Base type: The kind of items that might be stored in an array - the arrays defined type. For example, in
int[] numbers;
the base type of numbers is int. Here the base type is a class type; it points out the lowest super type of objects which might be stored in the array. For example, in
Ship[] berths;
Just instances of the Ship class might be stored in berths. When the base type of an array is Object, instances of any class might be stored in it.