enum in java

The enum in java is a special type of data types like Class and Interface. A
Java enum is used to define collections of constants. It is also known as
enumeration java. By the use of an enum, we can define a group of
constants with all possible values at compile time. We can change the number
of constants later and it doesn’t fit all time. Enum was introduced in JDK 1.5.

For example, we can use of enum in java to store the days of the week
(SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY, and
SATURDAY). Because we know all the possible values at compile time. As
per the naming conventions of the enum, all constants should be in capital
letters.

Here is the table content of the article we will cover this topic.
1. What is enum?
2. Important points about enum?
3. How to create an enum?
4. Java enum example?
5. How to use of enum?
6. How to create Java enum methods and java enum constructor?
7. How to use String in Java enum string value?
8. Methods of enum?

Important points about enum

1. It is special data that is used to define a set of constants and the value of
the constant defined at compile time.

2. All the constants of the enum are by default static and final. So, we can’t
change the value of the constant. As constants are static so they are
accessible by enum name.

3. A enum can have methods, constructors, and fields.

4. Java enums extend the Enum class that exists in java.lang package. The
Enum class is an abstract class that implements a Comparable interface and
serialize interface.

5. A enum can implements interfaces but can’t extend the class because it
already internally extending the Enum class.

6. A enum can have numeric or string data constants.

How to create an enum

To create an enum we have to use an enum keyword like class keyword. It is

the way to in java define enum.

accessModifier, we can provide access modifiers according to to use like

default, and public.
enum, it is a predefined keyword.
enumName, which is the name of the enum to declare.
constant, We can have any number of constants.
methods, We can have any number of methods.

Java enum example

public enum Week

{
SUNDAY,

MONDAY,

TUESDAY,

WEDNESDAY,

THURSDAY,

FRIDAY,

SATURDAY;

Here you can see the enum keyword that is used in place of class or
interface. The enum keyword indicates to the compiler that this type of
definition is an enum.

How to use of enum

Suppose we have an enum Week that contains some constants. You can
access any constant by using the enum name because all constants are
static. Here is the syntax to access the constant.

enumName.constantName

You can refer to the constants in the enum above like this:

Week constantFromEnum = Week.MONDAY;

enum Week

SUNDAY,
MONDAY,

TUESDAY,

WEDNESDAY,

THURSDAY,

FRIDAY,

SATURDAY;

public class EnumExample

public static void main(String arg[])

// Getting a constant

Week constantFromEnum = Week.MONDAY;

System.out.println(constantFromEnum);

Output: MONDAY

How to create Java enum methods and

java enum constructor
We can create methods and constructors in an enum and use those methods
to operate the constants of Enum.

Let’s see an example with a constructor and method. Here we are creating
constants with an int code. So, we must provide a constructor that can take a
parameter of int type otherwise compiler shows an error. This constructor
internally involving by the compiler to set the code in constructors. Here we
are creating a method that will return the code of each constant.

enum Week

SUNDAY(1),

MONDAY(2),

TUESDAY(3),

WEDNESDAY(4),

THURSDAY(5),

FRIDAY(6),

SATURDAY(7);

private final int code;

// Compiler internally invokes it to assign value

Week(int code)

this.code = code;

}
public int getCode()

return code;

public class EnumExample

public static void main(String arg[])

// Getting a constant

Week constantFromEnum = Week.MONDAY;

System.out.println(constantFromEnum);

System.out.println(constantFromEnum.getCode());

Output: MONDAY
2

How to use String in Java enum string

value
We can use any type of value in enum constants. Let’s see the example with a
string value.

enum Week

SUNDAY(1, "First day"),

MONDAY(2, "Second day"),

TUESDAY(3, "Third day"),

WEDNESDAY(4, "Fourth day"),

THURSDAY(5, "Fifth day"),

FRIDAY(6, "Sixth day"),

SATURDAY(7, "Seventh day");

private final int intCode;

private final String stringCode;

// Compiler internally invokes it to assign value

Week(int intCode, String stringCode)

this.intCode = intCode;

this.stringCode = stringCode;

public int getIntCode()

{

return intCode;

public String getStringCode()

return stringCode;

public class EnumExample

public static void main(String arg[])

// Getting a constant

Week constantFromEnum = Week.MONDAY;

System.out.println(constantFromEnum);

System.out.println(constantFromEnum.getIntCode());

System.out.println(constantFromEnum.getStringCode());

}
Output: MONDAY
2
Second day

Methods of enum

Java enum class provides some predefined methods that are used to operate
the values of an enum. Here we will discuss the most common method of the
enum class.

compareTo() method

The compareTo() method is used to compare the constants of an enum. It

compares the constant based on ordinal values.

enum Week

SUNDAY(1, "First day"),

MONDAY(2, "Second day"),

TUESDAY(3, "Third day"),

WEDNESDAY(4, "Fourth day"),

THURSDAY(5, "Fifth day"),

FRIDAY(6, "Sixth day"),

SATURDAY(7, "Seventh day");

private final int intCode;

private final String stringCode;

// Compiler internally invokes it to assign value

Week(int intCode, String stringCode)

this.intCode = intCode;

this.stringCode = stringCode;

public int getIntCode()

return intCode;

public String getStringCode()

return stringCode;

public class EnumExample

public static void main(String arg[])

System.out.println(Week.SUNDAY.compareTo(Week.MONDAY));
}

Output: -1

toString() method

The toString() method converts the name of an enum to a string.

enum Week

SUNDAY(1, "First day"),

MONDAY(2, "Second day"),

TUESDAY(3, "Third day"),

WEDNESDAY(4, "Fourth day"),

THURSDAY(5, "Fifth day"),

FRIDAY(6, "Sixth day"),

SATURDAY(7, "Seventh day");

private final int intCode;

private final String stringCode;

// Compiler internally invokes it to assign value

Week(int intCode, String stringCode)

{
this.intCode = intCode;

this.stringCode = stringCode;

public int getIntCode()

return intCode;

public String getStringCode()

return stringCode;

public class EnumExample

public static void main(String arg[])

System.out.println(Week.SUNDAY.toString());

Output: SUNDAY
Java enum valueof() method

The valueOf() method is a static method in the enum class and it is used to
obtain an instance of the enum class for a given String value.

enum Week

SUNDAY(1, "First day"),

MONDAY(2, "Second day"),

TUESDAY(3, "Third day"),

WEDNESDAY(4, "Fourth day"),

THURSDAY(5, "Fifth day"),

FRIDAY(6, "Sixth day"),

SATURDAY(7, "Seventh day");

private final int intCode;

private final String stringCode;

// Compiler internally invokes it to assign value

Week(int intCode, String stringCode)

this.intCode = intCode;

this.stringCode = stringCode;

}
public int getIntCode()

return intCode;

public String getStringCode()

return stringCode;

public class EnumExample

public static void main(String arg[])

Week week = Week.valueOf("SUNDAY");

System.out.println(week);

Output: SUNDAY