According to the Java documentation, any implementation of the ``++InputSteam.read()++`` method is supposed to read the next byte of data from the input stream. The value byte must be an ``++int++`` in the range 0 to 255. If no byte is available because the end of the stream has been reached, the value -1 is returned.
But in Java, the ``++byte++`` primitive data type is an 8-bit signed two's complement integer. It has a minimum value of -128 and a maximum value of 127. So by contract, the implementation of an ``++InputSteam.read()++`` method should never directly return a ``++byte++`` primitive data type. A conversion into an unsigned byte must be done before by applying a bitmask.
== Noncompliant Code Example
----
@Override
public int read() throws IOException {
if (pos == buffer.length()) {
return -1;
}
return buffer.getByte(pos++); // Noncompliant, a signed byte value is returned
}
----
== Compliant Solution
----
@Override
public int read() throws IOException {
if (pos == buffer.length()) {
return -1;
}
return buffer.getByte(pos++) & 0xFF; // The 0xFF bitmask is applied
