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Boxing (computer programming)
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<p>In <a href="/facts/Computer_science/lN3pEyPz">computer science</a>, boxing (a.k.a. wrapping) is the transformation of placing a primitive type within an <a href="/facts/Object_(computer_science)/eX99dtAw">object</a> so that the value can be used as a <a href="/facts/Reference_type/0xLHHokA">reference</a>. Unboxing is the reverse transformation of extracting the primitive value from its wrapper object. Autoboxing is the term for automatically applying boxing and/or unboxing transformations as needed. </p>