On Wed, 5 Aug 2026 15:08:05 GMT, Chen Liang <[email protected]> wrote:

>> The 3 methods to determine conversions and subtyping on `java.lang.Class`, 
>> which are `isInstance`, `cast`, and `isAssignableFrom`, have their 
>> documentation from the earliest days of the Java Platform. During the 
>> language evolution, a lot of terms have become inaccurate, such as 
>> "assignment-compatible", which does not apply for primitive types, and the 
>> out-of-date instanceof analogy with the upcoming patterns, in `isInstance`; 
>> `isAssignableFrom` is not very clear about arrays; `cast` would also benefit 
>> from more detailed explanations.
>> 
>> In my facelift, I moved the subtyping description to `isAssignableFrom`, and 
>> left the conversion stuff in `isInstance` and `cast`.  I intentionally 
>> avoided linking to too many JLS chapters to reduce confusions. I believe in 
>> this shape, we have a good amount of easily comprehensible yet accurate 
>> specification for all 3 methods, and users are welcome to read the linked 
>> JLS chapters for more details and context.
>> 
>> ---------
>> - [x] I confirm that I make this contribution in accordance with the 
>> [OpenJDK Interim AI Policy](https://openjdk.org/legal/ai).
>
> Chen Liang has updated the pull request with a new target base due to a merge 
> or a rebase. The incremental webrev excludes the unrelated changes brought in 
> by the merge/rebase. The pull request contains 13 additional commits since 
> the last revision:
> 
>  - Typo tweaks
>  - Merge branch 'master' of https://github.com/openjdk/jdk into 
> doc/class-casts
>  - Rendering updates
>  - More tweaks
>  - Merge branch 'master' of https://github.com/openjdk/jdk into 
> doc/class-casts
>  - Tweak
>  - Merge branch 'master' of https://github.com/openjdk/jdk into 
> doc/class-casts
>  - Stage
>  - Rewording from Kevin
>  - Non-null more straightforward than object
>  - ... and 3 more: https://git.openjdk.org/jdk/compare/aff316df...ee574e4f

src/java.base/share/classes/java/lang/Class.java line 818:

> 816:      * <ul>
> 817:      * <li>If T is a primitive type or void, returns whether T and P are 
> the same.
> 818:      * <li>If T is a class or interface, T is a supertype of P if and 
> only if

I think this case is not captured, right?


jshell> interface SomeInterface {}
|  created interface SomeInterface

jshell> Object.class.isAssignableFrom(SomeInterface.class)
$2 ==> true

-------------

PR Review Comment: https://git.openjdk.org/jdk/pull/28684#discussion_r3757002687

Reply via email to