  public static void main(String [] arg){
    [???]
    assert (Integer.MAX_VALUE==i);
  }
}

The challenge is that the source code cannot contain the words "Integer", "Float", "Double" or any digits (0 - 9).

Answer 1

Here's a succinct method:

int ONE = "x".length();
int i = -ONE >>> ONE; //unsigned shift

This works because the max integer value in binary is all ones, except the top (sign) bit, which is zero. But -1 in twos compliment binary is all ones, so by bit shifting -1 one bit to the right, you get the max value.

11111111111111111111111111111111 // -1 in twos compliment
01111111111111111111111111111111 // max int (2147483647)

Answer 2

As others have said.

int i = Integer.MAX_VALUE;

is what you want.

Integer.MAX_VALUE, is a "static constant" inside of the "wrapper class" Integer that is simply the max value. Many classes have static constants in them that are helpful.