INSTANCE in Java Enum

Question

For a Java Enum, what does INSTANCE mean (I see we can refer EnumName.INSTANCE for use methods defined in Enum)? Tried to find answer from web but failed.

thanks in advance, Lin

Answer 1

Enum values are typically expressed in upper case, Colour.RED, Colour.BLUE etc.

If you see INSTANCE it probably means someone is using the enum singleton pattern.