Java Number.shortValue() Method

The shortValue() is an inbuilt method in Java from the java.lang.Number class. This method is used to convert the current number object into a short primitive type.

This may involve rounding or truncation because the short data type in Java is a 16-bit signed integer with a value range from -32,768 to 32,767. And if we convert a number larger than this range, it can cause data loss.

Syntax of shortValue() Method

public abstract short shortValue();

• Parameters: This method does not accept any parameters. 
• Return value: This method returns the numeric value represented by this object after conversion to type short.

Examples of Java Number.shortValue() Method

Example 1: In this example, we are going to convert the larger values.

// Java program to demonstrate 
// shortValue() with large float and double values
import java.lang.Number;

public class Geeks {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        // Large float number
        Float f = new Float(7854123456f);
        short shortFromFloat = f.shortValue();
        System.out.println("Float to short: " + shortFromFloat);

        // Large double number
        Double d = new Double(98774856);
        short shortFromDouble = d.shortValue();
        System.out.println("Double to short: " + shortFromDouble);
    }
}

Float to short: -1
Double to short: 12104

Explanation: Here, both values exceeds the limit of the short data type so, the results wraps around due to data loss.

Example 2: In this example, we are going to do safe conversions with smaller values.

// Java program to demonstrate 
// shortValue() with smaller, within-range values
import java.lang.Number;

public class Geeks {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        // Float value within short range
        Float f = new Float(78f);
        System.out.println("Float to short: " 
        + f.shortValue());

        // Double value within short range
        Double d = new Double(56.23);
        System.out.println("Double to short: " 
        + d.shortValue());
    }
}

Float to short: 78
Double to short: 56

Explanation: Here, the values are withing the valid short range. And the decimal values like 56.23 are truncated to 56 before converting.

Important Points:

• This method is very useful when we need to extract numeric object to a short data type.
• But we should cautiously use this method when working with large or floating point numbers because it can result in overflow.