Retrieving the first digit of a number [duplicate]

Question

I am just learning Java and am trying to get my program to retrieve the first digit of a number - for example 543 should return 5, etc. I thought to convert to a string, but I am not sure how I can convert it back? Thanks for any help.

int number = 534; String numberString = Integer.toString(number); char firstLetterChar = numberString.charAt(0); int firstDigit = ???? 

Answer 1

Almost certainly more efficient than using Strings:

int firstDigit(int x) {     while (x > 9) {         x /= 10;     }     return x; } 

(Works only for nonnegative integers.)

Answer 2

    int number = 534;     int firstDigit = Integer.parseInt(Integer.toString(number).substring(0, 1));