How can I instantiate a generic type in Java?

Question

I\'ve added a human-readable configuration file to my app using java.util.Properties and am trying to add a wrapper around it to make type conversions easier. Specifically,

Answer 1

Try this:

protected  T getProperty(String key, T fallback) {
    String value = properties.getProperty(key);

    if (value == null) {
        return fallback;
    } else {
        Class FallbackType = fallback.getClass();
        return (T)FallbackType.cast(value);
    }
}