Java How to Convert int to char with Examples

In Java, you can convert an int to a char by casting it like this: char c = (char) intValue; where intValue is the integer you want to convert.

Examples

Input65

OutputA

Input97

Outputa

Input48

Output0

How to Think About It

To convert an integer to a character, think of the integer as a code that represents a symbol in the character set. By casting the integer to a char, Java treats the number as the Unicode code point and gives you the matching character.

Algorithm

1

Get the integer value you want to convert.

2

Cast the integer to a char type using (char).

3

Use or print the resulting char value.

Code

java

public class IntToChar {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int intValue = 65;
        char charValue = (char) intValue;
        System.out.println(charValue);
    }
}

Output

A

Dry Run

Let's trace converting int 65 to char through the code

1

Assign int value

intValue = 65

2

Cast int to char

charValue = (char) 65

3

Print char

Output: 'A'

intValue	charValue
65	A

Why This Works

Step 1: Casting int to char

The (char) cast tells Java to treat the integer as a Unicode code point.

Step 2: Unicode mapping

Each integer corresponds to a character in Unicode, so 65 maps to 'A'.

Step 3: Resulting character

The casted value is stored as a char and can be printed or used as a character.

Alternative Approaches

Using Character.toChars()

java

public class IntToCharAlt {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int intValue = 65;
        char[] chars = Character.toChars(intValue);
        System.out.println(chars[0]);
    }
}

This method returns a char array and is useful for code points outside the basic multilingual plane.

Using String.valueOf()

java

public class IntToCharString {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int intValue = 65;
        String s = String.valueOf((char) intValue);
        System.out.println(s);
    }
}

Converts int to char then to String; useful when you need a String instead of a char.

Complexity: O(1) time, O(1) space

Time Complexity

Casting an int to char is a direct operation with no loops, so it runs in constant time.

Space Complexity

No extra memory is needed beyond storing the char, so space usage is constant.

Which Approach is Fastest?

Simple casting is the fastest and most straightforward method; alternatives add overhead and are used for special cases.

Approach	Time	Space	Best For
Casting (char)	O(1)	O(1)	Simple and fast conversions
Character.toChars()	O(1)	O(1)	Handling Unicode code points beyond 16-bit chars
String.valueOf()	O(1)	O(1)	When a String result is needed