Why does this Java division print out zero? [duplicate]

Question

I have the following line of code:

System.out.println(5/9);

I expect to see 0.555 as a result, but instead it prints out zero. Can someone help me understand why this happens? I am currently learning programming and appreciate the help.

Thanks!

Answer 1

This happens because what you are unknowingly doing is Integer Division. To make calculations fast, computer uses Integer division method when there's no decimal number involved, and hence decimal values are lost.

Try this out:

System.out.println(5.0 / 9.0);

or

System.out.println(5.0 / 9);

or

System.out.println(5 / 9.0);

or

System.out.println((float) 5 / 9);

or

System.out.println(5 / (float) 9);