Type Conversion

Type conversion changes a value from one data type to another, either automatically by the compiler (implicit conversion) or explicitly by the programmer using a cast, such as (int)3.9. Implicit conversions follow C's promotion rules, for example converting a char to an int in arithmetic, and can sometimes cause unexpected precision loss or overflow. Explicit casts give the programmer direct control but also make it easy to silently discard data if used carelessly.