FloatValue

FloatValue is a common method or property name used in several programming languages to obtain a 32-bit floating-point representation of a numeric value stored in an object or wrapper.

In Java, the numeric wrapper classes (for example Integer, Float, Double) implement a method called floatValue() that returns the primitive float value. This is part of the Number class interface. Example: Integer i = 42; float f = i.floatValue(); If the wrapper object is null, calling floatValue() would throw a NullPointerException. Auto-unboxing can also convert to float in contexts that require it, but calling the explicit method is a direct conversion.

Other languages expose similar functionality with NSNumber in Objective-C and its Swift counterparts. NSNumber encapsulates numeric values and provides a floatValue accessor to retrieve a primitive C float. Example: NSNumber *num = @3.14; float f = [num floatValue]; In Swift, a bridged NSNumber can expose a floatValue property as well.

Behavior and caveats: floatValue converts the stored value to a 32-bit IEEE 754 float. This can result in loss of precision if the original value has more precision than a float can represent. Values outside the representable range may yield positive or negative infinity. Special values such as NaN propagate according to the platform’s numeric rules.

Usage: floatValue is useful when bridging boxed numeric types to APIs that require primitive floats or when extracting a numeric value from a container. Related conversions include intValue and doubleValue, as well as generic numberValue interfaces that provide multiple type-specific accessors.