Learn Java Programming - Variables and Primitive Data Types

A variable is a named memory location that can be assigned a value while the program is running. A data type describes the sort of data that a variable will hold. This tutorial will introduce you to the primitive data types.

[km-sckz]

what's the difference between the primitive data type and the primitive data type object? In my text book, it says that the parse() function converts a numeric string to a primitive data type but a valueOf() function converts the same to a primitive data type object, what's the difference?