CODEWITHSUNDEEP
java
mrbela
mrbela

Reputation: 4647

Correct terms of types in Java

Consider the following line of code:

java.lang.Number aNumber = new java.lang.Integer(1);

Now I am asking myself what would be the correct terms for both types (Numberand Integer) regarding the variable aNumber?

Would you call java.lang.Number the "reference-type" and java.lang.Integer simply the "type"?!

I could not find any earlier threads regarding this issue..

Thanks for your help!

Upvotes: 2

Views: 83

Answers (1)

Thilo
Thilo

Reputation: 262484

Number is the static (or declared) type, Integer is the runtime (or dynamic, or actual) type.

The variable has type Number, the instance contained in the variable has type Integer.

A "reference type" is anything that inherits from Object (including arrays). The opposite are the "primitive types" (like int). Some languages also have "value types" (not Java, or maybe not yet).

Upvotes: 8

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