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Why does Java think that the product of all numbers from 10 to 99 is 0?

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java

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Why do we use 0 in Java?

So to get the value of any character digit, you can just remove the '0', ie 48. If you don't remove '0' (48) the total sum will be over by 48 * numberOfDigits . See an ascii table to locate digits in it. Note that '0' is the character 0 , not the string "0" containing the character '0' .

How does Java do multiplication?

In order to multiply numbers in Java, we will use the asterisk (*) between each number or variable.


Here is what the program does at each step:

          1 * 10 =          10
         10 * 11 =         110
        110 * 12 =        1320
       1320 * 13 =       17160
      17160 * 14 =      240240
     240240 * 15 =     3603600
    3603600 * 16 =    57657600
   57657600 * 17 =   980179200
  980179200 * 18 =   463356416
  463356416 * 19 =   213837312
  213837312 * 20 =   -18221056
  -18221056 * 21 =  -382642176
 -382642176 * 22 =   171806720
  171806720 * 23 =  -343412736
 -343412736 * 24 =   348028928
  348028928 * 25 =   110788608
  110788608 * 26 = -1414463488
-1414463488 * 27 =   464191488
  464191488 * 28 =   112459776
  112459776 * 29 = -1033633792
-1033633792 * 30 =  -944242688
 -944242688 * 31 =   793247744
  793247744 * 32 =  -385875968
 -385875968 * 33 =   150994944
  150994944 * 34 =   838860800
  838860800 * 35 =  -704643072
 -704643072 * 36 =   402653184
  402653184 * 37 =  2013265920
 2013265920 * 38 =  -805306368
 -805306368 * 39 = -1342177280
-1342177280 * 40 = -2147483648
-2147483648 * 41 = -2147483648
-2147483648 * 42 =           0
          0 * 43 =           0
          0 * 44 =           0
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
          0 * 97 =           0
          0 * 98 =           0

Notice that on some steps the multiplication results in a smaller number (980179200 * 18 = 463356416) or incorrect sign (213837312 * 20 = -18221056), indicating that there was an integer overflow. But where does the zero come from? Read on.

Keeping in mind that int data type is a 32-bit signed, two's complement integer, here is an explanation of each step:

Operation         Result(1)     Binary Representation(2)                                           Result(3)
----------------  ------------  -----------------------------------------------------------------  ------------
          1 * 10            10                                                               1010            10
         10 * 11           110                                                            1101110           110
        110 * 12          1320                                                        10100101000          1320
       1320 * 13         17160                                                    100001100001000         17160
      17160 * 14        240240                                                 111010101001110000        240240
     240240 * 15       3603600                                             1101101111110010010000       3603600
    3603600 * 16      57657600                                         11011011111100100100000000      57657600
   57657600 * 17     980179200                                     111010011011000101100100000000     980179200
  980179200 * 18   17643225600                               100 00011011100111100100001000000000     463356416
  463356416 * 19    8803771904                                10 00001100101111101110011000000000     213837312
  213837312 * 20    4276746240                                   11111110111010011111100000000000     -18221056
  -18221056 * 21    -382642176  11111111111111111111111111111111 11101001001100010101100000000000    -382642176
 -382642176 * 22   -8418127872  11111111111111111111111111111110 00001010001111011001000000000000     171806720
  171806720 * 23    3951554560                                   11101011100001111111000000000000    -343412736
 -343412736 * 24   -8241905664  11111111111111111111111111111110 00010100101111101000000000000000     348028928
  348028928 * 25    8700723200                                10 00000110100110101000000000000000     110788608
  110788608 * 26    2880503808                                   10101011101100010000000000000000   -1414463488
-1414463488 * 27  -38190514176  11111111111111111111111111110111 00011011101010110000000000000000     464191488
  464191488 * 28   12997361664                                11 00000110101101000000000000000000     112459776
  112459776 * 29    3261333504                                   11000010011001000000000000000000   -1033633792
-1033633792 * 30  -31009013760  11111111111111111111111111111000 11000111101110000000000000000000    -944242688
 -944242688 * 31  -29271523328  11111111111111111111111111111001 00101111010010000000000000000000     793247744
  793247744 * 32   25383927808                               101 11101001000000000000000000000000    -385875968
 -385875968 * 33  -12733906944  11111111111111111111111111111101 00001001000000000000000000000000     150994944
  150994944 * 34    5133828096                                 1 00110010000000000000000000000000     838860800
  838860800 * 35   29360128000                               110 11010110000000000000000000000000    -704643072
 -704643072 * 36  -25367150592  11111111111111111111111111111010 00011000000000000000000000000000     402653184
  402653184 * 37   14898167808                                11 01111000000000000000000000000000    2013265920
 2013265920 * 38   76504104960                             10001 11010000000000000000000000000000    -805306368
 -805306368 * 39  -31406948352  11111111111111111111111111111000 10110000000000000000000000000000   -1342177280
-1342177280 * 40  -53687091200  11111111111111111111111111110011 10000000000000000000000000000000   -2147483648
-2147483648 * 41  -88046829568  11111111111111111111111111101011 10000000000000000000000000000000   -2147483648
-2147483648 * 42  -90194313216  11111111111111111111111111101011 00000000000000000000000000000000             0
          0 * 43             0                                                                  0             0
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
          0 * 98             0                                                                  0             0
  1. is the correct result
  2. is the internal representation of the result (64 bits are used for illustration)
  3. is the result represented by the two's complement of the lower 32 bits

