When to use wrapper class and primitive type

java, primitive-types, wrapper

Solution

Others have mentioned that certain constructs such as `Collections` require objects and that objects have more overhead than their primitive counterparts (memory & boxing).

Another consideration is:

It can be handy to initialize Objects to `null` or send `null` parameters into a method/constructor to indicate state or function. This can't be done with primitives.

Many programmers initialize numbers to 0 (default) or -1 to signify this, but depending on the scenario, this may be incorrect or misleading.

This will also set the scene for a `NullPointerException` when something is being used incorrectly, which is much more programmer-friendly than some arbitrary bug down the line.

Problem

Original source