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 } ---- ifdef::env-github,rspecator-view[] ''' == Implementation Specification (visible only on this page) include::message.adoc[] include::highlighting.adoc[] endif::env-github,rspecator-view[]