Generics in Java is the facility which is provided to the user to make a single method or single class that can be compatible with any data type like a single method can operate on integer type or string type or even object type. If you are familiar with template in C++, then you can consider generics as a template in Java. In simple words, generic methods(or classes) are those methods that are written with single method declaration and can be called or accessed with arguments of different type.
Let’s understand this with the help of an example. Suppose you have to view an image in your computer using a software. Consider a scenario where a single software can view or edit only single image file format, e.g. software A can view only jpg file, software B can view only png file, software C can view only gif file etc. On the other hand there is only a single software X which can view any type of image files.
Now if you have the option to choose any one of the software, which one will you choose? It’s quite obvious you will choose the software X because having many softwares will be very inefficient and it will consume more memory. In the same way, Generics in Java works. Instead of having different methods and classes for doing the same task, we make only one method or class which will be compatible with any data type as Integer, Double, String, Employee (object type) etc.
To create object of generic class or method we follow the below syntax:
abc obj<Type1,Type2,...,Type n> = new abc<Type1,Type2,...,Type n>()
Here Type can be replaced with any data type but remember that it cannot have primitive data types like int, double, etc. It should be of object type like Integer, Double, String, Float, Employee etc.
There is a general convention for this Type parameter:
public class test {
public < E > void showArray(E[] s) {
for (E x: s)
System.out.println(x);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
test Obj = new test();
String name[] = new String[] {
"Sachin",
"Virat",
"Dhoni"
};
Integer roll[] = {
10,
23,
44
};
Obj.showArray(name);
Obj.showArray(roll);
}
}Output:
Sachin
Virat
Dhoni
10
23
44In this example, type parameter <E> gets replaced by the string when called with string array and by integer when called by integer array. The type parameter is placed before the return type of the method.
We can have more than one parameter type in a method or class. Example:
public class test {
Public < E, N > void showArray(E x, N y) {
System.out.println(x);
System.out.println(y);
}
Public static void main(String[] args) {
test obj = new test();
obj.showArray("John Doe", 43);
}
}Output:
John Doe
43Not only methods, but we can also have classes that can be of a generic type. For example-
Public class test < T > {
T i;
Public void add(T i1) {
i = i1;
}
public T get() {
return (i);
}
}
public class TestGen {
public static void main(String[] args) {
test < Integer > m1 = new test < Integer > ();
test < String > m2 = new test < String > ();
Integer k = new Integer(199);
m1.add(k);
m2.add("John Doe");
System.out.println("m1 = " + m1.get() + " m2 = " + m2.get());
}
}OUTPUT:
m1 = 199 m2 = ohn DoeWe used the same class test to print the two different types of data (String and Integer). Here also, we can have multiple parameters.
With wildcard, we can further enhance the usage of generics. We use a wildcard when we want to make a method or class that can accept any kind of data or collection or when we want to impose some restrictions or relaxation on a variable. Let’s take an example:
void test(Collection < Object > c)
{
for (Object i: c)
{
System.out.println(i);
}
}The above code will only accept the type Object for functioning and will not accept any other type of collection. That’s the point where wildcard comes to play its role. To make the method acceptable for any data collections, we will use the wildcard ‘?’.
void test(Collection<?> c)
{
for (Object i : c) {
System.out.println(i);
}
}Now the above code will run for any type of collections like Integer, Double, Object, etc.
It provides the freedom to the variable by either making it a specific type or subtype of the specific type. In Java, it is declared by using the ? keyword followed by the extend keyword. Extend keyword is used to provide access to the subtypes of the specific type to the methods. Example list<? extends Number> can be used to extend the type Number along with its subtype (Integer, Double etc.) whereas list<Numbers> restrict user with a list of type number only. Observe the below code for better understanding.
import java.util.Array;
import java.util.List;
public class UpperBoundWildcard {
private static Double SumOfElements(ArrayList < ? extends Number > num) {
double sum = 0.0;
for (Number n: num) {
sum = sum + n.doubleValue();
}
return sum;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
List < Integer > ListOfIntegres = Arrays.asList(10, 20, 30);
System.out.println("The sum of the Integer list is = " + SumOfElements(ListOfInteger));
List < Double > ListOfDecimals = Arrays.asList(100.0, 200.0, 300.0);
System.out.println("The sum of the Double list is = " + SumOfElements(ListOfDecimals));
}
} Output:
The sum of the Integer list is = 60.0
The sum of the Double list is = 600.0In the above code, a list of integer and list of double is executed without any error.
Unbounded wild cards are used when we don’t know what type of list will come as input. In that case, we make our method using list<?> which means that list can be of any type. We use it when we want our method independent from parameter type. Example:
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;
public class UnboundedWildcard {
public static void show(List < ? > list) {
for (Object o: list) {
System.out.println(o);
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
List < Integer > ListOfIntegers = Arrays.asList(5, 10, 15);
System.out.println("List of Integer values-");
show(ListOfIntegers);
List < String > ListOfString = Arrays.asList("Virat", "Dhoni", "Dravid");
System.out.println("List of String values");
show(ListOfString);
}
}Output:
List of Integer values
5
10
15
List of String values
Virat
Dhoni
DravidThe above code worked well for both types of lists i.e. integer and string. This is the advantage of unbounded wildcard.
We use lower bound wildcards when we want to work on a specific type or superclass of that type like integers and its superclass numbers. It is used by declaring wildcard symbol ? followed by the super keyword. Consider the following example:
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;
public class LowerBoundWildcard {
public static void show(List < ? super Integer > list) {
for (Object n: list) {
System.out.println(n);
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
List < Integer > ListOfIntegres = Arrays.asList(10, 20, 30);
System.out.println("Showing the Integer values");
show(ListOfIntegres);
List < Number > ListOfNumbers = Arrays.asList(100.0, 200.0, 300.0);
System.out.println("Showing the Number values");
show(ListOfNumbers);
}
}Output:
Showing the Integer values
10
20
30
Showing the Number values
100.0
200.0
300.0 In the above code, we declared the list type be integers but by using the super keyword we made the method acceptable for superclass of integers. That’s why we were able to print double values too because superclass of integers i.e. numbers contains double class.
Type safety: It provides the user the type safety facility i.e. a user can store only a single type of object. For example - a list can be either of integer type or string type {1,2,3} or {"one","two","three"} but list like {1 ,2," three"} is not acceptable. Observe the below code for better understanding.
List list = new Arraylist();
list.add(100);
list.add("Tuts");
List < Integer > list = new Arraylist < Integer > ();
list.add(200);
list.add("Wiki"); //compile time error because type safety not followedCompile time error detection: A user mainly prefer to detect the error at compile time rather than run time because error handling at compile time is far easier than that at run time. And this facility is provided by generics to the user.
Free from typecasting: While accessing the member of the list, one doesn’t need to typecast the object like one used to do before without generics.
List list = new ArrayList();
list.add("Tuts");
String s = (String) list.get(0); //typecasting
//After generics, we don’t need typecasting.
List < String > list = new ArrayList < String > ();
list.add("Wiki");
String s = list.get(0);Help us improve this content by editing this page on GitHub