title: Java 1.4: Cast primitive type to Object (Coupling vs Performance?)
body: <p>This is actually related to a question I asked earlier, but I was left hanging on this detail. I'm restricted to Java 1.4 and I want to cast an <code>int</code> type to <code>Object</code>. Do I really need to use an <code>Integer</code> class object or there's a way to cast it directly (there's no auto-boxing in 1.4). Is the cost of this "manual boxing" worthwhile over importing a whole class from the 3rd layer to the 1st layer, thus increasing coupling?</p>