This is the data type used for true/false conditions. To speed up memory access, implementations don't pack boolean values into the theoretical one-bit minimum space, but put each boolean into a byte.
example declaration:
boolean b = false;
range of values: false, true
literals: false true
In the code below,
boolean found = false;
/* more code */
if (x == 99) found = true;
x is compared with value 99. If x matches 99, then the boolean found is set to true.
You cannot assign or cast a boolean value to any other type. However, you can always get the same effect by using an expression, like the following:
if (b) i=1; else i=0; // set i according to boolean b value.
// set boolean b according to int i value
if (i==1) b = true; else b = false;
Unlike some other languages, the Java boolean type is not based on integers. In particular, the Java programmer cannot increment, decrement, shift, or add boolean values. Inside a JVM, however, there are no instructions specifically for booleans, so integer operations (like assigning zero) are used. In the Sun JVM, the byte containing a boolean is promoted to 32 bits when pushed onto the stack during execution. So don't think booleans are a 1-bit type that economizes on storage.