ClassCast Exception in Java

Last Updated : 17 Mar 2025

ClassCast Exception in Java is one of the unchecked exceptions that occur when we try to convert one class type object into another class type.

ClassCast Exception is thrown when we try to cast an object of the parent class to the child class object. However, it can also be thrown when we try to convert the objects of two individual classes that don't have any relationship between them.

Consider the following example, in which we have shown how the ClassCast Exception is thrown.

Main.java

public class Animal {
String color;
Animal(String color){
this.color = color;
}
void eat(String name) {
System.out.println(name + " is eating .....");
}
void show(String name) {
System.out.println(name + " is of " + color + " Color");
}
}
public class Dog extends Animal{
Dog(String color) {
super(color);
// TODO Auto-generated constructor stub
}
void eat(String name) {
System.out.println(name + " is eating ....");
}
}

public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
Dog dog = new Dog("black");
Animal animal = new Animal("White");
animal = dog;
animal.show("My dog");

Animal animal1 = new Animal("White");
Dog d = (Dog)animal1;
}
}

Output:

My dog is of black Color
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.ClassCastException: class Animal cannot be cast to class Dog (Animal and Dog are in the unnamed module of loader 'app')
at Main.main(Main.java:12)

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