title: Convert java.lang.String to java.lang.Number
body: <p>I have a String object and I need to convert to java.lang.Number.</p>
  
  <pre><code>Number num = null;
  Object cellContents = ".475";
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>If I try to cast the <em>cellContents</em> to Number directly, </p>
  
  <pre><code>num = (Number) cellContents;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>it throws an exception:</p>
  
  <pre><code>E[java.lang.ClassCastException: java.lang.String]:  : java.lang.ClassCastException: java.lang.String
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I searched but could not get a complete answer as to how I can achieve this.
  Please help!!!</p>