[java] Check if a Class Object is subclass of another Class Object in Java

I'm playing around with Java's reflection API and trying to handle some fields. Now I'm stuck with identifying the type of my fields. Strings are easy, just do myField.getType().equals(String.class). The same applies for other non-derived classes. But how do I check derived classes? E.g. LinkedList as subclass of List. I can't find any isSubclassOf(...) or extends(...) method. Do I need to walk through all getSuperClass() and find my supeclass by my own?

This works for me:

protected boolean isTypeOf(String myClass, Class<?> superClass) {
    boolean isSubclassOf = false;
    try {
        Class<?> clazz = Class.forName(myClass);
        if (!clazz.equals(superClass)) {
            clazz = clazz.getSuperclass();
            isSubclassOf = isTypeOf(clazz.getName(), superClass);
        } else {
            isSubclassOf = true;
        }

    } catch(ClassNotFoundException e) {
        /* Ignore */
    }
    return isSubclassOf;
}

Another option is instanceof:

Object o =...
if (o instanceof Number) {
  double d = ((Number)o).doubleValue(); //this cast is safe
}

A recursive method to check if a Class<?> is a sub class of another Class<?>...

Improved version of @To Kra's answer:

protected boolean isSubclassOf(Class<?> clazz, Class<?> superClass) {
    if (superClass.equals(Object.class)) {
        // Every class is an Object.
        return true;
    }
    if (clazz.equals(superClass)) {
        return true;
    } else {
        clazz = clazz.getSuperclass();
        // every class is Object, but superClass is below Object
        if (clazz.equals(Object.class)) {
            // we've reached the top of the hierarchy, but superClass couldn't be found.
            return false;
        }
        // try the next level up the hierarchy.
        return isSubclassOf(clazz, superClass);
    }
}

This is an improved version of @schuttek's answer. It is improved because it correctly return false for primitives (e.g. isSubclassOf(int.class, Object.class) => false) and also correctly handles interfaces (e.g. isSubclassOf(HashMap.class, Map.class) => true).

static public boolean isSubclassOf(final Class<?> clazz, final Class<?> possibleSuperClass)
{
    if (clazz == null || possibleSuperClass == null)
    {
        return false;
    }
    else if (clazz.equals(possibleSuperClass))
    {
        return true;
    }
    else
    {
        final boolean isSubclass = isSubclassOf(clazz.getSuperclass(), possibleSuperClass);

        if (!isSubclass && clazz.getInterfaces() != null)
        {
            for (final Class<?> inter : clazz.getInterfaces())
            {
                if (isSubclassOf(inter, possibleSuperClass))
                {
                    return true;
                }
            }
        }

        return isSubclass;
    }
}

//Inheritance

    class A {
      int i = 10;
      public String getVal() {
        return "I'm 'A'";
      }
    }

    class B extends A {
      int j = 20;
      public String getVal() {
        return "I'm 'B'";
      }
    }

    class C extends B {
        int k = 30;
        public String getVal() {
          return "I'm 'C'";
        }
    }

//Methods

    public static boolean isInheritedClass(Object parent, Object child) {
      if (parent == null || child == null) {
        return false;
      } else {
        return isInheritedClass(parent.getClass(), child.getClass());
      }
    }

    public static boolean isInheritedClass(Class<?> parent, Class<?> child) {
      if (parent == null || child == null) {
        return false;
      } else {
        if (parent.isAssignableFrom(child)) {
          // is child or same class
          return parent.isAssignableFrom(child.getSuperclass());
        } else {
          return false;
        }
      }
    }

// Test the code

    System.out.println("isInheritedClass(new A(), new B()):" + isInheritedClass(new A(), new B()));
    System.out.println("isInheritedClass(new A(), new C()):" + isInheritedClass(new A(), new C()));
    System.out.println("isInheritedClass(new A(), new A()):" + isInheritedClass(new A(), new A()));
    System.out.println("isInheritedClass(new B(), new A()):" + isInheritedClass(new B(), new A()));


    System.out.println("isInheritedClass(A.class, B.class):" + isInheritedClass(A.class, B.class));
    System.out.println("isInheritedClass(A.class, C.class):" + isInheritedClass(A.class, C.class));
    System.out.println("isInheritedClass(A.class, A.class):" + isInheritedClass(A.class, A.class));
    System.out.println("isInheritedClass(B.class, A.class):" + isInheritedClass(B.class, A.class));

//Result

    isInheritedClass(new A(), new B()):true
    isInheritedClass(new A(), new C()):true
    isInheritedClass(new A(), new A()):false
    isInheritedClass(new B(), new A()):false
    isInheritedClass(A.class, B.class):true
    isInheritedClass(A.class, C.class):true
    isInheritedClass(A.class, A.class):false
    isInheritedClass(B.class, A.class):false

In addition to @To-kra's answer. If someone doesn't like recurrence:

    public static boolean isSubClassOf(Class<?> clazz, Class<?> superClass) {
        if(Object.class.equals(superClass)) {
            return true;
        }

        for(; !Object.class.equals(clazz); clazz = clazz.getSuperclass()) {
            if(clazz.getSuperclass().equals(superClass)) {
                return true;
            }
        }

        return false;
    }

NOTE: no null checking for clarity.

instanceof works on instances, i.e. on Objects. Sometimes you want to work directly with classes. In this case you can use the asSubClass method of the Class class. Some examples:

1)

    Class o=Object.class;
    Class c=Class.forName("javax.swing.JFrame").asSubclass(o);

this will go through smoothly because JFrame is subclass of Object. c will contain a Class object representing the JFrame class.

2)

    Class o=JButton.class;
    Class c=Class.forName("javax.swing.JFrame").asSubclass(o);

this will launch a java.lang.ClassCastException because JFrame is NOT subclass of JButton. c will not be initialized.

3)

    Class o=Serializable.class;
    Class c=Class.forName("javax.swing.JFrame").asSubclass(o);

this will go through smoothly because JFrame implements the java.io.Serializable interface. c will contain a Class object representing the JFrame class.

Of course the needed imports have to be included.