java: Class.isInstance vs Class.isAssignableFrom

Both answers are in the ballpark but neither is a complete answer.

MyClass.class.isInstance(obj) is for checking an instance. It returns true when the parameter obj is non-null and can be cast to MyClass without raising a ClassCastException. In other words, obj is an instance of MyClass or its subclasses.

MyClass.class.isAssignableFrom(Other.class) will return true if MyClass is the same as, or a superclass or superinterface of, Other. Other can be a class or an interface. It answers true if Other can be converted to a MyClass.

A little code to demonstrate:

public class NewMain
{
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        NewMain nm = new NewMain();
        nm.doit();
    }

    class A { }

    class B extends A { }

    public void doit()
    {
        A myA = new A();
        B myB = new B();
        A[] aArr = new A[0];
        B[] bArr = new B[0];

        System.out.println("b instanceof a: " + (myB instanceof A)); // true
        System.out.println("b isInstance a: " + A.class.isInstance(myB)); //true
        System.out.println("a isInstance b: " + B.class.isInstance(myA)); //false
        System.out.println("b isAssignableFrom a: " + A.class.isAssignableFrom(B.class)); //true
        System.out.println("a isAssignableFrom b: " + B.class.isAssignableFrom(A.class)); //false
        System.out.println("bArr isInstance A: " + A.class.isInstance(bArr)); //false
        System.out.println("bArr isInstance aArr: " + aArr.getClass().isInstance(bArr)); //true
        System.out.println("bArr isAssignableFrom aArr: " + aArr.getClass().isAssignableFrom(bArr.getClass())); //true
    }
}

clazz.isAssignableFrom(Foo.class) will be true whenever the class represented by the clazz object is a superclass or superinterface of Foo.

clazz.isInstance(obj) will be true whenever the object obj is an instance of the class clazz.

That is:

clazz.isAssignableFrom(obj.getClass()) == clazz.isInstance(obj)

is always true so long as clazz and obj are nonnull.