public class Bach extends EnumSyntax {
         public static final Bach JOHANN_SEBASTIAN     = new Bach(0);
         public static final Bach WILHELM_FRIEDEMANN   = new Bach(1);
         public static final Bach CARL_PHILIP_EMMANUEL = new Bach(2);
         public static final Bach JOHANN_CHRISTIAN     = new Bach(3);
         public static final Bach P_D_Q                = new Bach(4);

         private static final String[] stringTable = {
             "Johann Sebastian Bach",
              "Wilhelm Friedemann Bach",
              "Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach",
              "Johann Christian Bach",
              "P.D.Q. Bach"
         };

         protected String[] getStringTable() {
             return stringTable;
         }

         private static final Bach[] enumValueTable = {
             JOHANN_SEBASTIAN,
              WILHELM_FRIEDEMANN,
              CARL_PHILIP_EMMANUEL,
              JOHANN_CHRISTIAN,
              P_D_Q
         };

         protected EnumSyntax[] getEnumValueTable() {
             return enumValueTable;
         }
     }
 

     Bach theComposer;
     . . .
     if (theComposer == Bach.JOHANN_SEBASTIAN) {
         System.out.println ("The greatest composer of all time!");
     }
 

You can convert an enumeration value to a string by calling toString(). The string is obtained from a table supplied by the enumeration class.

Under the hood, an enumeration value is just an integer, a different integer for each enumeration value within an enumeration class. You can get an enumeration value's integer value by calling getValue(). An enumeration value's integer value is established when it is constructed (see EnumSyntax(int)). Since the constructor is protected, the only possible enumeration values are the singleton objects declared in the enumeration class; additional enumeration values cannot be created at run time.

You can define a subclass of an enumeration class that extends it with additional enumeration values. The subclass's enumeration values' integer values need not be distinct from the superclass's enumeration values' integer values; the ==, !=, equals(), and toString() methods will still work properly even if the subclass uses some of the same integer values as the superclass. However, the application in which the enumeration class and subclass are used may need to have distinct integer values in the superclass and subclass.