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member > instance member > instance method > method that is declared in Object class > getClass

getClass
subject			fact

getClass	has specification
	has example //Returns the name of the class of the object called key String name = key.getClass().getName();
	is a subtopic of Example Methods
	is an instance of final method
	is an instance of method that is declared in Object class
	returns a runtime representation of the class of the object
final method	cannot be overridden by any method
	has purpose to increase efficiency by eliminating dynamic method lookup
method	if a method is declared with the same method signature as a method in a superclass then this method overrides the method with the same method signature in the superclass
	if a method may throw a checked expression then the method must have a throws clause that mentions the class of that exception or one of the superclasses of the class of that exception
	when a method is called a piece of memory is allocated for every parameter
	when a method is called and the method's parameter is a reference type then the memory allocated for that parameter holds a copy of the address of the argument
	when a method is called and the method's parameter is a primitive type then the memory allocated for that parameter holds a copy of the parameter itself
	belongs to a class
	can access all instance variables of all objects of its class
	can be inherited by subclasses of its class
	can be accessed by other methods and variables in any class in the same package by default
	can use the super method to invoke a method declared in the superclass
	cannot be passed as an argument to a method or constructor
	creates an object by instantiating a class
	has part method definition
	has part method signature
	has part a block of implementation code
	implements the behaviour of an object or the behaviour of a class
	is equivalent to the terms "function member" or "member function" which are used in C++
	is equivalent to the terms "routine", "function" or "method" which are used in non object-oriented programming languages
	is part of a class or an object
	may contain empty return statement if it has a void return type
	may have access modifier public or private or protected
	must contain return statement unless it has a void return type
	must define its parameter list
	must define its return type
	should be as private as possible
	should not be public except for those that will definitely need to be called from outside the package
	should return to its caller from only one place which should be the last statement
	usually hides instance variables, class variables from other objects
instance method	can operate on the current object's instance variables
	can refer to the object itself using the 'this' keyword
	has access to every class variable of its class
	implements the behaviour of the objects in the class
	is part of a class
	may be declared public, protected or private
	should be placed in a class such that there is no needless duplication of it, and such that it is useful in all the subclasses of the class in which it is defined
access unit	has access mode
syntactic unit	has syntax rule bold = mandatory italic = non-terminal normal font = optional

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