title: Why is the range of bytes -128 to 127 in Java?
body: <p>I don't understand why the lowest value a byte can take is <code>-128</code>. I can see that the highest value is <code>127</code>, because it's <code>01111111</code> in binary, but how does one represent <code>-128</code> with only 8 bits, one of which is used for the sign? Positive 128 would already be 8-bit, i.e. <code>10000000</code>, and then you would need a 9th bit to represent the negative sign. </p>
  
  <p>Could someone please help explain this to me.</p>