« Previous • TOC

Answers to Questions and Exercises: Generics

Questions

Consider the following classes:
```
public class AnimalHouse<E> {
    private E animal;
    public void setAnimal(E x) {
        animal = x;
    }
    public E getAnimal() {
        return animal;
    }
}

public class Animal{
}

public class Cat extends Animal {
}

public class Dog extends Animal {
}
```
For the following code snippets, identify whether the code:
- fails to compile,
- compiles with a warning,
- generates an error at runtime, or
- none of the above (compiles and runs without problem.)
1. Question:
```
AnimalHouse<Animal> house = new AnimalHouse<Cat>();
```
  Answer: Fails to compile. AnimalHouse<Cat> and AnimalHouse<Animal> are not compatible types, even though Cat is a subtype of Animal.
2. Question:
```
AnimalHouse<Cat> house = new AnimalHouse<Animal>();
```
  Answer: Fails to compile. Same as 1a: AnimalHouse<Cat> and AnimalHouse<Animal> are not compatible types, even though Cat is a subtype of Animal.
3. Question:
```
AnimalHouse<?> house = new AnimalHouse<Cat>();
house.setAnimal(new Cat());
```
  Answer: Fails to compile. While the first line is acceptable — it is OK to define an instance of unknown type — the compiler doesn't know the type of animal stored in house so the setAnimal method cannot be used.
4. Question:
```
AnimalHouse house = new AnimalHouse();
             house.setAnimal(new Dog());
```
  Answer: Compiles with a warning. The compiler doesn't know what type house contains. It will accept the code, but warn that there might be a problem when setting the animal to an instance of Dog.
  
  Using a generic type as a raw type might be a way to work around a particular compiler error, but you lose the type checking that generics provides, so it is not recommended.

Exercises

Exercise: Design a class that acts as a library for the following kinds of media: book, video, and newspaper. Provide one version of the class that uses generics and one that does not. Feel free to use any additional APIs for storing and retrieving the media.

Answer:

Non-Generic Version

import java.util.List;
import java.util.ArrayList;

public class Library {
    private List resources = new ArrayList();
    public void addMedia(Media x) {
        resources.add(x);
    }
    public Media retrieveLast() {
        int size = resources.size();
        if (size > 0) {
            return (Media)resources.get(size - 1);
        }
        return null;
    }
}

interface Media {
}

interface Book extends Media {
}

interface Video extends Media {
}

interface Newspaper extends Media {
}

Generic Version

import java.util.List;
import java.util.ArrayList;

public class Library<E extends Media> {
    private List<E> resources = new ArrayList<E>();
    public void addMedia(E x) {
        resources.add(x);
    }
    public E retrieveLast() {
        int size = resources.size();
        if (size > 0) {
            return resources.get(size - 1);
        }
        return null;
    }
}