"Char cannot be dereferenced" error

java char dereference
user658168 picture user658168 · Apr 3, 2011 · Viewed 148k times · Source

I'm trying to use the char method isLetter(), which is supposed to return boolean value corresponding to whether the character is a letter. But when I call the method, I get an error stating that "char cannot be dereferenced." I don't know what it means to dereference a char or how to fix the error. the statement in question is:

if (ch.isLetter()) 
{
....
....
}

Any help? What does it mean to dereference a char and how do I avoid doing so?

Answer

manji picture manji · Apr 3, 2011

The type char is a primitive -- not an object -- so it cannot be dereferenced

Dereferencing is the process of accessing the value referred to by a reference. Since a char is already a value (not a reference), it can not be dereferenced.

use Character class:

if(Character.isLetter(c)) {

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