Java Language Autoboxing Different Cases When Integer and int can be used interchangeably
Example
Case 1: While using in the place of method arguments.
If a method requires an object of wrapper class as argument.Then interchangeably the argument can be passed a variable of the respective primitive type and vice versa.
Example:
int i;
Integer j;
void ex_method(Integer i)//Is a valid statement
void ex_method1(int j)//Is a valid statement
Case 2: While passing return values:
When a method returns a primitive type variable then an object of corresponding wrapper class can be passed as the return value interchangeably and vice versa.
Example:
int i;
Integer j;
int ex_method()
{...
return j;}//Is a valid statement
Integer ex_method1()
{...
return i;//Is a valid statement
}
Case 3: While performing operations.
Whenever performing operations on numbers the primitive type variable and object of respective wrapper class can be used interchangeably.
int i=5;
Integer j=new Integer(7);
int k=i+j;//Is a valid statement
Integer m=i+j;//Is also a valid statement
Pitfall:Remember to initialize or assign a value to an object of the wrapper class.
While using wrapper class object and primitive variable interchangeably never forget or miss to initialize or assign a value to the wrapper class object else it may lead to null pointer exception at runtime.
Example:
public class Test{
Integer i;
int j;
public void met()
{j=i;//Null pointer exception
SOP(j);
SOP(i);}
public static void main(String[] args)
{Test t=new Test();
t.go();//Null pointer exception
}
In the above example, the value of the object is unassigned and uninitialized and thus at runtime the program will run into null pointer exception.So as clear from the above example the value of object should never be left uninitialized and unassigned.
