Why Long.MAX_VALUE

well say you initialized a variable that you are going to use for a comparison looking for smaller numbers in a loop and you initialized it with a really high number for the sake of it being WAY higher than probable initial comparisons and then your guess wasn't big enough and now your code doesn't work properly because you initial guess is actually smaller than number you actually get. Well Long.MAX_VALUE will just automatically give the highest number possibly achievable by a Long there making it impossible for your initial number to be too small, ever. And, if you go over this number then you need something that can store bigger numbers then Long.