Re: newInstance, generics, and "unchecked or unsafe operations"

From:
Joshua Cranmer <Pidgeot18@verizon.invalid>
Newsgroups:
comp.lang.java.programmer
Date:
Fri, 15 Aug 2008 08:47:23 -0400
Message-ID:
<g83tss$3fe$1@news-int2.gatech.edu>
Stanimir Stamenkov wrote:

        Class<? extends Collection<T>> c;
        // Syntax error in the |Collection<T>.class| part.
        c = original.getClass().asSubclass(Collection<T>.class);
        Collection<T> emptyVersionOf = c.newInstance();


Close, but you'll need to use Collection.class and not
Collection<T>.class, which requires you to change it all to this:
Class<? extends Collection> c;
c = orginal.getClass().asSubclass(Collection.class);
Collection<T> emptyVersionOf = c.newInstance();

There's a bug, I'm not sure in the JLS or not, that Class<? extends
Collection> is not the same as Class<? extends Collection<?>> and that
Collection.class returns Class<Collection> instead of Class<Collection<?>>.

Because of the class issue, this means that you are forced to use rare
types (mixtures of generics and raw types), which is a problematic mess
that I think is underspecified in the JLS.

--
Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not
tried it. -- Donald E. Knuth

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