# Class TypeUtilities

java.lang.Object
jdk.dynalink.linker.support.TypeUtilities

public final class TypeUtilities extends Object
Various static utility methods for working with Java types.

Since:
  9

## Method Summary

Modifier and Type
Method
Description
`static Class<?>`
`getPrimitiveType(Class<?> wrapperType)`
When passed a class representing a wrapper for a primitive type, returns the class representing the corresponding primitive type.
`static Class<?>`
`getPrimitiveTypeByName(String name)`
Given a name of a primitive type returns the class representing it.
`static Class<?>`
`getWrapperType(Class<?> primitiveType)`
When passed a class representing a primitive type, returns the class representing the corresponding wrapper type.
`static boolean`
`isConvertibleWithoutLoss(Class<?> sourceType, Class<?> targetType)`
Determines whether a type can be converted to another without losing any precision.
`static boolean`
`isMethodInvocationConvertible(Class<?> sourceType, Class<?> targetType)`
Determines whether one type can be converted to another type using a method invocation conversion, as per JLS 5.3 "Method Invocation Conversion".
`static boolean`
`isSubtype(Class<?> subType, Class<?> superType)`
Determines whether one type is a subtype of another type, as per JLS 4.10 "Subtyping".
`static boolean`
`isWrapperType(Class<?> type)`
Returns true if the passed type is a wrapper for a primitive type.

### Methods declared in class Object

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

## Method Details

### isMethodInvocationConvertible

public static boolean isMethodInvocationConvertible(Class<?> sourceType, Class<?> targetType)
Determines whether one type can be converted to another type using a method invocation conversion, as per JLS 5.3 "Method Invocation Conversion". This is basically all conversions allowed by subtyping (see `isSubtype(Class, Class)`) as well as boxing conversion (JLS 5.1.7) optionally followed by widening reference conversion, and unboxing conversion (JLS 5.1.8) optionally followed by widening primitive conversion.

Parameters:
  `sourceType` - the type being converted from (call site type for parameter types, method type for return types)
  `targetType` - the parameter type being converted to (method type for parameter types, call site type for return types)
Returns:
  true if source type is method invocation convertible to target type.

### isConvertibleWithoutLoss

public static boolean isConvertibleWithoutLoss(Class<?> sourceType, Class<?> targetType)
Determines whether a type can be converted to another without losing any precision. As a special case, void is considered convertible only to void and `Object` (either as `null` or as a custom value set in `DynamicLinkerFactory.setAutoConversionStrategy(MethodTypeConversionStrategy)`). Somewhat unintuitively, we consider anything to be convertible to void even though converting to void causes the ultimate loss of data. On the other hand, conversion to void essentially means that the value is of no interest and should be discarded, thus there's no expectation of preserving any precision.

Parameters:
  `sourceType` - the source type
  `targetType` - the target type
Returns:
  true if lossless conversion is possible

### isSubtype

public static boolean isSubtype(Class<?> subType, Class<?> superType)
Determines whether one type is a subtype of another type, as per JLS 4.10 "Subtyping". Note: this is not strict or proper subtype, therefore true is also returned for identical types; to be completely precise, it allows identity conversion (JLS 5.1.1), widening primitive conversion (JLS 5.1.2) and widening reference conversion (JLS 5.1.5).

Parameters:
  `subType` - the supposed subtype
  `superType` - the supposed supertype of the subtype
Returns:
  true if subType can be converted by identity conversion, widening primitive conversion, or widening reference conversion to superType.

### getPrimitiveTypeByName

public static Class<?> getPrimitiveTypeByName(String name)
Given a name of a primitive type returns the class representing it. I.e. when invoked with "int", returns `Integer.TYPE`.

Parameters:
  `name` - the name of the primitive type
Returns:
  the class representing the primitive type, or null if the name does not correspond to a primitive type.

### getPrimitiveType

public static Class<?> getPrimitiveType(Class<?> wrapperType)
When passed a class representing a wrapper for a primitive type, returns the class representing the corresponding primitive type. I.e. calling it with `Integer.class` will return `Integer.TYPE`. If passed a class that is not a wrapper for primitive type, returns null.

Parameters:
  `wrapperType` - the class object representing a wrapper for a primitive type.
Returns:
  the class object representing the primitive type, or null if the passed class is not a primitive wrapper.

### getWrapperType

public static Class<?> getWrapperType(Class<?> primitiveType)
When passed a class representing a primitive type, returns the class representing the corresponding wrapper type. I.e. calling it with `int.class` will return `Integer.class`. If passed a class that is not a primitive type, returns null.

Parameters:
  `primitiveType` - the class object representing a primitive type
Returns:
  the class object representing the wrapper type, or null if the passed class is not a primitive.

### isWrapperType

public static boolean isWrapperType(Class<?> type)
Returns true if the passed type is a wrapper for a primitive type.

Parameters:
  `type` - the examined type
Returns:
  true if the passed type is a wrapper for a primitive type.