return type of charAt()?

what exactly charAt() is returning in the following case?

String s1="abcd";
int i=s1.charAt(2);
System.out.println(i);//will give 99 and if i give ...

Integer i=s1.charAt(2)

System.out.println(i);// gives error

Why the Autoboxing is not happening here?

If i is a value of type char, then boxing conversion converts i into a reference r of class and type Character, such that r.value() == i.

[ October 26, 2006: Message edited by: wise owen ]

Hi Shivaprasad,

charAt(int pos) always returns a char primitive.

The second line
int i = s1.charAt(2);

works, because char -> int is a widening primitive conversion. ints are "wider" than char, they can be negative for example.These widening primitive conversions work with or without an explicit cast.

If you change the line to
Integer i=s1.charAt(2);

The compiler tries to convert the char primitive to a Character wrapper object, that's ok.
But then it is not possible to convert a Character to an Integer.

You cannot first box and then widen!

But the other way round, it works:
Integer i=(int) s.charAt(2);

here, the char is first widened to an int primi.
This int primi then can be boxed to an Integer.

Yours,
Bu.

Originally posted by Burkhard Hassel:
You cannot first box and then widen!

But the other way round, it works:Integer i=(int) s.charAt(2);

here, the char is first widened to an int primi.
This int primi then can be boxed to an Integer.

Yours,
Bu.[/QB]

Originally posted by Deepthi Kanakam Rajan:
[QB][/QB]

sorry forgot to add my query to that which is according to K&B book its mentioned that:

One can box and then widen and not the other way while your statement contradicts it.

Can you please clarify this as I am confused now

Thanks

thank you all

I got it!!

Hi Deepthi,

One can box and then widen

this is wrong.

you cannot first box and then widen:

or:
int i = 54321;
Long lo = i; // no compile

or verbose:
int i = 5;
Integer inti = i; // ok so far but
Long lo = inti; // no way!

But you can first widen and then box.

or:

Here no two-liner is possible.

K&B book says somewhere "an int can never become a Long", or something like that. But this is not correct in general. It's only correct, if you try it in the short cut coding style like in my example with the 54321.

Yours,
Bu.