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JAVA GENERICS

Java Generics, introduced in JDK 5.0, enhances type safety at compile-time, allowing developers to create methods that can accept different argument types without runtime errors. It eliminates the need for type-casting and helps catch bugs early by enforcing type constraints in collections. The document provides examples demonstrating the advantages of Generics over non-generic collections in Java.

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2 views

JAVA GENERICS

Java Generics, introduced in JDK 5.0, enhances type safety at compile-time, allowing developers to create methods that can accept different argument types without runtime errors. It eliminates the need for type-casting and helps catch bugs early by enforcing type constraints in collections. The document provides examples demonstrating the advantages of Generics over non-generic collections in Java.

Uploaded by

SHILPI BANSAL
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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JAVA GENERICS

 Introduced from JDK 5.0 onwards.


 The Java Generics helps us to deal with the compiler time type-safety.
 With the help of the Generics, we can write a single method and call it with different
argument types(integer, strings, etc.).

ADVANTAGES OF GENERICS:

1. Bugs can be detected at compile-time:


 While developing any application or program, it is always better to catch the bug/problem
at the compile-time instead of runtime so that we can provide a smooth experience to the
user.
 Let's take an example to see how Java Generics helps us to detect problems at compile-
time:

import java.util.ArrayList;

public class CWH {

public static void main(String[] args) {

// Without Java Generics :

ArrayList myArrayList = new ArrayList();

myArrayList.add(10); //Integer value

myArrayList.add("Harry Bhai!"); //String value

myArrayList.add(20.4); //Double value

System.out.println(myArrayList);

[10, Harry Bhai!, 20.4]


In the above code, notice that we can store any type of object in a collection without Generics.
But, this is not the case with the Generics. It allows us to store only one type of object. Take a
look at the example given below :

import java.util.ArrayList;

public class CWH {

public static void main(String[] args) {

// With Java Generics :

ArrayList<Integer> myArrayList = new ArrayList <Integer>();

myArrayList.add(10); //Integer value

myArrayList.add("Harry Bhai!"); //String value

myArrayList.add(20.4); //Double value

System.out.println(myArrayList);

The same code produces the Incompatible type error because we can only store the integer
object type.
2. Type-casting not required :
 Let's suppose you created an ArrayList(without using Generics), and you want to store
the value at index 0 into an integer variable named "x." Are you allowed to do this in
Java? The answer is a big NO! This is because the ArrayList returns an object, but we're
storing the value in an integer variable. In such cases, we need to type-cast the object into
our desired data type. But, if we use Generics, then there is no need to typecast. Take a
look at the below example to get a better understanding :

import java.util.ArrayList;

public class CWH {

public static void main(String[] args) {

// Without Java Generics :

ArrayList myArrayList = new ArrayList();

myArrayList.add(10); //Integer value

myArrayList.add("Harry Bhai!"); //String value

myArrayList.add(20.4); //Double value

int x = myArrayList.get(0);

System.out.println(x);

}
The above code produces an error because we've not typecasted the object into the integer type.
Now, let's typecast and see the results :

import java.util.ArrayList;

public class CWH {

public static void main(String[] args) {

// Without Java Generics :

ArrayList myArrayList = new ArrayList();

myArrayList.add(10); //Integer value

myArrayList.add("Harry Bhai!"); //String value

myArrayList.add(20.4); //Double value

int x = (int) myArrayList.get(0); //b=object typecasted into integer

System.out.println(x);

10
Now, let's see how we can get the desired results with the help of the Generics :

import java.util.ArrayList;

public class CWH {

public static void main(String[] args) {

// With Java Generics :

ArrayList<Integer> myArrayList = new ArrayList();

myArrayList.add(10);

myArrayList.add(20);

myArrayList.add(30);

myArrayList.add(40);

int x = myArrayList.get(0);

System.out.println(x);

10
3. GENERICS IN JAVA EXAMPLE

package com.company;

import java.util.ArrayList;

import java.util.Scanner;

class MyGeneric<T1, T2>{

int val;

private T1 t1;

private T2 t2;

public MyGeneric(int val, T1 t1, T2 t2) {

this.val = val;

this.t1 = t1;

this.t2= t2;

public T2 getT2() {

return t2;

public void setT2(T2 t2) {

this.t2 = t2;

}
public int getVal() {

return val;

public void setVal(int val) {

this.val = val;

public T1 getT1() {

return t1;

public void setT1(T1 t1) {

this.t1 = t1;

public class cwh_110_generics {

public static void main(String[] args) {

ArrayList<Integer> arrayList = new ArrayList();

// ArrayList<int> arrayList = new ArrayList(); -- this will produce an error

// arrayList.add("str1");

arrayList.add(54);

arrayList.add(643);

// arrayList.add(new Scanner(System.in));
int a = (int) arrayList.get(0);

// System.out.println(a);

MyGeneric<String, Integer> g1 = new MyGeneric(23, "MyString is my string ", 45);

String str = g1.getT1();

Integer int1 = g1.getT2();

System.out.println(str + int1);

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