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Object Oriented Programming

Generics
Lecture – 7

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OOP

Contents
• Wrapper classes
• Introduction to Generics
• Generic classes - Declaration & Instantiation
• Generic Methods – Implementation & Invocation
• Bounded Type Parameters
• Wildcards
• Limitations in Generics

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Wrapper class / Covering class

• Wrapper class in java provides the mechanism to convert
primitive datatype into object and object into primitive type.

• For each primitive datatype, there exists a covering class in the

java.lang package.
byte à Byte
short à Short
int à Integer
long à Long
float à Float
double à Double
char à Character
Booleanà Boolean 3

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Wrapper class cont.

• The automatic conversion of primitive type into object is
known as autoboxing and vice-versa unboxing.

• Since J2SE 5.0, autoboxing and unboxing feature converts

primitive into object and object into primitive automatically.

autoboxing.java
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Wrapper class cont.

unboxing

unboxing.java
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Generics in Java
• Concept of “generics” was introduced in JDK 5 to
deal with type-safe objects.

• Introduction of generics has changed Java in 2

ways:
• Added new syntax to Java language
• Caused changes to many of the classes & methods in the
core API

• With the use of generics, it is possible to create

classes, interfaces & methods which works in type-
safe manner.
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Generics in Java cont.

• “Generics” means “parameterized types”.

• Many algorithms are same regardless of its data

type that is applied. With generics, you can define
the algorithm once independently of any specific
type of data. Later, you can use the algorithm to a
wide variety of data types without any additional
effort.

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Advantages of Generics
1. Type-safety : We can hold only a single type of
objects in generics. It doesn’t allow to store other
types of objects.
2. Type casting is not required: There is no need to
typecast the object. All type conversions are
implicit.
3. Compile-Time Checking: It is checked at compile
time so problem will not occur at runtime. The
good programming strategy says it is far better to
handle the problem at compile time than at
runtime.
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Implementation
• When you are in need to store a list of values, you
shall use an array.
e.g.: if you are storing marks of 5 students then you may
create an array as shown in the code below

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Implementation cont.
Problem:
• Size of the array is fixed. If there is a change in the
size of the array (in the number of elements that
are stored), you have to modify the code manually.
• You may not be able to expand or shrink the array
automatically as & when the element is being
added.

Solution:
• Use Collection Interface
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Implementation cont.
Shown below is an example of how Collection is used
to store elements. Note that the list grows each &
every time add() is called.

GenericDemo2.java
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Implementation cont.
Collection value = new ArrayList();
• This statement allows you to create a list of
elements (list of marks).
• Note that Collection is an interface and cannot be
instantiated directly.
• ArrayList is a class which implements the Interface
List which extends the Interface Collection.

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Implementation cont.
Collection value = new ArrayList();
Problem:
This list may contain any object as we have not
specified the data type of the element to be added.

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Implementation cont.
Collection value = new ArrayList();
Problem:
What if the requirement is to store only integers?

Solution:
Make use of Generics!
Collection <Integer> value = new ArrayList<>();

*Make use of Wrappers as primitive types do not support

Generics.
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Implementation cont.
Collection <Integer> value = new ArrayList<>();
• Now you may not be able to add elements other
than Integer type. (Note the Compilation Error)

GenericDemo3.java
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Question:
Write a program to store a list of names, retrieve the
names & display on the screen.

Hint: Use an ArrayList class

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Type Parameters
The type parameter naming conventions are as
follows:
T - Type
E - Element
K - Key
N - Number
V - Value

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Generic class
• A class that can refer to any type is known as generic class.
• Type T indicates that it can refer to any type (Integer,
Double, Employee etc.)

test.java
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Generic class cont.

• You may make use of the generic class as shown below:

• Note that there will be a compilation error if you attempt to

add any other type of data other than an integer.
test.java
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Generic method
• Like generic class, we can create generic method that can
accept any type of argument.

test1.java
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Multiple Parameters
• A generic class or method can have multiple type
parameters.

test2.java
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Multiple Parameters cont.

• This is how you will make use of the generic class you
created:

test2.java
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Multiple Parameters cont.

• Although the two type argument differ in the example, it is
possible for both types to be same.
e.g.:

• Also note, if both type arguments were always the same,

then two type parameters would be unnecessary. 23

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Bounded Type Parameters

• There may be times when you will want to restrict the kind
of data types that are allowed to be passed to a type
parameter.
e.g.: A method that operates on numbers might only want to
accept instances of Number or its subclasses.
• To declare a bounded type parameter, list the type
parameter's name, followed by the extends keyword,
followed by its upper bound in the following format.
<T extends superclass>
e.g.: <T extends Number>
• Note: T, can only be replaced by the superclass or its
subclasses.
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Bounded Type Parameters cont.

• This is an example of the class with a bounded type
parameter:

test3.java
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Bounded Type Parameters cont.

• This is how you will make use of the class with a bounded
type parameter.

test3.java
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Bounded Type Parameters cont.

• Note that the following code segment will give compilation
error as String is not a subclass of Number

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Bounded Type Parameters cont.

• In addition to using a class type as a bound, you can also use
an interface type too! In fact, you can specify multiple
interfaces as bounds.
• A bound can include a class type & one or more interfaces.
In this case, the class type needs to be specified first.
• When a bound include an interface type, only type
arguments that implement that interface are legal.
• When specifying a bound that has a class & an interface or
multiple interfaces, use the & operator to connect them
e.g:

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Wildcard in Java Generics

• The ? Symbol represents the wildcard element. It means any type can be
matched with the ? symbol.

• If we write <? extends Number>, it means any child class of Number (e.g.
Integer, Double, Float etc.) can be matched with the ?

test4.java
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Wildcard in Java Generics cont.

test4.java
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Limitations in Generics
• Type parameters cannot be instantiated - It is not possible to create
instances of a type parameter

• Restriction on static members - No static member can use a type

parameter declared by the enclosing class. Note that you can declare
static generic methods.

• Generic array restriction -

• Cannot instantiate an array whose element type is a type
parameter.
• Cannot create an array of type specific references

• Generic exception restriction - A generic class cannot extend

Throwable. This means we cannot create generic exception classes. 31

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