We know that multiplying a number by an even number:

  • shifts the bits towards left and adds zero bits towards right
  • results in an even number

So basically your program multiplies an even number with another number repeatedly which zeroes out the result bits starting from right.

PS: If the multiplications involved odd numbers only then the result will not become zero.


Computer multiplication is really happening modulo 2^32. Once you have accumulated enough powers of two in the multiplicand, then all values will be 0.

Here we have all the even numbers in the series, along with the maximum power of two that divides the number, and the cumulative power of two

num   max2  total
10    2     1
12    4     3
14    2     4
16    16    8
18    2     9
20    4    11
22    2    12
24    8    15
26    2    16
28    4    18
30    2    19
32    32   24
34    2    25
36    4    27
38    2    28
40    8    31
42    2    32

The product up to 42 is equal to x * 2^32 = 0 (mod 2^32). The sequence of the powers of two is related to Gray codes (among other things), and appears as https://oeis.org/A001511.

EDIT: to see why other responses to this question are incomplete, consider the fact that the same program, restricted to odd integers only, would not converge to 0, despite all the overflowing.


It looks like an integer overflow.

Take a look at this

BigDecimal product=new BigDecimal(1);
for(int i=10;i<99;i++){
    product=product.multiply(new BigDecimal(i));
}
System.out.println(product);

Output:

25977982938941930515945176761070443325092850981258133993315252362474391176210383043658995147728530422794328291965962468114563072000000000000000000000

Output no longer be a int value. Then you will get wrong value because of the overflow.

If it overflows, it goes back to the minimum value and continues from there. If it underflows, it goes back to the maximum value and continues from there.

More info

Edit.

Let's change your code as follows

int product = 1;
for (int i = 10; i < 99; i++) {
   product *= i;
   System.out.println(product);
}

Out put:

10
110
1320
17160
240240
3603600
57657600
980179200
463356416
213837312
-18221056
-382642176
171806720
-343412736
348028928
110788608
-1414463488
464191488
112459776
-1033633792
-944242688
793247744
-385875968
150994944
838860800
-704643072
402653184
2013265920
-805306368
-1342177280
-2147483648
-2147483648>>>binary representation is 11111111111111111111111111101011 10000000000000000000000000000000 
 0 >>> here binary representation will become 11111111111111111111111111101011 00000000000000000000000000000000 
 ----
 0

It's because of integer overflow. When you multiply many even numbers together, the binary number gets a lot of trailing zeroes. When you have over 32 trailing zeroes for an int, it rolls over to 0.

To help you visualize this, here are the multiplications in hex calculated on a number type that won't overflow. See how the trailing zeroes slowly grow, and note that an int is made up of the last 8 hex-digits. After multiplying by 42 (0x2A), all 32 bits of an int are zeroes!

                                     1 (int: 00000001) * 0A =
                                     A (int: 0000000A) * 0B =
                                    6E (int: 0000006E) * 0C =
                                   528 (int: 00000528) * 0D =
                                  4308 (int: 00004308) * 0E =
                                 3AA70 (int: 0003AA70) * 0F =
                                36FC90 (int: 0036FC90) * 10 =
                               36FC900 (int: 036FC900) * 11 =
                              3A6C5900 (int: 3A6C5900) * 12 =
                             41B9E4200 (int: 1B9E4200) * 13 =
                            4E0CBEE600 (int: 0CBEE600) * 14 =
                           618FEE9F800 (int: FEE9F800) * 15 =
                          800CE9315800 (int: E9315800) * 16 =
                         B011C0A3D9000 (int: 0A3D9000) * 17 =
                        FD1984EB87F000 (int: EB87F000) * 18 =
                      17BA647614BE8000 (int: 14BE8000) * 19 =
                     25133CF88069A8000 (int: 069A8000) * 1A =
                    3C3F4313D0ABB10000 (int: ABB10000) * 1B =
                   65AAC1317021BAB0000 (int: 1BAB0000) * 1C =
                  B1EAD216843B06B40000 (int: 06B40000) * 1D =
                142799CC8CFAAFC2640000 (int: C2640000) * 1E =
               25CA405F8856098C7B80000 (int: C7B80000) * 1F =
              4937DCB91826B2802F480000 (int: 2F480000) * 20 =
             926FB972304D65005E9000000 (int: E9000000) * 21 =
           12E066E7B839FA050C309000000 (int: 09000000) * 22 =
          281CDAAC677B334AB9E732000000 (int: 32000000) * 23 =
         57BF1E59225D803376A9BD6000000 (int: D6000000) * 24 =
        C56E04488D526073CAFDEA18000000 (int: 18000000) * 25 =
      1C88E69E7C6CE7F0BC56B2D578000000 (int: 78000000) * 26 =
     43C523B86782A6DBBF4DE8BAFD0000000 (int: D0000000) * 27 =
    A53087117C4E76B7A24DE747C8B0000000 (int: B0000000) * 28 =
  19CF951ABB6C428CB15C2C23375B80000000 (int: 80000000) * 29 =
 4223EE1480456A88867C311A3DDA780000000 (int: 80000000) * 2A =
AD9E50F5D0B637A6610600E4E25D7B00000000 (int: 00000000)

