Type Casting 🪣

Mentor's Note: Type casting is the process of moving data from one type of "Box" to another. Sometimes it’s easy and safe, and sometimes you have to "Force" it, which can cause data to spill and be lost! 💡

---

🌟 The Scenario: The Bucket & Glass Challenge 🌊

Imagine you are moving water between different containers.

• Widening (The Safe Move): You pour water from a Small Glass (int) into a Large Bucket (double). 🌊 The bucket has plenty of room, so the water fits perfectly. No spills! ✅
• Narrowing (The Dangerous Move): You pour water from a Full Bucket (double) back into a Small Glass (int). 🚫 If the bucket has more than the glass can hold, you Spill (Lose) the extra water!
• The Result: You must be careful when moving data "Downwards" to avoid losing information. ✅

---

🎨 Visual Logic: The Casting Hierarchy

graph LR
    A[byte] --> B[short]
    B --> C[char]
    C --> D[int]
    D --> E[long]
    E --> F[float]
    F --> G[double]
    G -- "MANUAL 🚫" --> A

Type	Safety	Java Name	Action
Smaller to Larger	Safe ✅	Widening	Automatic
Larger to Smaller	Risky ⚠️	Narrowing	Manual (type)

---

📖 Concept Explanation

1. Widening Casting (Automatic) 🌊

Converting a smaller type to a larger type size. Java does this for you automatically because there is no risk of data loss. - Example: int (9) to double (9.0).

2. Narrowing Casting (Manual) ✂️

Converting a larger type to a smaller type size. This must be done manually by placing the type in parentheses () in front of the value. - Example: double (9.78) to int (9).

---

💻 Implementation: The Casting Lab

Java (JDK 17+)

// 🛒 Scenario: Moving data across types
// 🚀 Action: Automatic vs Manual casting

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // 🌊 1. Widening (Automatic)
        int smallVal = 100;
        double largeVal = smallVal; // int -> double
        System.out.println("Automatic: " + largeVal); // 100.0

        // ✂️ 2. Narrowing (Manual)
        double myDouble = 9.99;
        int myInt = (int) myDouble; // double -> int
        System.out.println("Manual: " + myInt); // 9 (Lost the .99!)
    }
}

---

📊 Sample Dry Run (Data Loss)

Initial Type	Value	Target Type	Cast Used	Final Value	Logic
double	15.75	int	(int)	15	Decimals are cut off ✂️
int	127	byte	(byte)	127	Fits in range ✅
int	300	byte	(byte)	44	OVERFLOW! (Spilled) 🚫

---

📈 Technical Analysis: Truncation vs Rounding 🧠

When casting a double or float to an int, Java Truncates the number. This means it just cuts off everything after the decimal point. It does NOT round to the nearest number! - 9.99 becomes 9. - -1.99 becomes -1.

---

🎯 Practice Lab 🧪

Task: The Average Calculator

Task: You have three int scores: 80, 90, 85. Calculate the average and store it in a double variable. Goal: Use widening to make sure your average has decimal points! 💡

---

💡 Interview Tip 👔

"Interviewers often ask: 'Can we cast a String to an int using (int)?' Answer: NO. You cannot cast reference types to primitives like that. To convert a String "10" to an int, you must use Integer.parseInt("10")."

---

💡 Pro Tip: "Widening is like a gift from Java—it's free and safe. Narrowing is like a surgery—you must do it yourself and there might be side effects!" - Vishnu Damwala

---

← Back: Data Types | Next: Operators →