Wrappers:

Javas Wrapper Classes for the

Primitives Types
Primitives & Wrappers
Java has a wrapper class for each of the
eight primitive data types:
Primitive Wrapper Primitive Wrapper
Type Class Type Class
boolean Boolean float Float
byte Byte int Integer
char Character long Long
double Double short Short
Use of the Wrapper Classes
Javas primitive data types (boolean, int,
etc.) are not classes.
Wrapper classes are used in situations
where objects are required, such as for
elements of a Collection:
List<Integer> a = new ArrayList<Integer>();
methodRequiringListOfIntegers(a);
Value => Object: Wrapper
Object Creation

Wrapper.valueOf() takes a value (or

string) and returns an object of that
class:

Integer i1 = Integer.valueOf(42);
Integer i2 = Integer.valueOf(42);

Boolean b1 = Boolean .valueOf(true);

Boolean b2 = Boolean .valueOf(true);

Long n1 = Long.valueOf(42000000L);
Long n1 = Long.valueOf(42000000L);
Object => Value
Each wrapper class Type has a method
typeValue to obtain the objects value:

Integer i1 = Integer.valueOf(42);
Boolean b1 = Boolean.valueOf(false);
System.out.println(i1.intValue());
System.out.println(b1.intValue());

=>
42
false
String => value
The Wrapper class for each primitive type has
a method parseType() to parse a string
representation & return the literal value.

Integer.parseInt(42) => 42
Boolean.parseBoolean(true) => true
Double.parseDouble(2.71) => 2.71
//

Common use: Parsing the arguments to a

program:
Parsing argument lists
// Parse int and float program args.
public parseArgs(String[] args) {
for (int i = 0; i < args.length; i++) {
try {
println(Integer.parseInt(args[i]));
} catch (Exception e) {
try {
println(Float.parseFloat(args[i]));
} finally { }
}}}
Parsing argument lists
=>
arg # 0 = 0
arg # 1 = 42
arg # 2 = 999
arg # 3 = 0.0
arg # 4 = 1.42
arg # 5 = 9.0008
Sample values:
boolObj new Boolean(Boolean.TRUE);
charObj = new Character('a');
byteObj = new Byte("100");
shortObj = new Short("32000");
intObj = new Integer(2000000);
longObj = new Long(500000000000000000L);
floatObj = new Float(1.42);
doubleObj = new Double(1.42);

printWrapperInfo(); //method to print objects above

Sample values (output from
previous slide):

=>
For Boolean & Character Wrappers:
Boolean:true
Character:a

For Number wrappers:

Byte:100
Short:32000
Integer:2000000
Long:500000000000000000
Float:1.42
Double:1.42
Each Number Wrapper has a
MAX_VALUE constant:

byteObj = new Byte(Byte.MAX_VALUE);

shortObj = new Short(Short.MAX_VALUE);
intObj = new Integer(Integer.MAX_VALUE);
longObj = new Long(Long.MAX_VALUE);
floatObj = new Float(Float.MAX_VALUE);
doubleObj = new Double(Double.MAX_VALUE);

printNumValues("MAXIMUM NUMBER VALUES:");

MAX values (output from
previous slide):

=>
Byte:127
Short:32767
Integer:2147483647
Long:9223372036854775807
Float:3.4028235E38
Double:1.7976931348623157E308
Many useful utility methods,
e.g., for Integer:
int hashCode()
static int numberOfLeadingZeros(int i)
static int numberOfTrailingZeros(int i)
static int reverse(int i)
static int reverseBytes(int i)
static int rotateLeft(int i, int distance)
static int rotateRight(int i, int distance)
static String toBinaryString(int i)
static String toHexString(int i)
static String toOctalString(int i)
static String toString(int i, int radix)
Double & Float: Utilities for
Arithmetic Operations:
Constants POSITIVE_INFINITY & NEGATIVE_INFINITY
Constant NaN = Not-a-Number (NaN) value.
Methods isNaN(), isInfinite()
Primitive - Wrapper Split
Personality:
Although the Wrapper classes provide needed
functionality (OO versions of primitives and
supporting functionality), Java code is sometimes
overly complicated due to the necessary conversions
between the primitive and wrapper versions of data
being manipulated.
Joshua Bloch published a technical note, excerpts of
which are used below. Blochs article can be found at
http://java.sun.com/features/2003/05/bloch_qa.html
Blochs counting program:
Java 1.4 Version
public class Freq {
private static final Integer ONE = new Integer(1);
public static void main(String args[]) {
// Maps word (String) to frequency (Integer)
Map m = new TreeMap();

for (int i=0; i<args.length; i++) {

Integer freq = (Integer) m.get(args[i]);
m.put(args[i], (freq==null ? ONE :
new Integer(freq.intValue() + 1)));
}
System.out.println(m);
}
}
 Notes on the 1.4 Version:
This program generates a frequency table of words
on the command line. It uses a Map whose keys are
the words and whose values are the number of times
that each word occurs on the line.
The inner-loop code is a bit convoluted. Bloch
continues by writing the same program with
autoboxing, generics, and an enhanced for loop:
Blochs counting program:
Java 1.5 Version:
Blochs implementation rewritten with autoboxing,
generics, and an enhanced for loop:
public class Freq {
public static void main(String args[]) {
Map<String, Integer> m = new TreeMap<String, Integer>();
for (String word : args) {
Integer freq = m.get(word);
m.put(word, (freq == null ? 1 : freq + 1));
}
System.out.println(m);
}
}
 Notes on the 1.5 Version:
This version is much clearer, and is a good example
of the use of a Wrapper class without the pitfalls of
convoluted primitive-wrapper conversions.
 Final Notes
Javas wrapper classes are useful and provide a
great deal of functionality, well beyond that of the
primitive types.
Code using Wrapper classes and primitives can be
convoluted. Use Java 1.5s generics, autoboxing and
the enhanced for loop to avoid unclear code.