How can you declare a variable that holds a decimal number in Java?

To declare a variable that holds a decimal number in Java, the appropriate choice is to use the float data type. The float type is designed specifically for storing single-precision 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point numbers, which means it can handle decimal values, making it suitable for cases where you need to represent fractions or numbers with decimal points.

For example, you might declare a variable like this:

float decimalValue = 3.14f;

Here, the 'f' suffix is crucial as it indicates that the literal number is of type float. If you omit this suffix, Java treats the number as a double by default, which can lead to type mismatch errors if assigned directly to a float variable.

Other data types in the options are not intended to store decimal values. The int type is used for whole numbers, the boolean type is for true/false values, and the String type represents sequences of characters, making them unsuitable for storing decimal numbers.