intValue

intValue is a method name used in Java and other object-oriented environments to obtain a primitive int from a numeric object. In Java, intValue is defined in the abstract Number class and is overridden by concrete numeric wrappers such as Integer, Long, Float, Double, Short, and Byte, as well as by other Number implementations.

In Java, intValue returns the value of the object converted to a primitive int. For wrappers like Integer, this is a direct unwrapping of the contained int. For other wrappers, floating-point values are typically truncated to remove the fractional part, and larger values may be reduced to fit into 32 bits. Conversions from BigInteger or BigDecimal may lose information if the value lies outside the range representable by an int. In such cases the operation does not throw an exception; it simply discards the excess bits or fractional portion.

Usage considerations include null handling and potential loss of precision. Calling intValue on a null reference results in a NullPointerException, as with other method calls on null. This method is useful when code holds a Number reference and needs a primitive int for API calls that require int parameters or for arithmetic, but developers should be aware of possible truncation or overflow.

Related methods in Java include longValue, shortValue, byteValue, floatValue, and doubleValue, all provided by Number and implemented by numeric wrappers and custom Number subclasses. Some languages offer similar functionality under different names; in Java, intValue remains a standard way to extract an int from a generic numeric object.