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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-14T23:25:05+00:00

Java allows identifier to start with or contain $ (dollar sign). e.g int a$b;

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Java allows identifier to start with or contain $ (dollar sign).
e.g int a$b;

But why # is not allowed in an identifier? What is the specific reason? Is # an operator or something in Java?
e.g int a#b;

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  1. Editorial Team

    I’d say that it is a combination of readability and the historical antecedents of the language. Remember that the Java syntax was designed to be easy-on-the-eye for C and C++ programmers. (And as @dan04 points out, the # character is significant in most dialects of C and C++.)

    Incidentally, while $ is technical legal in Java identifiers, it is reserved for use by compilers, code generators and other things. If you use $ in identifiers in your source code, you risk getting into trouble with collisions with synthetic identifiers produced by (for example) the javac compiler.

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