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"PeterH" <!REMOVEBeforeSending!peter@pchenry.com> wrote in message
news:3ccebd9c_2@dnews...
> What is the proper or suggested way to compare if one class is of another
> type/class?
>
> Should the .getClass() be used to compare it with the .class?  Or should
the
> instanceof keyword be used?
>
A straight comparison of getClass() will work only of you're inetersted in
comparing whether two objects have exactly the same concrete (i.e.
implmentation) class (and were loaded by the same classloader? This rings a
bell...).

a instanceof b will return true if the object under inspection (a) can be
cast to the class in question (b) without a ClassCastException ocurring, so
will work with if a's class derives from b.

You could also use Class.isInstance() to test whether a given object is of a
class whose type is not necessarily known at compile time, which is useful
for dynamic class loading situations.

Be aware that none of these things are paricularly speedy, and that by and
large avoiding this sort of class comparison in favour of polymorphism is
preferable where possible.

hth
Owen