What is the 'instanceof' operator used for in Java?

Question

What is the instanceof operator used for? I\'ve seen stuff like

if (source instanceof Button) {
    //...
} else {
    //...
}

Answer 1

public class Animal{ float age; }

public class Lion extends Animal { int claws;}

public class Jungle {
    public static void main(String args[]) {

        Animal animal = new Animal(); 
        Animal animal2 = new Lion(); 
        Lion lion = new Lion(); 
        Animal animal3 = new Animal(); 
        Lion lion2 = new Animal();   //won't compile (can't reference super class object with sub class reference variable) 

        if(animal instanceof Lion)  //false

        if(animal2 instanceof Lion)  //true

        if(lion insanceof Lion) //true

        if(animal3 instanceof Animal) //true 

    }
}