java - "Integer too large" for a small compile time constant

Question

I have this:

switch (account){
    case 08120:
        // Savings deposit interest rate
        return null;                
    case 13100:
        // Receivables contractual interest
        return null;                
    case 16550:
       // Default management process accounts payable
       return null;                                
}

But the compiler complains tha the integer 08120 is too large!

What on earth is going on?

Answer 1

First things first: it's unlikely you've stumbled across a Java bug. Blame your code first.

08120 is an octal literal in Java since it starts with a leading zero.

And 8 is not a valid octal digit (only 0 to 7 are).

Therefore you get a compilation error, albeit a little misleading.