Turning string into Identifier

Question

I want to create a jsp instanceof tag taht will take a string as an argument and turn it into tan identifier to test against. e.g.
String input = "java.lang.String";
// do somethinng to convert input to identifier object
boolean isInstance = anotherInputVariable instanceof new Identifier(input);
Is there a simple way to do this?
I also want to be able to cast the secondary input into the class represented by the identifier string.. e.g.
String g = (input) anotherInputVariable;
How would I do that as well?
Sorry if this is somewhat coherant... Im on a deathmarch coding project and my brain is awash.

Answer 1

I want to create a jsp instanceof tag taht will take a
string as an argument and turn it into tan identifier
to test against. e.g.
String input = "java.lang.String";
// do somethinng to convert input to identifier objectSomething like this?Class c = Class.forName(input);
boolean isInstance = anotherInputVariable instanceof new Identifier(input);You can't use the instanceof operator, but the Class class has methods that will do what you want - check the API. However, use of these techniques is usually a sign of a bad design.
Is there a simple way to do this?
I also want to be able to cast the secondary input
into the class represented by the identifier string..
e.g.
String g = (input) anotherInputVariable;
How would I do that as well?Impossible - there is no runtime type casting. And it wouldn't do you any good anyway, because at complie time (when you're writing your code) the only information you would have available is that it's an Object, so those are the only methods you could use.