java.lang
Class Class

java.lang.Object
  |
  +--java.lang.Class

public final class Class

extends Object

Class objects contain runtime representations of classes. Every object in the system is an instance of some Class, and for each Class there is one of these descriptor objects. A Class descriptor is not modifiable at runtime.

The following example uses a Class object to print the Class name of an object:

	void printClassName(Object obj) {
	    System.out.println("The class of " + obj +
			       " is " + obj.getClass().getName());
	}
 

Method Summary

static Class	forName(String className) Returns the runtime Class descriptor for the specified Class.
ClassLoader	getClassLoader() Returns the Class loader of this Class.
Class[]	getInterfaces() Returns the interfaces of this Class.
String	getName() Returns the name of this Class.
Class	getSuperclass() Returns the superclass of this Class.
boolean	isInterface() Returns a boolean indicating whether or not this Class is an interface.
Object	newInstance() Creates a new instance of this Class.
String	toString() Returns the name of this class or interface.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

Method Detail

forName

public static Class forName(String className)
                     throws ClassNotFoundException

Returns the runtime Class descriptor for the specified Class. For example, the following code fragment returns the runtime Class descriptor for the Class named java.lang.Thread:

		Class t = Class.forName("java.lang.Thread")
 

Parameters:

className - the fully qualified name of the desired Class

Throws:

ClassNotFoundException - If the Class could not be found.

newInstance

public Object newInstance()
                   throws InstantiationException,
                          IllegalAccessException

Creates a new instance of this Class.

Returns:

the new instance of this Class.

Throws:

InstantiationException - If you try to instantiate an abstract class or an interface, or if the instantiation fails for some other reason.

IllegalAccessException - If the class or initializer is not accessible.

getName

public String getName()

Returns the name of this Class.

getSuperclass

public Class getSuperclass()

Returns the superclass of this Class.

getInterfaces

public Class[] getInterfaces()

Returns the interfaces of this Class. An array of length 0 is returned if this Class implements no interfaces.

getClassLoader

public ClassLoader getClassLoader()

Returns the Class loader of this Class. Returns null if this Class does not have a Class loader.

See Also:

ClassLoader

isInterface

public boolean isInterface()

Returns a boolean indicating whether or not this Class is an interface.

toString

public String toString()

Returns the name of this class or interface. The word "class" is prepended if it is a Class; the word "interface" is prepended if it is an interface.

Overrides:

toString in class Object