Java method for objects cast possibility

Question

Is is possible to check whether given Object item can be casted to some class? Is there any method which doesn't throw an exception?

Answer 1

Yes, Class.isInstance(Object) and the related Class.isAssignableFrom(Class)

Example:

Object x = "foo";
Integer.class.isInstance(x); // => false
Integer.class.isAssignableFrom(x.getClass()); // => false

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Edit: You said "method" so I assumed you meant an API method, but if you know the types at compile-time then you can simply use

x instanceof Integer // => false

(see also What is the 'instanceof' operator used for?)