How To Get Super Class Name From Object

This example illustrates how to get the super class name from its instance. If you are aware of the java.lang.Class, it has methods for knowing the details of a class. One of the method defined in that class is Class.getSuperclass() which is useful for getting the super class’s java.lang.Class object. With that object, you can invoke the getName() method to get the name of the class. Note that, each instance has “class” variable which returns the java.lang.Class for that particular object. By using the getName() method, one could get the name of the class.

Lets look this example. This example used few sample classes and getting name of that classes.

GetSuperClassNameExample.java

package javabeat.net.core;

/**
 * Get Super Class Name Example
 *
 * @author Krishna
 *
 */
public class GetSuperClassNameExample {
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Class<?> classVar = null;

		String str = new String();
		classVar = str.getClass().getSuperclass();
		System.out.println("String's Super Class : "+classVar.getName());

		Exception e = new Exception();
		classVar = e.getClass().getSuperclass();
		System.out.println("Exception's Super Class : "+classVar.getName());

		Integer i = new Integer("10");
		classVar = i.getClass().getSuperclass();
		System.out.println("Integer's Super Class : "+classVar.getName());

	}

}

Output…

String's Super Class : java.lang.Object
Exception's Super Class : java.lang.Throwable
Integer's Super Class : java.lang.Number