Question: I have a **uint8** *(unsigned 8 bit integer)* coming in from a UDP packet. Java only uses signed primitives. How do I parse this data structure correctly with java?

Answer: 
You can store 8-bit in a `byte` If you really need to converted it to an unsigned value (and often you don't) you can use a mask

```
byte b = ...
int u = b & 0xFF; // unsigned 0 .. 255 value

```
You could simply parse it into a `short` or an `int`, which have enough range to hold all the values of an unsigned byte.