The Instanceof Operator

This operator checks whether the object is of a particular class/interface type. instanceof operator is written as:

( Object reference variable ) instanceof  (class/interface type)

Example:

public class Test {

   public static void main(String args[]){
      String name = "Buyya";
      // following will return true since name is type of String
      boolean result = name instanceof String;  
      System.out.println( result );
   }
}

This would produce the following result:

true

This operator will still return true if the object being compared is the assignment compatible with the type on the right.

Example:

class Vehicle {}

public class Car extends Vehicle {
   public static void main(String args[]){
      Vehicle a = new Car();
      boolean result =  a instanceof Car;
      System.out.println( result );
   }
}

This would produce the following result:

true

Found a mistake? Have a question or improvement idea? Let me know.

Table Of Contents