Unsigned short in Java

Question

How can I declare an unsigned short value in Java?

Answer 1

You can't, really. Java doesn't have any unsigned data types, except char.

Admittedly you could use char - it's a 16-bit unsigned type - but that would be horrible in my view, as char is clearly meant to be for text: when code uses char, I expect it to be using it for UTF-16 code units representing text that's interesting to the program, not arbitrary unsigned 16-bit integers with no relationship to text.

Answer 2

If you really need a value with exactly 16 bits:

Solution 1: Use the available signed short and stop worrying about the sign, unless you need to do comparison (<, <=, >, >=) or division (/, %, >>) operations. See this answer for how to handle signed numbers as if they were unsigned.

Solution 2 (where solution 1 doesn't apply): Use the lower 16 bits of int and remove the higher bits with & 0xffff where necessary.