Working with Big Numbers in Java

Java provides the BigInteger and BigDecimal classes to handle very large integers and precise decimal values, which primitive types like int, long, or double cannot handle reliably.

Importing Big Number Classes:

import java.math.BigInteger;
import java.math.BigDecimal;

1.) BigInteger – For Very Large Integers:

Why Use:

• To handle integer values larger than long (> 9,223,372,036,854,775,807).
• To perform precise integer arithmetic without overflow.

Creating BigInteger:

BigInteger num1 = new BigInteger("123456789012345678901234567890");
BigInteger num2 = new BigInteger("987654321098765432109876543210");

2.) BigDecimal – For Very Precise Decimal Values

Why Use:

• For precise decimal calculations like money, interest rates, etc.
• Avoids the rounding errors of float and double.

Creating BigDecimal:

BigDecimal price = new BigDecimal("12345.67890");
BigDecimal tax = new BigDecimal("0.18");