What is the purpose of the getClass() method in Java?

In Java programming, every object has a class that defines its properties and behavior. The getClass() method is a built-in method in Java that is used to retrieve the class object of an instance. This method is declared in the Object class, which is the parent class of all classes in Java.

When the getClass() method is called on an object, it returns the Class object that represents the class of the object. This Class object contains information about the object's class, including its name, fields, methods, and constructors.

One common use of the getClass() method is to compare the classes of two objects. For example, if you have two objects of different classes and you want to check if they are of the same class, you can use the getClass() method to get the Class objects of the objects and then compare them using the equals() method.

Another use of the getClass() method is in reflection, which is a feature in Java that allows you to inspect and modify the behavior of a class at runtime. With the getClass() method, you can get the Class object of an instance and then use reflection to access its properties and behavior.