Module java.base
Package java.net

# Class Inet4Address

java.lang.Object
java.net.InetAddress
java.net.Inet4Address

All Implemented Interfaces:
  `Serializable`

public final class Inet4Address extends InetAddress
This class represents an Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) address. Defined by RFC 790: Assigned Numbers, RFC 1918: Address Allocation for Private Internets, and RFC 2365: Administratively Scoped IP Multicast

## Textual representation of IP addresses

Textual representation of IPv4 address used as input to methods takes one of the following forms:

> - `d.d.d.d`
> - `d.d.d`
> - `d.d`
> - `d`

When four parts are specified, each is interpreted as a byte of data and assigned, from left to right, to the four bytes of an IPv4 address.

When a three part address is specified, the last part is interpreted as a 16-bit quantity and placed in the right most two bytes of the network address. This makes the three part address format convenient for specifying Class B net- work addresses as 128.net.host.

When a two part address is supplied, the last part is interpreted as a 24-bit quantity and placed in the right most three bytes of the network address. This makes the two part address format convenient for specifying Class A network addresses as net.host.

When only one part is given, the value is stored directly in the network address without any byte rearrangement.

For methods that return a textual representation as output value, the first form, i.e. a dotted-quad string, is used.

### The Scope of a Multicast Address

Historically the IPv4 TTL field in the IP header has doubled as a multicast scope field: a TTL of 0 means node-local, 1 means link-local, up through 32 means site-local, up through 64 means region-local, up through 128 means continent-local, and up through 255 are global. However, the administrative scoping is preferred. Please refer to RFC 2365: Administratively Scoped IP Multicast

Since:
  1.4
External Specifications
  - RFC 1918: Address Allocation for Private Internets
  - RFC 2365: Administratively Scoped IP Multicast
  - RFC 790: Assigned numbers
See Also:
  - Serialized Form

## Method Summary

Modifier and Type
Method
Description
`boolean`
`equals(Object obj)`
Compares this object against the specified object.
`byte[]`
`getAddress()`
Returns the raw IP address of this `InetAddress` object.
`String`
`getHostAddress()`
Returns the IP address string in textual presentation form.
`int`
`hashCode()`
Returns a hashcode for this IP address.
`boolean`
`isAnyLocalAddress()`
Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is a wildcard address.
`boolean`
`isLinkLocalAddress()`
Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is a link local address.
`boolean`
`isLoopbackAddress()`
Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is a loopback address.
`boolean`
`isMCGlobal()`
Utility routine to check if the multicast address has global scope.
`boolean`
`isMCLinkLocal()`
Utility routine to check if the multicast address has link scope.
`boolean`
`isMCNodeLocal()`
Utility routine to check if the multicast address has node scope.
`boolean`
`isMCOrgLocal()`
Utility routine to check if the multicast address has organization scope.
`boolean`
`isMCSiteLocal()`
Utility routine to check if the multicast address has site scope.
`boolean`
`isMulticastAddress()`
Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is an IP multicast address.
`boolean`
`isSiteLocalAddress()`
Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is a site local address.

### Methods declared in class java.net.InetAddress

`getAllByName, getByAddress, getByAddress, getByName, getCanonicalHostName, getHostName, getLocalHost, getLoopbackAddress, isReachable, isReachable, toString`

### Methods declared in class java.lang.Object

`clone, finalize, getClass, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait`

## Method Details

### isMulticastAddress

public boolean isMulticastAddress()
Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is an IP multicast address. IP multicast address is a Class D address i.e first four bits of the address are 1110.

Overrides:
  `isMulticastAddress` in class `InetAddress`
Returns:
  a `boolean` indicating if the InetAddress is an IP multicast address

### isAnyLocalAddress

public boolean isAnyLocalAddress()
Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is a wildcard address.

Overrides:
  `isAnyLocalAddress` in class `InetAddress`
Returns:
  a `boolean` indicating if the InetAddress is a wildcard address.

### isLoopbackAddress

public boolean isLoopbackAddress()
Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is a loopback address.

Overrides:
  `isLoopbackAddress` in class `InetAddress`
Returns:
  a `boolean` indicating if the InetAddress is a loopback address; or false otherwise.

### isLinkLocalAddress

public boolean isLinkLocalAddress()
Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is a link local address.

Overrides:
  `isLinkLocalAddress` in class `InetAddress`
Returns:
  a `boolean` indicating if the InetAddress is a link local address; or false if address is not a link local unicast address.

### isSiteLocalAddress

public boolean isSiteLocalAddress()
Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is a site local address.

Overrides:
  `isSiteLocalAddress` in class `InetAddress`
Returns:
  a `boolean` indicating if the InetAddress is a site local address; or false if address is not a site local unicast address.

### isMCGlobal

public boolean isMCGlobal()
Utility routine to check if the multicast address has global scope.

Overrides:
  `isMCGlobal` in class `InetAddress`
Returns:
  a `boolean` indicating if the address has is a multicast address of global scope, false if it is not of global scope or it is not a multicast address

### isMCNodeLocal

public boolean isMCNodeLocal()
Utility routine to check if the multicast address has node scope.

Overrides:
  `isMCNodeLocal` in class `InetAddress`
Returns:
  a `boolean` indicating if the address has is a multicast address of node-local scope, false if it is not of node-local scope or it is not a multicast address

### isMCLinkLocal

public boolean isMCLinkLocal()
Utility routine to check if the multicast address has link scope.

Overrides:
  `isMCLinkLocal` in class `InetAddress`
Returns:
  a `boolean` indicating if the address has is a multicast address of link-local scope, false if it is not of link-local scope or it is not a multicast address

### isMCSiteLocal

public boolean isMCSiteLocal()
Utility routine to check if the multicast address has site scope.

Overrides:
  `isMCSiteLocal` in class `InetAddress`
Returns:
  a `boolean` indicating if the address has is a multicast address of site-local scope, false if it is not of site-local scope or it is not a multicast address

### isMCOrgLocal

public boolean isMCOrgLocal()
Utility routine to check if the multicast address has organization scope.

Overrides:
  `isMCOrgLocal` in class `InetAddress`
Returns:
  a `boolean` indicating if the address has is a multicast address of organization-local scope, false if it is not of organization-local scope or it is not a multicast address

### getAddress

public byte[] getAddress()
Returns the raw IP address of this `InetAddress` object. The result is in network byte order: the highest order byte of the address is in `getAddress()[0]`.

Overrides:
  `getAddress` in class `InetAddress`
Returns:
  the raw IP address of this object.

### getHostAddress

public String getHostAddress()
Returns the IP address string in textual presentation form.

Overrides:
  `getHostAddress` in class `InetAddress`
Returns:
  the raw IP address in a string format.

### hashCode

public int hashCode()
Returns a hashcode for this IP address.

Overrides:
  `hashCode` in class `InetAddress`
Returns:
  a hash code value for this IP address.
See Also:
  - `Object.equals(java.lang.Object)`
  - `System.identityHashCode(java.lang.Object)`

### equals

public boolean equals(Object obj)
Compares this object against the specified object. The result is `true` if and only if the argument is not `null` and it represents the same IP address as this object.

Two instances of `InetAddress` represent the same IP address if the length of the byte arrays returned by `getAddress` is the same for both, and each of the array components is the same for the byte arrays.

Overrides:
  `equals` in class `InetAddress`
Parameters:
  `obj` - the object to compare against.
Returns:
  `true` if the objects are the same; `false` otherwise.
See Also:
  - `InetAddress.getAddress()`