Java 5 (and hence AspectJ 1.5) supports automatic conversion of primitive types (int, float, double etc.) to their object equivalents (Integer, Float, Double,...) in assignments and method and constructor invocations. This conversion is know as autoboxing. Java 5 also supports automatic unboxing, where wrapper types are automatically converted into their primitive equivalents if needed for assignments or method or constructor invocations. For example: Most of the pointcut designators match based on signatures, and hence are unaffected by autoboxing. For example, a call to a method is not matched by a pointcut call(void foo(int)) since the signature declares a single Integer parameter, not an int. The args pointcut designator is affected by autoboxing since it matches based on the runtime type of the arguments. AspectJ 5 applies autoboxing and unboxing in determining argument matching. In other words, args(Integer) will match any join point at which there is a single argument of type Integer or of type int. args(Integer) and args(int) are equivalent args(Float) and args(float) are equivalent args(Double) and args(double) are equivalent args(Short) and args(short) are equivalent args(Byte) and args(byte) are equivalent args(Long) and args(long) are equivalent args(Boolean) and args(boolean) are equivalent Autoboxing and unboxing are also applied when binding pointcut or advice parameters, for example: Autoboxing, unboxing, and also varargs all affect the method dispatch algorithm used in Java 5. In AspectJ 5, the target method of a call is selected according to the following algorithm: Attempt to locate a matching method or inter-type declared method without considering autoboxing, unboxing, or vararg invocations. If no match is found, try again considering autoboxing and unboxing. Finally try again considering both autoboxing, unboxing, and varargs. One consequence is that a directly matching inter-type declared method will take precedence over a method declared locally in the target class but that only matches via autoboxing.