Boolean.TYPE????

[Leandro Oliveira]

what is the difference between Boolean.TYPE and Boolean.class??? Since
System.out.println(Boolean.TYPE==Boolean.class);
prints false.
from api documentation:
"The Class object representing the primitive type boolean. "

did not understand... Could someone clarify???

[Jose Botella]

Boolean.class is a reference to the instance of Class that represents the class Boolean.
Boolean.TYPE is a reference to the instance of Class that represents the primitive type boolean.
It is useful when using reflection.
For instance, to be able to specify which constructor do you want:

import java.lang.reflect.Constructor;
public class Test 
{boolean b;
Boolean B;

public Test(boolean b)
{this.b = b;
}

public Test(Boolean B)
{this.B = B;
}

public static void main(String[] args) 
throws NoSuchMethodException
{System.out.println(
Test.class.getDeclaredConstructor(
new Class[ ] { Boolean.TYPE }  )
);

System.out.println(
Test.class.getDeclaredConstructor(
new Class[ ] { Boolean.class }  )
);
}
   
}
/*
public Test(boolean)
public Test(java.lang.Boolean)
*/

Notice that getDeclaredConstructor's argument is of type Class[]. Without Boolean.TYPE we were not able to specify the constructor taking a boolean.
By the way boolean.class references the same object as Boolean.TYPE
Reflection is not on the exam.
[ April 04, 2003: Message edited by: Jose Botella ]