The syntax of the getClass()
method is:
object.getClass()
getClass() Parameters
The getClass()
method does not take any parameters.
getClass() Return Values
- returns the class of the object that calls the method
Example 1: Java Object getClass()
import java.util.ArrayList;
class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// getClass() with Object
Object obj1 = new Object();
System.out.println("Class of obj1: " + obj1.getClass());
// getClass() with String
String obj2 = new String();
System.out.println("Class of obj2: " + obj2.getClass());
// getClass() with ArrayList
ArrayList<Integer> obj3 = new ArrayList<>();
System.out.println("Class of obj3: " + obj3.getClass());
}
}
Output
Class of obj1: class java.lang.Object Class of obj2: class java.lang.String Class of obj3: class java.util.ArrayList
In the above example, we have used the getClass()
method to get the name of the class. Here, we are able to call the getClass()
method using the String
and ArrayList
object.
It is because String
and ArrayList
inherit the Object
class.
Example 2: Call getClass() from Custom Class
class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// create an object of the Main class
Main obj = new Main();
// call getClass() method from Main
System.out.println(obj.getClass());
}
}
Output
class Main
Here, we have created a class named Main. Note that we have called the getClass()
method using the method of Main.
It is possible because Object
class is the superclass of all the classes in Java.
Note: The Object
class is the superclass for all the classes in Java. Hence, every class can implement the getClass()
method.