{"id":7194,"date":"2022-04-21T13:16:58","date_gmt":"2022-04-21T07:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationm.com\/blog\/?p=7194"},"modified":"2022-04-21T13:16:58","modified_gmt":"2022-04-21T07:46:58","slug":"autoboxing-and-unboxing-in-java","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationm.com\/blog\/autoboxing-and-unboxing-in-java\/","title":{"rendered":"Autoboxing and Unboxing in Java"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, it has been noticed that all the primitive data types like int, float, double, etc in Java are dealt with differently. Even after the good performance offered by the primitive data types, there are circumstances when we might need an object representation of the primitive data type. Moreover, it has been witnessed that many data structures in Java operate on objects. So we cannot use primitive data types with those data structures. To handle such types of situations, Java can provide the type \u201cWrappers\u201d which provide classes that encapsulate the primitive type within the object. This led to the emergence of \u201cWrapper Classes\u201d which involve two ingredients playing an active role including \u201cAutoboxing\u201d and \u201cUnboxing\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>What is Autoboxing?<\/b><\/h2>\n

In simpler words, we can say \u201cAutoboxing\u201d is the process involving \u201cautomatic conversion\u201d which is done by the Java compiler between the \u201cprimitive data types\u201d and \u201ctheir corresponding object wrapper classes\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

From the above example it can be identified, that conversion of int type to Integer object or char type to Character object. This conversion is being done implicitly by the Java compiler during the program execution.<\/span><\/p>\n

Occurrence of Autoboxing<\/b><\/h2>\n

It has been witnessed that Java Compiler bids \u201cAutoboxing\u201d under three cases:<\/span><\/p>\n

Case 1:<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The first case takes place when we try to pass a \u201cprimitive data type as a parameter to a method\u201d. However, the method looks for an \u201cobject of the wrapper class\u201d which is in relation to the \u201cprimitive data type\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Case 2:<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The occurrence of ”Autoboxing” takes place when we allocate a ‘primitive data type” to a variable ” that corresponds to the \u201cWrapper class\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Case 3:<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The most vital case includes the usage of \u201cCollection framework classes\u201d where the compiler is responsible for performing \u201cAutoboxing\u201d in Java. Like in the ArrayList framework the class looks for an object of the \u201cInteger Wrapper class\u201d but if we pass the int primitive data type, the compiler headily converts the \u201cint data type\u201d into the object of the \u201cInteger Wrapper class\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>What is Unboxing?<\/b><\/h2>\n

The process where the Java compiler headily converts the \u201cWrapper class objects\u201d into the corresponding primitive data types is known as \u201cUnboxing\u201d. In other words, \u201cUnboxing\u201d is the complete opposite of \u201cAutoboxing\u201d. For example conversion of Integer class to int data type, as shown in the image below.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Unboxing in Java<\/b><\/h2>\n

In the above picture, the get() method is responsible for returning the object at index 0. However, because of \u201cUnboxing\u201d, the object gets automatically transformed into primitive data type int and is allocated to the variable \u201ca\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Autoboxing and Unboxing in Method<\/b><\/h2>\n

In the above picture, we can see the way \u201cautoboxing and unboxing\u201d is taking place in a method. While during method call we have passed int type primitive value but method accepts only Integer objects so here JVM does \u201cautoboxing\u201d implicitly. On the other hand, this method returns an int type primitive which is \u201cunboxing\u201d from Integer to int type.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Advantages of Autoboxing and Unboxing<\/b><\/h2>\n

l Both the techniques help the developers to write cleaner code which makes it easier to read.<\/span><\/p>\n

l With the help of both the techniques we are able to utilize primitive types as well as \u201cWrapper class objects\u201d interchangeably. This is advantageous as developers are not required to perform typecasting \u201cexplicitly\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

l It is useful as it prevents errors. However, sometimes it may lead to unexpected results, therefore, must be used with care.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, it has been noticed that all the primitive data types like int, float, double, etc in Java are dealt with differently. Even after the good performance offered by the primitive data types, there are circumstances when we might need an object representation of the primitive data type. 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