how to use generics in java code example
Example 1: java generic type method
// generic methods
public <T> List<T> fromArrayToList(T[] a) {
return Arrays.stream(a).collect(Collectors.toList());
}
public static <T, G> List<G> fromArrayToList(T[] a, Function<T, G> mapperFunction) {
return Arrays.stream(a)
.map(mapperFunction)
.collect(Collectors.toList());
}
// bounded generics
public <T extends Number> List<T> fromArrayToList(T[] a) {
...
}
//multiple bounds
<T extends Number & Comparable>
// upper bound wildcards
public static void paintAllBuildings(List<? extends Building> buildings) {
...
}
// lower bound wildcard
<? super T>
Example 2: java generics
public class Tuple <T> {
// the T is a placeholder for any datatype
public T leftValue;
public T rightValue;
public Tuple(T leftValue, T rightValue){
// again, T is being used as a placeholder for any type
this.leftValue = leftValue;
this.rightValue = rightValue;
}
public class Program{
public static void main (String args){
// And upon using Tuples we can fill in the T from the Tuple class with actual datatypes
Tuple <int> intTuple = new Tuple <int>(5, 500)
Tuple <String> stringTuple = new Tuple <String> ("Hello", "World")
// we can even put Tuples inside of Tuples!
Tuple<Tuple<int>> metaIntTuple = new Tuple <Tuple <int>> (intTuple, new Tuple <int> (456, 0));
}
}
Example 3: java generics type
Java Generic Type Naming convention helps us understanding code easily and having a naming convention is one of the best practices of Java programming language. So generics also comes with its own naming conventions. Usually, type parameter names are single, uppercase letters to make it easily distinguishable from java variables. The most commonly used type parameter names are:
E – Element (used extensively by the Java Collections Framework, for example ArrayList, Set etc.)
K – Key (Used in Map)
N – Number
T – Type
V – Value (Used in Map)
S,U,V etc. – 2nd, 3rd, 4th types