Convert java.lang.reflect.Type to Class clazz

Question

How can I convert java.lang.reflect.Type to Class clazz?

If I have one method as next which has an argument of Class

Answer 1

It would be weird that a Type would be anything else than a Class... Javadoc for Type says

All Known Implementing Classes: Class

So unless you have special libraries that use non Class Types, you can simply cast - but you must be ready for a possible ClassCastException. Beware: Java use undocumented Type implementation to represent generics, see below.

You can explicitely process it or not because it is an unchecked exception:

Explicit way:

try {
    Class clazz = (Class) type;
}
catch (ClassCastException ex) {
    // process exception
}

Implicit way:

Class clazz = (Class) type;

but the current method could throw...

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EDIT per @Andy Turner's comment:

Beware: Type type = new ArrayList().getClass().getGenericSuperclass(); yields something that's a Type but not a Class. This one is a ParameterizedType, so you can use getRawType() method to find the actual class, but others might exist.