Java Glossary : cast

Java definitions: 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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cast

There are two useful kinds of casts. Primitive casts e.g.

(short)

would convert to a short integer.

Mollifying casts assure Java that a general reference is actually something more specific, a subclass of that general type. E.g.

(Dalmatian)dogRef

assures Java that the dogRef pointer really points to a Dalmatian. Java checks that this is indeed so before proceeding. Casting objects is a misleading terminology. Any actual object has a definite class, set when it was instantiated. Nothing can change that during the lifetime of the object. The object it self is unchanged when you cast its reference.

conversion ¤ downcasting ¤ gotchas ¤ upcasting

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