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javaconstructorwrappershort

Short object creation

I had a look to this post Java instantiate Short object in Java but did not exactly respond to what I am looking for.

Does anybody know why the first line (//1) gives an error whereas the second line (//2) does not

  Short s = new Short(4);//1

    short s1 = 4;//2 Here I know why it works it gets
 //implicitly narrow converted into a short.

As stated in the code, I understand why the second line works fine, but what about the first line? Where is the sense of writing Short s = new Short((short)4); Bottom line: why does it not cast it implicitly? It is a constant not a variable.

Thanks in advance.

Solution

  • You could define a constructor taking a 'short' and another taking an 'int' and language semantics would make your call to the constructor ambiguous. So you need to use strict type. Also, since Short is final, try using Short.valueOf((short) 4) to avoid unnecessary object allocation.