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'char' expression used in arithmetic context

Reports expressions of the char type used in addition or subtraction expressions.

Such code is not necessarily an issue but may result in bugs (for example, if a string is expected).

Example: int a = 'a' + 42;

After the quick-fix is applied: int a = (int) 'a' + 42;

For the String context:

int i1 = 1; int i2 = 2; System.out.println(i2 + '-' + i1 + " = " + (i2 - i1));

After the quick-fix is applied:

System.out.println(i2 + "-" + i1 + " = " + (i2 - i1));

Locating this inspection

By ID

Can be used to locate inspection in e.g. Qodana configuration files, where you can quickly enable or disable it, or adjust its settings.

CharUsedInArithmeticContext
Via Settings dialog

Path to the inspection settings via IntelliJ Platform IDE Settings dialog, when you need to adjust inspection settings directly from your IDE.

Settings or Preferences | Editor | Inspections | Java | Numeric issues

Suppressing Inspection

You can suppress this inspection by placing the following comment marker before the code fragment where you no longer want messages from this inspection to appear:

//noinspection CharUsedInArithmeticContext

More detailed instructions as well as other ways and options that you have can be found in the product documentation:

Inspection Details

By default bundled with:

IntelliJ IDEA 2025.2, Qodana for JVM 2025.2,

Last modified: 18 September 2025