code: private static Number asNumber(Object value) {
      Number num = null;
      if (value == null) {
        num = null;
      } else if (value instanceof Number) {
        num = (Number) value;
      } else if (value instanceof Boolean) {
        num = ((Boolean) value) ? 1 : 0;
      }
      return num;
    }
docs: Try to convert an object into a number. Boolean values will return 1 if
  true and 0 if false. If the value is null or an unknown data type null
  will be returned.