Why does Boolean.class.newInstance() throw exception?

Question

I think the sunject's pretty self-explanatory. I use JDK 1.6.0 update 26, and created a new project with just one line to confirm this:

Boolean.class.newInstance();

and it throws the following:

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.InstantiationException: java.lang.Boolean
    at java.lang.Class.newInstance0(Class.java:340)
    at java.lang.Class.newInstance(Class.java:308)

Does it suppose to fail? If so, why?

Answer 1

The Boolean class has two constructors, both take one argument. Calling Boolean.class.newInstance() is trying to call a zero-arg constructor that doesn't exist.