Why does Java think that the product of all numbers from 10 to 99 is 0?

The following block of codes gives the output as 0.

public class HelloWorld{

    public static void main(String []args){
        int product = 1;
        for (int i = 10; i <= 99; i++) {
            product *= i;
        }
        System.out.println(product);
    }
}

Please can somebody explain why this happens?


Here is what the program does at each step:

          1 * 10 =          10
         10 * 11 =         110
        110 * 12 =        1320
       1320 * 13 =       17160
      17160 * 14 =      240240
     240240 * 15 =     3603600
    3603600 * 16 =    57657600
   57657600 * 17 =   980179200
  980179200 * 18 =   463356416
  463356416 * 19 =   213837312
  213837312 * 20 =   -18221056
  -18221056 * 21 =  -382642176
 -382642176 * 22 =   171806720
  171806720 * 23 =  -343412736
 -343412736 * 24 =   348028928
  348028928 * 25 =   110788608
  110788608 * 26 = -1414463488
-1414463488 * 27 =   464191488
  464191488 * 28 =   112459776
  112459776 * 29 = -1033633792
-1033633792 * 30 =  -944242688
 -944242688 * 31 =   793247744
  793247744 * 32 =  -385875968
 -385875968 * 33 =   150994944
  150994944 * 34 =   838860800
  838860800 * 35 =  -704643072
 -704643072 * 36 =   402653184
  402653184 * 37 =  2013265920
 2013265920 * 38 =  -805306368
 -805306368 * 39 = -1342177280
-1342177280 * 40 = -2147483648
-2147483648 * 41 = -2147483648
-2147483648 * 42 =           0
          0 * 43 =           0
          0 * 44 =           0
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
          0 * 97 =           0
          0 * 98 =           0

Notice that on some steps the multiplication results in a smaller number (980179200 * 18 = 463356416) or incorrect sign (213837312 * 20 = -18221056), indicating that there was an integer overflow. But where does the zero come from? Read on.

Keeping in mind that int data type is a 32-bit signed, two's complement integer, here is an explanation of each step:

Operation         Result(1)     Binary Representation(2)                                           Result(3)
----------------  ------------  -----------------------------------------------------------------  ------------
          1 * 10            10                                                               1010            10
         10 * 11           110                                                            1101110           110
        110 * 12          1320                                                        10100101000          1320
       1320 * 13         17160                                                    100001100001000         17160
      17160 * 14        240240                                                 111010101001110000        240240
     240240 * 15       3603600                                             1101101111110010010000       3603600
    3603600 * 16      57657600                                         11011011111100100100000000      57657600
   57657600 * 17     980179200                                     111010011011000101100100000000     980179200
  980179200 * 18   17643225600                               100 00011011100111100100001000000000     463356416
  463356416 * 19    8803771904                                10 00001100101111101110011000000000     213837312
  213837312 * 20    4276746240                                   11111110111010011111100000000000     -18221056
  -18221056 * 21    -382642176  11111111111111111111111111111111 11101001001100010101100000000000    -382642176
 -382642176 * 22   -8418127872  11111111111111111111111111111110 00001010001111011001000000000000     171806720
  171806720 * 23    3951554560                                   11101011100001111111000000000000    -343412736
 -343412736 * 24   -8241905664  11111111111111111111111111111110 00010100101111101000000000000000     348028928
  348028928 * 25    8700723200                                10 00000110100110101000000000000000     110788608
  110788608 * 26    2880503808                                   10101011101100010000000000000000   -1414463488
-1414463488 * 27  -38190514176  11111111111111111111111111110111 00011011101010110000000000000000     464191488
  464191488 * 28   12997361664                                11 00000110101101000000000000000000     112459776
  112459776 * 29    3261333504                                   11000010011001000000000000000000   -1033633792
-1033633792 * 30  -31009013760  11111111111111111111111111111000 11000111101110000000000000000000    -944242688
 -944242688 * 31  -29271523328  11111111111111111111111111111001 00101111010010000000000000000000     793247744
  793247744 * 32   25383927808                               101 11101001000000000000000000000000    -385875968
 -385875968 * 33  -12733906944  11111111111111111111111111111101 00001001000000000000000000000000     150994944
  150994944 * 34    5133828096                                 1 00110010000000000000000000000000     838860800
  838860800 * 35   29360128000                               110 11010110000000000000000000000000    -704643072
 -704643072 * 36  -25367150592  11111111111111111111111111111010 00011000000000000000000000000000     402653184
  402653184 * 37   14898167808                                11 01111000000000000000000000000000    2013265920
 2013265920 * 38   76504104960                             10001 11010000000000000000000000000000    -805306368
 -805306368 * 39  -31406948352  11111111111111111111111111111000 10110000000000000000000000000000   -1342177280
-1342177280 * 40  -53687091200  11111111111111111111111111110011 10000000000000000000000000000000   -2147483648
-2147483648 * 41  -88046829568  11111111111111111111111111101011 10000000000000000000000000000000   -2147483648
-2147483648 * 42  -90194313216  11111111111111111111111111101011 00000000000000000000000000000000             0
          0 * 43             0                                                                  0             0
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
          0 * 98             0                                                                  0             0
  1. is the correct result
  2. is the internal representation of the result (64 bits are used for illustration)
  3. is the result represented by the two's complement of the lower 32 bits

We know that multiplying a number by an even number:

  • shifts the bits towards left and adds zero bits towards right
  • results in an even number

So basically your program multiplies an even number with another number repeatedly which zeroes out the result bits starting from right.

PS: If the multiplications involved odd numbers only then the result will not become zero.


Computer multiplication is really happening modulo 2^32. Once you have accumulated enough powers of two in the multiplicand, then all values will be 0.

Here we have all the even numbers in the series, along with the maximum power of two that divides the number, and the cumulative power of two

num   max2  total
10    2     1
12    4     3
14    2     4
16    16    8
18    2     9
20    4    11
22    2    12
24    8    15
26    2    16
28    4    18
30    2    19
32    32   24
34    2    25
36    4    27
38    2    28
40    8    31
42    2    32

The product up to 42 is equal to x * 2^32 = 0 (mod 2^32). The sequence of the powers of two is related to Gray codes (among other things), and appears as https://oeis.org/A001511.

EDIT: to see why other responses to this question are incomplete, consider the fact that the same program, restricted to odd integers only, would not converge to 0, despite all the overflowing.