University of Central Florida (UCF) COP3330 Object Oriented Programming Final Practice Exam

The 'instanceof' operator in Java is used to determine whether a given object is an instance of a specific class or implements a specific interface. This operator evaluates to true if the object is an instance of the specified class or any subclass of that class, as well as if the object implements the specified interface, ensuring that the object belongs to a particular type or hierarchy.

This is useful in object-oriented programming, especially in scenarios involving polymorphism, where an object may be treated as an instance of its parent class or interface. The 'instanceof' operator provides a way to check the actual type of the object at runtime, aiding in safe typecasting and reducing the risk of ClassCastException.

Understanding the behavior of the 'instanceof' operator helps developers manage type compatibility and dynamic behavior in their code, making it easier to work with complex class hierarchies and interfaces.