The Class.getComponentType() method call returns the Class representing the component type of an array. If this class does not represent an array class this method returns null reference instead.

package org.kodejava.example.lang.reflect;

public class ComponentTypeDemo {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String[] words = {"and", "the"};
        int[][] matrix = {{1, 1}, {2, 1}};
        Double number = 10.0;

        Class clazz = words.getClass();
        Class cls = matrix.getClass();
        Class clz = number.getClass();

        //
        // Gets the type of an array component.
        //
        Class type = clazz.getComponentType();
        System.out.println("Words type: " +
                type.getCanonicalName());

        //
        // Gets the type of an array component.
        //
        Class matrixType = cls.getComponentType();
        System.out.println("Matrix type: " +
                matrixType.getCanonicalName());

        //
        // It will return null if the class doesn't represent
        // an array.
        //
        Class numberType = clz.getComponentType();
        if (numberType != null) {
            System.out.println("Number type: " +
                    numberType.getCanonicalName());
        } else {
            System.out.println(number.getClass().getName() +
                    " class is not an array");
        }
    }
}

This program print the following output:

Words type: java.lang.String
Matrix type: int[]
java.lang.Double class is not an array

For checking if a class object is representing an array class we can use the isArray() method call of the Class object. This method returns true if the checked object represents an array class and false otherwise.

package org.kodejava.example.lang.reflect;

public class IsArrayDemo {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int[][] matrix = {{1, 1}, {2, 1}};
        Class clazz = matrix.getClass();

        //
        // Check if the class object represents an array class
        //
        if (clazz.isArray()) {
            System.out.println(clazz.getSimpleName() +
                    " is an array class.");
        } else {
            System.out.println(clazz.getSimpleName() +
                    " is not an array class.");
        }
    }
}

Java reflection also dealing with inheritance concepts. You can get the direct interfaces and direct superclass of a class by using method getInterfaces() and getSuperclass() of java.lang.Class object.

• getInterfaces() will returns an array of Class objects that represent the direct super interfaces of the target Class object
• getSuperclass() will returns the Class object representing the direct super class of the target Class object or null if the target represents Object class, an interface, a primitive type, or void.

 

package org.kodejava.example.lang.reflect;

import javax.swing.*;
import java.util.Date;

public class GetSuperClassDemo {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        GetSuperClassDemo.get(String.class);
        GetSuperClassDemo.get(Date.class);
        GetSuperClassDemo.get(JButton.class);
        GetSuperClassDemo.get(Timer.class);
    }

    public static void get(Class clazz) {
        //
        // Gets array of direct interface of clazz object
        //
        Class[] interfaces = clazz.getInterfaces();

        System.out.format("Direct Interfaces of %s:%n",
                clazz.getName());
        for (Class clz : interfaces) {
            System.out.println(clz.getName());
        }

        //
        // Gets direct superclass of clazz object
        //
        Class superclz = clazz.getSuperclass();
        System.out.format("Direct Superclass of %s: is %s %n",
                clazz.getName(), superclz.getName());
        System.out.println("====================================");
    }
}

Here is the result of the code snippet:

Direct Interfaces of java.lang.String:
java.io.Serializable
java.lang.Comparable
java.lang.CharSequence
Direct Superclass of java.lang.String: is java.lang.Object 
====================================
Direct Interfaces of java.util.Date:
java.io.Serializable
java.lang.Cloneable
java.lang.Comparable
Direct Superclass of java.util.Date: is java.lang.Object 
====================================
Direct Interfaces of javax.swing.JButton:
javax.accessibility.Accessible
Direct Superclass of javax.swing.JButton: is javax.swing.AbstractButton 
====================================
Direct Interfaces of javax.swing.Timer:
java.io.Serializable
Direct Superclass of javax.swing.Timer: is java.lang.Object 
====================================