java why should equals method input parameter be Object

Question

I\'m going through a book on data structures. Currently I\'m on graphs, and the below code is for the vertex part of the graph.

class Vertex{
    /         


        

Answer 1

It's because this method existed before generics, so for backward compatabitity it has to stay this way.

The standard workaround to impose type is:

return obj instanceof MyClass && ;