Java - Generics with lists

Question

I wrote a function for my cache to retrieve a specific object. This way I don\'t need to cast it .

@SuppressWarnings(\"unchecked\")
    public static 

        

Answer 1

Just to clarify Joe's answer ( I don't have enough reputation to comment), at runtime there is no difference between a List and List or any other type of List, generics aren't kept at runtime.

Meaning, List.class is completely identical to List.class and is actually List.class. This is a weakness of the Java type system. I'm not familiar with a simple way to implement what you wish for.

A code proof for the heck of it :

// It is true that      
    List stringList = new ArrayList(); 
    List integerList = new ArrayList();                                               
    System.out.println( stringList.getClass() == integerList.getClass()  );

    // And that ... 
    List objectList = new ArrayList();
    System.out.println( stringList.getClass() == objectList.getClass()  );

    //However, the following is false because a different implementation is used ( I wanted a false case)
    List objectLinkedList = new LinkedList();
    System.out.println(  objectLinkedList.getClass() == objectList.getClass() );