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Here is an example of what could happen :

class Test{
  public static void main(String[] args){
    int big = 1999999999;
    double big_float = big;
    float one = 1.0f;
    System.out.println(big*one);
    System.out.println(big_float);
  }
}

The output is
2.0E9
{{1.999999999E9}}
while the expected output is :
2.0E9
2.0E9.
big is first converted to a float, and loses some precision, which explains the 2.0E9. However, big_float doesn't lose any precision since it's a wider type than float, this is why the two output are different.

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In that particular case, it would be sufficient to use a double instead of a float :

class Test{
  public static void main(String[] args){
    int big = 1999999999;
    double big_float = big;
    double one = 1.0d;
    System.out.println(big*one);
    System.out.println(big_float);
  }
}

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