Class Members - Java for COBOL Programmers - page 82

Type Description No. Range Equivalent COBOL

of Bits

PIC X(nnn) 1

String Sequence of 16 (each) Any set of Unicode

characters characters

Array Group of N/A Any object or data OCCURS

variables type variable(s)

PIC S9(n) COMP-3 2

BigDecimal Fixed precision Variable Unlimited

number

PIC S9(n) COMP-3 2

BigInteger Fixed precision Variable Unlimited

integer

Object Object reference An object reference 01 CTL-AREA

variable variable for any class type

1. COBOL strings are always fixed-length 8-bit characters and bank padded to the defined size of the item. Java
strings are variable-length Unicode characters and have an embedded size attribute. I will discuss strings later.
2. Sometimes just COMP, COBOL's packed decimal type.

Values can easily be converted between the various data types, but in many
cases, you have to be explicit. A type cast is used to indicate to the compiler that you
intend to convert from one type to another; otherwise, the compiler might think
you are making a mistake!

int counter = 23;
// 'F' indicates a float constant
float bigNumber = 1.23F; // or 1.23f;
double biggerNumber = 123.45;
// Direct assignment from integer to floating point data types is possible.
bigNumber = counter;
// Direct assignment from floating point to integer data types is not
// possible.
counter = bigNumber;
// this is a compile error
// Move the floating point number to the integer, using a cast. Of course,
// some precision may be lost, but you've told the compiler you know what
// you're doing.
counter = (int) bigNumber;