why is 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000 * 1000 divided by 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000 not equal to 1000 in Java?

Satish picture Satish · Aug 19, 2009 · Viewed 20.2k times · Source

why is 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000 * 1000 divided by 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000 not equal to 1000 in Java?

Answer

Jon Skeet picture Jon Skeet · Aug 19, 2009

Because the multiplication overflows 32 bit integers. In 64 bits it's okay:

public class Test
{
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        int intProduct = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000 * 1000;
        long longProduct = 24L * 60 * 60 * 1000 * 1000;
        System.out.println(intProduct); // Prints 500654080
        System.out.println(longProduct); // Prints 86400000000
   }
}

Obviously after the multiplication has overflowed, the division isn't going to "undo" that overflow.