Question

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How to determine an object's class (in Java)?
Java determine which class an object is

I have following sample incomplete method to compare the object type of a given object

public void test(Object value) {

        if (value.getClass() == Integer) {
            System.out.println("This is an Integer");
        }else if(value.getClass() == String){
            System.out.println("This is a String");
        }else if(value.getClass() == Float){
            System.out.println("This is a Float");
        }

}

The method can be called as:

test("Test");
test(12);
test(10.5f);

this method is not actually working, please help me to make it work

Answer 1

You forgot the .class:

if (value.getClass() == Integer.class) {
    System.out.println("This is an Integer");
} 
else if (value.getClass() == String.class) {
    System.out.println("This is a String");
}
else if (value.getClass() == Float.class) {
    System.out.println("This is a Float");
}

Note that this kind of code is usually the sign of a poor OO design.

Also note that comparing the class of an object with a class and using instanceof is not the same thing. For example:

"foo".getClass() == Object.class

is false, whereas

"foo" instanceof Object

is true.

Whether one or the other must be used depends on your requirements.