In Java, characters are stored using the char data type. Unlike C/C++, where char is 1 byte, Java uses 2 bytes (16 bits) for char because it supports Unicode, not just ASCII. This allows Java to represent characters from almost all world languages, symbols, and even emojis.

char

char a;

Internal Representation

• char is internally stored as a 16-bit unsigned integer.
• Each char maps to a Unicode code point.

Example:

• 'A' → Unicode 0041 → Decimal 65
• 'a' → Unicode 0061 → Decimal 97
• '₹' → Unicode 20B9 → Decimal 8377
• '😊' → Unicode 1F60A (stored using surrogate pairs in UTF-16)

Examples in Java

public class CharExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        char c1 = 'A';        // Normal character
        char c2 = 65;         // Decimal value of 'A'
        char c3 = '\u0041';   // Unicode escape sequence for 'A'
        char c4 = '₹';        // Indian Rupee symbol
        char c5 = '\u20B9';   // Same as above using Unicode

        System.out.println("c1: " + c1);
        System.out.println("c2: " + c2);
        System.out.println("c3: " + c3);
        System.out.println("c4: " + c4);
        System.out.println("c5: " + c5);
    }
}

Important Points

• char is unsigned in Java (cannot store negative values).
• Default value of char = '\u0000' (null character).
• You can assign a char using:
  • Direct character ('A')
  • Integer value (65)
  • Unicode escape ('\u0041')
• Since char is numeric internally, it supports arithmetic:

char c = 'A';
System.out.println((int)c);      // 65
System.out.println((char)(c + 1));  // 'B'

If you want to handle strings of multiple characters, use the String class, not char.

Special Note

If you try to store larger Unicode characters (like emojis) above \uFFFF, Java internally represents them using surrogate pairs (two char values). For such cases, it’s better to use String or int (codePoint) instead of char.

Summary: