What is a class literal in Java?

java literals
gameover picture gameover · Jan 29, 2010 · Viewed 34k times · Source

From the Java tutorial:

Finally, there's also a special kind of literal called a class literal, formed by taking a type name and appending ".class"; for example, String.class. This refers to the object (of type Class) that represents the type itself.

To what type of variable can this literal be assigned to?

Please give a small example if possible.

Answer

Steven Schlansker picture Steven Schlansker · Jan 29, 2010 
Class<String> c = String.class;

Check out the Javadoc for java.lang.Class to see what you can do with one of these little guys - mostly related to reflection

Related questions

Java: how do I get a class literal from a generic type?

Typically, I've seen people use the class literal like this: Class<Foo> cls = Foo.class; But what if the type is generic, e.g. List? This works fine, but has a warning since List should be parameterized: Class&…

Read More
How do you specify a byte literal in Java?

If I have a method void f(byte b); how can I call it with a numeric argument without casting? f(0); gives an error.

Read More
Setting Short Value Java

I am writing a little code in J2ME. I have a class with a method setTableId(Short tableId). Now when I try to write setTableId(100) it gives compile time error. How can I set the short value without declaring …

Read More