src/main/java/org/jboss/util/Objects.java
@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
   public static Object deref(final Object obj) {
      if (obj != null && obj instanceof Reference) {
         Reference ref = (Reference)obj;
         return ref.get();
      }

      return obj;
   }
@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
   public static Object deref(final Object obj) {
      if (obj != null && obj instanceof Reference) {
         Reference ref = (Reference)obj;
         return ref.get();
      }

      return obj;
   }
Dereference the given object if it is <i>non-null</i> and is an
instance of <code>Reference</code>.  If the object is <i>null</i>
then <i>null</i> is returned.  If the object is not an instance of
<code>Reference</code>, then the object is returned.

@param obj  Object to dereference.
@return     Dereferenced object.