Static Typing (Implicit Casting) in Java illustration

StaticTypeChecking_2.java

package invariant;

/**
 * Static Typing and Java 
 * 
 * Here are some of the purported POSITIVES of STATIC TYPING:
 * <UL>
 *  <LI>PREVENT and DETECT ERRORS (checked at compile type) (i.e. CORRECTNESS)
 *  <LI>easier to REASON about the PROGRAM / METHOD
 *  <LI>easier to DEBUG 
 *  <LI>better DOCUMENTATION
 *  <LI>easier COMPILER OPTIMIZATIONS (e.g. replacing virtual calls by direct calls when the exact type of the receiver is known statically)
 *  <LI>better RUNTIME EFFICIENCY 
 * </UL> 
 * 
 * ...there are ALSO some NEGATIVES to STATIC TYPING
 * <UL>
 *   <LI>Too RIGID (as compared to dynamic typing)
 *   <LI>LESS REUSEABLE CODE (leads to Code Duplication )
 *   <LI>Too HARD TO ADAPT to changing /dynamic behavior 
 * </UL>
 * 
 * This Gist illustrates one ACTUAL use case and describes how the code
 * attempts to navigate the positives and negatives of static typing in 
 * Java's type system.
 * 
 * There are some inconsistencies and sometimes Java makes ASSUMPTIONS
 * ABOUT PROGRAMMER INTENT in an attempt to allow the reuse of code to either 
 * POSITIVE or NEGATIVE EFFECT.  Other times Java requires the code be EXPLICIT
 * to VERIFY   
 * 
 * @author M. Eric DeFazio eric@typefra.me
 */
public class StaticTypeChecking_2 
{
	enum ANumber { ONE, TWO,  THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE };
	
	public static void main (String[] args)
	{
		squareRoot( 9L ); // 1) type checker verifies that 9L is valid 
		                  //    for the squareRoot() method "function domain"  
		                  // prints 3.0 
		
		squareRoot( 9 ); // 2) type checker does an implicit int-> long conversion
		                 //    sensing the programmer "intent" and allowing 
		                 //    the sqaureRoot method to be reused for (int, short, byte, char)
		                 //    primitive types.
		                 // prints 3.0
		
		squareRoot ( (short)9 ); // 3) static typing does short -> long conversion
		                          // prints 3.0
		
		squareRoot ( (byte)9 ); // 3) static typing does byte -> long conversion
                                //  prints 3.0
		
		//this number literal 123982901299 is not within 32-bit int range
		//and therefore this wont compile since Java assumes all literals are 32-bit ints  
		squareRoot ( 123982901299 ); //Note: Above the method (at runtime) did a int -> long 
		                             //      conversion when i called sqaureRoot with an int.
		                             //      ...BUT in this case, Java requires that you 
		                             //       are explicit when declaring a literal
		                             //       even though we KNOW the literal is being passed 
		                             //       into a method that accepts a long value.
		                             // COMPILATION ERROR
		
		squareRoot ( 123982901299L );// By being explicit with a postfix 'L' to the literal 		                                            
		                             // the compiler knows to represent 123982901299 
		                             // as a 64-bit long. 
                               		 // prints  352112.0578722064
		
		
		squareRoot( '9' ); //3) '9' is a char, it will compile and run 
		                   // ...BUT all chars are ALSO an unsigned 16-bit numbers [0, 65535]
		                   // prints 7.54983443527075 
		                   // (BUT WE MIGHT EXPECT it to print 3.0, even though Java assumed
		                   //  we wanted to evaluate the char as a 16-bit unsigned number)
		
		System.out.println ( (int)'9' ); //...BECAUSE '9' == 57 (as an unsigned 16-bit number)
		                                 // and the squareRoot( 57 ); == 7.54983443527075
				
		//this won't compile because of static type checking ("String" is not compatible with int/long)
		//even though what is represented by "9" is a single char...  
		squareRoot("9"); //   even though a String is "really" a sequence of characters
		                 // COMPILATION ERROR 
		
		squareRoot ( Long.parseLong( "9" ) ); // we must explicitly use this conversion on
		                                      // a String to convert it to a Long 
		                                      // prints 3.0
		
		squareRoot ( ANumber.NINE ); // Java does not automatically ASSUME / convert an ENUM 
		                             // to its ordinal value
		
		squareRoot ( ANumber.NINE.ordinal() ); // so can Explicitly do this to circumvent the problem
		

		
	}
	
	/** 
	 * this is a simple method to illustrate static typing 
	 * in Java
	 * @param longParameter
	 */
	public static void squareRoot ( long longParameter )
	{
		                   //Math.sqrt accepts double 
		                   //Java does an (implicit cast) from long -> double
		                   //BEFORE calling Math.sqrt()
		System.out.println ( Math.sqrt( longParameter ) );
	}

}