Scala Language Classes and Objects Instance type checking
Example
Type check: variable.isInstanceOf[Type]
With pattern matching (not so useful in this form):
variable match {
case _: Type => true
case _ => false
}
Both isInstanceOf and pattern matching are checking only the object's type, not its generic parameter (no type reification), except for arrays:
val list: List[Any] = List(1, 2, 3) //> list : List[Any] = List(1, 2, 3)
val upcasting = list.isInstanceOf[Seq[Int]] //> upcasting : Boolean = true
val shouldBeFalse = list.isInstanceOf[List[String]]
//> shouldBeFalse : Boolean = true
But
val chSeqArray: Array[CharSequence] = Array("a") //> chSeqArray : Array[CharSequence] = Array(a)
val correctlyReified = chSeqArray.isInstanceOf[Array[String]]
//> correctlyReified : Boolean = false
val stringIsACharSequence: CharSequence = "" //> stringIsACharSequence : CharSequence = ""
val sArray = Array("a") //> sArray : Array[String] = Array(a)
val correctlyReified = sArray.isInstanceOf[Array[String]]
//> correctlyReified : Boolean = true
//val arraysAreInvariantInScala: Array[CharSequence] = sArray
//Error: type mismatch; found : Array[String] required: Array[CharSequence]
//Note: String <: CharSequence, but class Array is invariant in type T.
//You may wish to investigate a wildcard type such as `_ <: CharSequence`. (SLS 3.2.10)
//Workaround:
val arraysAreInvariantInScala: Array[_ <: CharSequence] = sArray
//> arraysAreInvariantInScala : Array[_ <: CharSequence] = Array(a)
val arraysAreCovariantOnJVM = sArray.isInstanceOf[Array[CharSequence]]
//> arraysAreCovariantOnJVM : Boolean = true
Type casting: variable.asInstanceOf[Type]
With pattern matching:
variable match {
case _: Type => true
}
Examples:
val x = 3 //> x : Int = 3
x match {
case _: Int => true//better: do something
case _ => false
} //> res0: Boolean = true
x match {
case _: java.lang.Integer => true//better: do something
case _ => false
} //> res1: Boolean = true
x.isInstanceOf[Int] //> res2: Boolean = true
//x.isInstanceOf[java.lang.Integer]//fruitless type test: a value of type Int cannot also be a Integer
trait Valuable { def value: Int}
case class V(val value: Int) extends Valuable
val y: Valuable = V(3) //> y : Valuable = V(3)
y.isInstanceOf[V] //> res3: Boolean = true
y.asInstanceOf[V] //> res4: V = V(3)
Remark: This is only about the behaviour on the JVM, on other platforms (JS, native) type casting/checking might behave differently.
