Why does Java require the char variable to use single quotes?

Question

Why is it that Java requires the char variable to enclose anything inside of it with single quotes rather than double? An example of this:

char s = \'s\'; //         


        

Answer 1

Because char and String are two different types, and how else is Java supposed to know whether you want a character or string of length 1?

For example, given the methods:

public void foo(String s) { }
public void foo(char c) { }

And the call

foo("a");

If characters could be made with double quotes, how would Java know which method to call?