why return type of read() is integer?
<blockquote>
  <p><strong>Possible Duplicate:</strong><br>
  <a href="http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6826875/issue-regarding-the-return-value-of-the-read-function-in-java">Issue regarding the return value of the read() function in java?</a>  </p>
</blockquote>



<p>As per the documentation the <strong>read()</strong> method of <strong>java.io.FileInputStream</strong> class reads next byte of the input stream, then why it's return type is integer, why not byte.</p>

<p>Is there any issue behind this?</p>
