The difference between Classes, Objects, and Instances

Question

What is a class, an object and an instance in Java?

Answer 1

While the above answers are correct, another way of thinking about Classes and Objects would be to use real world examples: A class named Animal might contain objects like Cat, Dog or Fish. An object with a title of Bible would be of class Book, etc. Classes are general, objects are specific. This thought example helped me when I was learning Java.