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Java I/O Operation – Wrapper Class vs Primitive Class Variables

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It is better to use the Primitive Class variable for the I/O operation unless there is a necessity of using the Wrapper Class. In this article, we can discuss briefly both wrapper class and primitive data type.

  • A primitive data type focuses on variable values, without any additional methods.
  • The Default value of Primitive class variables are given below,

Primitive Data types

Default values

int 

0

byte 

0

short 

0

char 

\u0000 or null

boolean

false

double 

0.0

float 

0.0

  • The default value of the wrapper class is null as they are objects.
  • Primitive classes are faster when compared to wrapper classes. However, the wrapper class allows null values but the primitive class does not allow any null values.
  • Wrapper classes help the Java program be completely object-oriented whereas primitive data types help in the simple declaration of values with variables. They also help the code be serializable.
  • For conversion of primitive data type to objects, wrapper class is used. We can see the conversion of the Primitive data type to objects using the code below,

Java




/*package whatever //do not write package name here */
  
import java.io.*;
class GFG {
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        // primitive data type
        int n = 15;
  
        // Creating object from primitive data type
        Integer obj = Integer.valueOf(n);
        System.out.println(n + " " + obj);
    }
}


Output:

15 15
  • If we have to serialize a primitive value, it must first be converted into objects using wrapper classes. 
  • Wrapper classes help in working with Collection variables.

Primitive data Type 

Wrapper Class

Even Large scale calculations can be made faster When collections are used, a wrapper class is required
Methods will return a value Methods will return null
mostly used when the variable should not be null or ‘\0’ Used when the variable should be null
  • For knowing more about the usage of primitive data type to wrapper class, we need to focus on Autoboxing and Unboxing.
  • We can convert a Wrapper Class into primitive data types is called Unboxing.

Java




/*package whatever //do not write package name here */
  
import java.io.*;
  
class GFG {
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        // wrapper class to primitive datatype
        Integer a = new Integer(6);
        // Unboxing
        int b = a;
        System.out.print(b);
    }
}


Output:

6
  • We can also refer to the below-mentioned code of converting the primitive data type to wrapper class (Autoboxing).

Java




/*package whatever //do not write package name here */
  
import java.io.*;
  
class GFG {
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        // converting primitive data type to wrapper class
        int a = 6;
        // Autoboxing
        Integer b = Integer.valueOf(a);
        System.out.println(b);
    }
}


Output:

6


Last Updated : 15 Nov, 2022
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