2.13 Java1626: array objects, part 3  (Page 8/9)

Other capabilities

In addition to sorting and searching, the Arrays class provides several other methods that can be used to manipulate the contents of arrayobjects in Java.

Summary

An array object has the following members (in addition to the data stored in the object):

• A public final variable named length
• An overridden version of the public method named clone
• Default versions of all the other methods inherited from the class named Object

Every array object implements the Cloneable and Serializable interfaces.

A clone of a multidimensional array is shallow. Therefore, you should exercise caution when cloning array objects.

Because array objects implement the Serializable interface, they can be serialized and later reconstructed.

Every array also has an associated Class object.

The classes named Array and Arrays provide methods that you can use to work with array objects.

The Array class provides static methods to dynamically create and access Java array objects.

The Arrays class contains various methods for manipulating arrays (such as sorting and searching). It also contains a static factory method that allows arrays to be viewed as lists.

Class objects are required when using the methods of the Array class to dynamically create Java array objects.

There are nine predefined Class objects that represent the eight primitive types and void. They are accessed using the following syntax:boolean.class, int.class, etc.

Three ways to get a Class object are:

• Class objects for primitive types: int.class , etc.
• The getClass method
• The forName method

The methods of the Array class make it possible to deal with one-dimensional array objects using a syntax that is completely devoid of squarebrackets. This is a method-oriented approach to the use of array objects. This makes it possible to treat array objects much the same as we treat ordinaryobjects in Java. The required syntax for multi-dimensional array objects is mostly devoid of square brackets.

The Arrays class provides methods for sorting and searching array objects as well as performing other operations on array objects as well.

Through a combination of the Arrays class and the Java Collections Framework, most of the sorting, searching, data structures, and collection needsthat you might have are readily available without a requirement for you to reinvent them.

One of the most important concepts in OOP is reuse, don't reinvent.

What's next?

The next module will explain the use of the this and super keywords.

Miscellaneous

This section contains a variety of miscellaneous information.