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hi, i'm porting a toy crypto algorithm to java. the original cipher was
written in C and used unsigned char's for 8-bit bytes with the range 0..255.
i need a similar datatype in java, but the primitive 'byte' is signed
(range -128..+127). does anyone have any suggestions for a 8-bit
unsigned datatype in java?

thanks in advance

"jeff" <> wrote in message
news:c2fj6j$1sq6bd$...
> hi, i'm porting a toy crypto algorithm to java. the original cipher was
> written in C and used unsigned char's for 8-bit bytes with the range
0..255.
> i need a similar datatype in java, but the primitive 'byte' is signed
> (range -128..+127). does anyone have any suggestions for a 8-bit
> unsigned datatype in java?

Use shorts and mask to 8 bits where necessary.

jeff wrote:
> hi, i'm porting a toy crypto algorithm to java. the original cipher was
> written in C and used unsigned char's for 8-bit bytes with the range
> 0..255.
> i need a similar datatype in java, but the primitive 'byte' is signed
> (range -128..+127). does anyone have any suggestions for a 8-bit
> unsigned datatype in java?
>
> thanks in advance
>

There are several choices. One is to use byte as it is (signed) but not
that many operations produce the same result (bit pattern) for both
signed and unsigned values it is merely a matter of interpretation. For
those operations where the sign actually matters you will have to rework
the equations.
Another possibility is to use the char type for the calculations. This
is unsigned albeit with 16 bits instead of 8 ... just ignore the content
of the upper 8 bits.

Mark Thornton