Somewhere in the middle you get 0 as the product. So, your entire product will be 0.

In your case :

for (int i = 10; i < 99; i++) {
    if (product < Integer.MAX_VALUE)
        System.out.println(product);
    product *= i;
}
// System.out.println(product);

System.out.println(-2147483648 * EvenValueOfi); // --> this is the culprit (Credits : Kocko's answer )

O/P :
1
10
110
1320
17160
240240
3603600
57657600
980179200
463356416
213837312
-18221056
-382642176
171806720
-343412736
348028928
110788608
-1414463488
464191488
112459776
-1033633792
-944242688
793247744
-385875968
150994944
838860800
-704643072
402653184
2013265920
-805306368
-1342177280  --> Multiplying this and the current value of `i` will also give -2147483648 (INT overflow)
-2147483648  --> Multiplying this and the current value of `i` will also give -2147483648 (INT overflow)

-2147483648  ->  Multiplying this and the current value of 'i' will give 0 (INT overflow)
0
0
0

Every time you multiply the current value of i with the number you get 0 as output.


Since many of the existing answer point to implementation details of Java and debug output, lets have a look at the math behind binary multiplication to really answer the why.

The comment of @kasperd goes in the right direction. Suppose you do not multiply directly with the number but with the prime factors of that number instead. Than a lot of numbers will have 2 as a prime factor. In binary this is equal to a left shift. By commutativity we can multiply with prime factors of 2 first. That means we just do a left shift.

When having a look at binary multiplication rules, the only case where a 1 will result in a specific digit position is when both operand values are one.

So the effect of a left shift is that the lowest bit position of a 1 when further multiplying the result is increased.

Since integer contains only the lowest order bits, they all will be set to 0 when the prime factor 2 is cotnained often enough in the result.

Note that two's complement representation is not of interest for this analysis, since the sign of the multiplication result can be computed independently from the resulting number. That means if the value overflows and becomes negative, the lowest order bits are represented as 1, but during multiplication they are treated again as being 0.


If I run this code What I get all -

          1 * 10 =          10
         10 * 11 =         110
        110 * 12 =        1320
       1320 * 13 =       17160
      17160 * 14 =      240240
     240240 * 15 =     3603600
    3603600 * 16 =    57657600
   57657600 * 17 =   980179200
  980179200 * 18 =   463356416 <- Integer Overflow (17643225600)
  463356416 * 19 =   213837312
  213837312 * 20 =   -18221056
  -18221056 * 21 =  -382642176
 -382642176 * 22 =   171806720
  171806720 * 23 =  -343412736
 -343412736 * 24 =   348028928
  348028928 * 25 =   110788608
  110788608 * 26 = -1414463488
-1414463488 * 27 =   464191488
  464191488 * 28 =   112459776
  112459776 * 29 = -1033633792
-1033633792 * 30 =  -944242688
 -944242688 * 31 =   793247744
  793247744 * 32 =  -385875968
 -385875968 * 33 =   150994944
  150994944 * 34 =   838860800
  838860800 * 35 =  -704643072
 -704643072 * 36 =   402653184
  402653184 * 37 =  2013265920
 2013265920 * 38 =  -805306368
 -805306368 * 39 = -1342177280
-1342177280 * 40 = -2147483648
-2147483648 * 41 = -2147483648
-2147483648 * 42 =           0 <- produce 0 
          0 * 43 =           0

Integer Overflow cause -

980179200 * 18 =   463356416 (should be 17643225600)

17643225600 : 10000011011100111100100001000000000 <-Actual
MAX_Integer :     1111111111111111111111111111111
463356416   :     0011011100111100100001000000000 <- 32 bit Integer

Produce 0 cause -

-2147483648 * 42 =           0 (should be -90194313216)

-90194313216: 1010100000000000000000000000000000000 <- Actual
MAX_Integer :       1111111111111111111111111111111
0           :      00000000000000000000000000000000 <- 32 bit Integer