Integer.valueOf() vs Integer.parseInt() with Examples

Last Updated : 11 Jul, 2025

Integer.parseInt():
While operating upon strings, there are times when we need to convert a number represented as a string into an integer type. The method generally used to convert String to Integer in Java is parseInt(). This method belongs to Integer class in java.lang package. It takes a valid string as a parameter and parses it into primitive data type int. It only accepts String as a parameter and on passing values of any other data type, it produces an error due to incompatible types. There are two variants of this method:

Syntax:

public static int parseInt(String s) throws NumberFormatException

public static int parseInt(String s, int radix) throws NumberFormatException

Example:

Java

// Java program to demonstrate working parseInt()

public class GFG {
    public static void main(String args[])
    {
        int decimalExample = Integer.parseInt(&quot;20&quot;);
        int signedPositiveExample = Integer.parseInt(&quot;+20&quot;);
        int signedNegativeExample = Integer.parseInt(&quot;-20&quot;);
        int radixExample = Integer.parseInt(&quot;20&quot;, 16);
        int stringExample = Integer.parseInt(&quot;geeks&quot;, 29);

        System.out.println(decimalExample);
        System.out.println(signedPositiveExample);
        System.out.println(signedNegativeExample);
        System.out.println(radixExample);
        System.out.println(stringExample);
    }
}

Output:

Integer.valueOf():
This method is a static method belonging to the java.lang package which returns the relevant Integer Object holding the value of the argument passed. This method can take an integer or a String as a parameter. But when the given String is invalid, it provides an error. This method can also take in a character as a parameter but the output will be its corresponding Unicode value. This method will always cache values in the range -128 to 127, inclusive, and may cache other values outside of this range. Syntax:

public static Integer valueOf(int a)

public static Integer valueOf(String str)

public static Integer valueOf(String str, int base)

Example:

Java

// Java program to illustrate the
// java.lang.Integer.valueOf(int a)
import java.lang.*;

public class Geeks {

    public static void main(String[] args)
    {

        Integer obj = new Integer(10);

        // Returns an Integer instance
        // representing the specified int value
        System.out.println(&quot;Output Value = &quot;
                           + obj.valueOf(85));
    }
}

Output:

Output Value = 85

Differences between Integer.parseInt() and Integer.valueOf()

Integer.valueOf() returns an Integer object while Integer.parseInt() returns a primitive int.

Java

// Program to show the use
// of Integer.parseInt() method

class Test1 {
    public static void main(String args[])
    {
        String s = &quot;77&quot;;

        // Primitive int is returned
        int str = Integer.parseInt(s);
        System.out.print(str);

        // Integer object is returned
        int str1 = Integer.valueOf(s);
        System.out.print(str1);
    }
}

Output:

Both String and integer can be passed a parameter to Integer.valueOf() whereas only a String can be passed as parameter to Integer.parseInt().

Java

// Program to show that Integer.parseInt()
// cannot take integer as parameter

class Test3 {
    public static void main(String args[])
    {
        int val = 99;

        try {

            // It can take int as a parameter
            int str1 = Integer.valueOf(val);
            System.out.print(str1);

            // It cannot take an int as a parameter
            // Hence will throw an exception
            int str = Integer.parseInt(val);
            System.out.print(str);
        }
        catch (Exception e) {
            System.out.print(e);
        }
    }
}

Compilation Error:

prog.java:18: error: incompatible types:
int cannot be converted to String
            int str = Integer.parseInt(val);
                                       ^
1 error

Integer.valueOf() can take a character as parameter and will return its corresponding unicode value whereas Integer.parseInt() will produce an error on passing a character as parameter.

Java

// Program to test the method
// when a character is passed as a parameter

class Test3 {
    public static void main(String args[])
    {
        char val = 'A';

        try {

            // It can take char as a parameter
            int str1 = Integer.valueOf(val);
            System.out.print(str1);

            // It cannot take char as a parameter
            // Hence will throw an exception
            int str = Integer.parseInt(val);
            System.out.print(str);
        }
        catch (Exception e) {
            System.out.print(e);
        }
    }
}

Compilation Error:

prog.java:18: error: incompatible types:
char cannot be converted to String
            int str = Integer.parseInt(val);
                                       ^
1 error

Table of difference

Integer.parseInt()	Integer.valueOf()
It can only take a String as a parameter.	It can take a String as well as an integer as parameter.
It returns a primitive int value.	It returns an Integer object.
When an integer is passed as parameter, it produces an error due to incompatible types	When an integer is passed as parameter, it returns an Integer object corresponding to the given parameter.
This method produces an error(incompatible types) when a character is passed as parameter.	This method can take a character as parameter and will return the corresponding unicode.
This lags behind in terms of performance since parsing a string takes a lot of time when compared to generating one.	This method is likely to yield significantly better space and time performance by caching frequently requested values.
If we need the primitive int datatype then Integer.parseInt() method is to be used.	If Wrapper Integer object is needed then valueOf() method is to be used.