Getting default value for primitive types
JavaReflectionGuavaJava Problem Overview
I have a Java primitive type at hand:
Class<?> c = int.class; // or long.class, or boolean.class
I'd like to get a default value for this class -- specifically, the value is assigned to fields of this type if they are not initialized. E.g., 0 for a number, false for a boolean.
Is there a generic way to do this? I tried this:
c.newInstance()
But I'm getting an InstantiationException, and not a default instance.
Java Solutions
Solution 1 - Java
The Guava Libraries already contains that:
http://guava-libraries.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/javadoc/com/google/common/base/Defaults.html
Calling defaultValue will return the default value for any primitive type (as specified by the JLS), and null for any other type.
Use it like so:
import com.google.common.base.Defaults;
Defaults.defaultValue(Integer.TYPE); //will return 0
Solution 2 - Java
It's possible to get the default value of any type by creating an array of one element and retrieving its first value.
private static <T> T getDefaultValue(Class<T> clazz) {
return (T) Array.get(Array.newInstance(clazz, 1), 0);
}
This way there is not need to take account for every possible primitive type, at the usually negligible cost of creating a one-element array.
Solution 3 - Java
This is what I'm thinking (fails the elegance test though):
public class PrimitiveDefaults {
// These gets initialized to their default values
private static boolean DEFAULT_BOOLEAN;
private static byte DEFAULT_BYTE;
private static short DEFAULT_SHORT;
private static int DEFAULT_INT;
private static long DEFAULT_LONG;
private static float DEFAULT_FLOAT;
private static double DEFAULT_DOUBLE;
public static Object getDefaultValue(Class clazz) {
if (clazz.equals(boolean.class)) {
return DEFAULT_BOOLEAN;
} else if (clazz.equals(byte.class)) {
return DEFAULT_BYTE;
} else if (clazz.equals(short.class)) {
return DEFAULT_SHORT;
} else if (clazz.equals(int.class)) {
return DEFAULT_INT;
} else if (clazz.equals(long.class)) {
return DEFAULT_LONG;
} else if (clazz.equals(float.class)) {
return DEFAULT_FLOAT;
} else if (clazz.equals(double.class)) {
return DEFAULT_DOUBLE;
} else {
throw new IllegalArgumentException(
"Class type " + clazz + " not supported");
}
}
}
Solution 4 - Java
An alternative to Guava's Defaults.java, which lets the implementation figure out the default values (improved by using Antag99’s answer):
import static java.util.stream.Collectors.toMap;
import java.lang.reflect.Array;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.stream.Stream;
public class DefaultValue {
/**
* @param clazz
* the class for which a default value is needed
* @return A reasonable default value for the given class (the boxed default
* value for primitives, <code>null</code> otherwise).
*/
@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
public static <T> T forClass(Class<T> clazz) {
return (T) DEFAULT_VALUES.get(clazz);
}
private static final Map<Class<?>, Object> DEFAULT_VALUES = Stream
.of(boolean.class, byte.class, char.class, double.class, float.class, int.class, long.class, short.class)
.collect(toMap(clazz -> (Class<?>) clazz, clazz -> Array.get(Array.newInstance(clazz, 1), 0)));
public static void main(String... args) {
System.out.println(DefaultValue.forClass(int.class)); // 0
System.out.println(DefaultValue.forClass(Integer.class)); // null
}
}
Solution 5 - Java
You can do this with reflection, but it's easiest and clearest to write it out, e.g.
Object defaultValue(Class cls)
{
Map defaults = new HashMap();
defaults.put(Integer.TYPE, Integer.valueOf(0));
defaults.put(Double.TYPE, Double.valueOf(0));
defaults.put(Boolean.TYPE, Boolean.FALSE);
//... etc
return defaults.get(cls);
}
Of course, you will probably want to move the map initialization out to a constructor or similar for once-only initialization.
Reasonably concise - it is elegant?
Solution 6 - Java
There isn't an elegant way to do this. In fact, it is not even possible to declare the signature of a method that will return the primitive values per se.
The closest you can come is something like this:
public Object defaultValue(Class cls) {
if (class == Boolean.TYPE) {
return Boolean.FALSE;
} else if (class == Byte.TYPE) {
return Byte.valueOf(0);
} else if (class == Short.TYPE) {
...
} else {
return null;
}
}
Solution 7 - Java
Class variables of primitives do not need to be initialized or set with a default value. However variables declare in other scope must be initialized or you'll get compilation errors.
