As (smart casting)

The as keyword allows to smart cast variables to a provided type.

Smart casting

Smart casting is like an enhanced Java cast. It can cast objects like a Java cast would, but it can also convert the object to make it fit the target type.

Collections smart casting

The smart cast can transform arrays into (primitive) lists/sets

int[] array = [1, 2, 3]

List<int> intList = array as List<int>
Set<long> longSet = [1l, 2l, 3l] as Set<long>

Boolean (truthy) smart casting

You can smart cast any value to a boolean. The value of the boolean will be determined based on the Marcel truth.

Dynamic object smart casting

Any type can become a dynamic object

dynobj obj = 1 as dynobj

(Java) casting

To perform a simple cast, you can use the function cast with the diamond operator, provided specifically for this use-case

int a = 1

Integer b = a as Integer
Number c = b as Number
Long d = c as Long // will fail as a is not an instance of Long