Question

I have a calculation for example 2/4 = 0.5, except I can’t find a data type that will store this value! Every time I make the calculation it says 0.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Answer 1

Either double or decimal will work fine.

However, if you just write:

// Wrong
double x = 2 / 4;

then it will still use integer division – because both of the operands for the division operator are of type int.

You can either cast either or both of the operands to double, or use a double literal for either or both of them:

// Any of these...
double x = (double) 2 / 4;
double x = 2 / (double) 4;
double x = (double) 2 / (double) 4;
double x = 2.0 / 4;
double x = 2 / 4.0;
double x = 2.0 / 4.0;
double x = 2d / 4;
double x = 2 / 4d;
double x = 2d / 4d;

Note that both double and decimal are floating point types. They don’t represent arbitrary rational numbers (fractions). For example, neither can accurately represent 1/3. If you need a rational number type, you’ll have to write your own or look for a third party implementation.