public class PrimitiveStuff {
private int aInt;
private long aLong;
private boolean aBoolean;
public PrimitiveStuff() {
System.out.println("aInt : " + aInt); //prints 0
System.out.println("aLong: "+ aLong);//prints 0
System.out.println("aBoolean: " + aBoolean);//prints false
}
public void doStuff(){
int outherInt;
System.out.println(outherInt); //will not compile
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
new PrimitiveStuff();
}
}
Solution 8 - Java
Try this if you want default value including String data type:
private static Object getDefaultValue(Field field) {
if (Number.class.isAssignableFrom(field.getType())) {
if (Double.class.isAssignableFrom(field.getType())
|| Float.class.isAssignableFrom(field.getType())) {
return 0.0;
} else {
return 0;
}
} else if (Boolean.class.isAssignableFrom(field.getType())) {
return false;
} else if (Timestamp.class.isAssignableFrom(field.getType())) {
return new Timestamp(Instant.now().toEpochMilli());
} else {
return "NULL";
}
}
Solution 9 - Java
Based on Jack Leow's answer, I created this class:
/**
<P>{@code java InitializedObjectUtil}</P>
**/
public class InitializedObjectUtil {
public static final void main(String[] igno_red) {
printDefault("boolean");
printDefault("char");
printDefault("byte");
printDefault("short");
printDefault("int");
printDefault("long");
printDefault("float");
printDefault("double");
printDefault("java.lang.AnythingAndEverythingElse");
}
private static final void printDefault(String s_type) {
Object oDflt = InitializedObjectUtil.getForClassName(s_type);
System.out.println(s_type + " default is \"" + oDflt + "\"");
}
/**
<P>The default value for a boolean is {@code false}.</P>
<P>Viewed 1/21/2014
<BR><CODE><A HREF="http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/datatypes.html">http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/datatypes.html</A></CODE>:</P>
<P><B>Default Values:</B> </P>
<P>It's not always necessary to assign a value when a field is declared. Fields that are declared but not initialized will be set to a reasonable default by the compiler. Generally speaking, this default will be zero or null, depending on the data type. Relying on such default values, however, is generally considered bad programming style. The following chart summarizes the default values for the above data types.</P>
<PRE>{@literal
Data Type Default Value (for fields)
--------------------------------------
byte 0
short 0
int 0
long 0L
float 0.0f
double 0.0d
char '\u0000'
String (or any object) null
boolean false}</PRE>
@see #getForClass(String) getForClass(s)
@see #getForClassName(String) getForClassName(s)
@see #DEFAULT_CHAR
@see #DEFAULT_BYTE
@see #DEFAULT_SHORT
@see #DEFAULT_INT
@see #DEFAULT_LONG
@see #DEFAULT_FLOAT
@see #DEFAULT_DOUBLE
**/
public static final Boolean DEFAULT_BOOLEAN = false;
/**
<P>The default value for a char {@code '\u0000'}.</P>
@see #DEFAULT_BOOLEAN
**/
public static final Character DEFAULT_CHAR = '\u0000';
/**
<P>The default value for a byte is {@code 0}.</P>
@see #DEFAULT_BOOLEAN
**/
public static final Byte DEFAULT_BYTE = 0;
/**
<P>The default value for a short is {@code 0}.</P>
@see #DEFAULT_BOOLEAN
**/
public static final Short DEFAULT_SHORT = 0;
/**
<P>The default value for a int is {@code 0}.</P>
@see #DEFAULT_BOOLEAN
**/
public static final Integer DEFAULT_INT = 0;
/**
<P>The default value for a long is {@code 0L}.</P>
@see #DEFAULT_BOOLEAN
**/
public static final Long DEFAULT_LONG = 0L;
/**
<P>The default value for a float {@code 0.0f}.</P>
@see #DEFAULT_BOOLEAN
**/
public static final Float DEFAULT_FLOAT = 0.0f;
/**
<P>The default value for a double {@code 0.0d}.</P>
@see #DEFAULT_BOOLEAN
**/
public static final Double DEFAULT_DOUBLE = 0.0d;
/**
<P>Get an object containing an initialized value for the static class-type.</P>
@param cls_static May not be {@code null}.
@return <CODE>{@link getForClassName(String) getForClassName}(cls_static.getName())</CODE>
**/
public static final Object getForClass(Class cls_static) {
try {
return getForClassName(cls_static.getName());
} catch(RuntimeException rtx) {
throw new NullPointerException("getForClass: cls_static");
}
}
/**
<P>Get an object containing an initialized value for the type whose name is in a string.</P>
<P>Idea from (viewed 1/2/2014)
<BR> {@code <A HREF="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2891970/getting-default-value-for-java-primitive-types/2892067#2892067">https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2891970/getting-default-value-for-java-primitive-types/2892067#2892067</A>}</P>
@param s_type May not be {@code null}.
@return If {@code s_type} is equal to<UL>
<LI>{@code "boolean"}: {@link #DEFAULT_BOOLEAN}</LI>
<LI>{@code "char"}: {@link #DEFAULT_CHAR}</LI>
<LI>{@code "byte"}: {@link #DEFAULT_BYTE}</LI>
<LI>{@code "short"}: {@link #DEFAULT_SHORT}</LI>
<LI>{@code "int"}: {@link #DEFAULT_INT}</LI>
<LI>{@code "long"}: {@link #DEFAULT_LONG}</LI>
<LI>{@code "float"}: {@link #DEFAULT_FLOAT}</LI>
<LI>{@code "double"}: {@link #DEFAULT_DOUBLE}</LI>
<LI><I>anything else</I>: {@code null}</LI>
</UL>
@see #getForClass(Class) getForClass(cls)
**/
public static final Object getForClassName(String s_type) {
try {
if(s_type.equals("boolean")) {
return DEFAULT_BOOLEAN;
}
} catch(NullPointerException npx) {
throw new NullPointerException("getForClassName: s_type");
}
if(s_type.equals("char")) {
return DEFAULT_CHAR;
}
if(s_type.equals("byte")) {
return DEFAULT_BYTE;
}
if(s_type.equals("short")) {
return DEFAULT_SHORT;
}
if(s_type.equals("int")) {
return DEFAULT_INT;
}
if(s_type.equals("long")) {
return DEFAULT_LONG;
}
if(s_type.equals("float")) {
return DEFAULT_FLOAT;
}
if(s_type.equals("double")) {
return DEFAULT_DOUBLE;
}
//Non-primitive type
return null;
}
}