Comments on: Q: What Sucks More Than Java Generics?

By: Peter Lawrey

Peter Lawrey — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:19:20 +0000

I’m a fan of Generic but there are some things about them I find dumb.

e.g.
Class clazz = Class.class; // compiles ok.
Class clazz = Class.class.getClass(); // requires a cast and gets a warning.

Map map;
for(Entry entry: map.entrySet()) // compiles ok.

Map map;
for(Entry entry: map.entrySet()) // requires a cast.

Set set = new HashSet(); // ok.
Set setOfSet = new HashSet>(); // requires type erasure.

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:13:07 +0000

Hi Taylor,

I think it is also just human nature to take for granted what you’ve got and complain about what you haven’t got. Complaints about the weak points of generics are fine: they are far from perfect. What I don’t like is when the addition of generics to the language is painted as an abject failure. The reality is the current implementation solves a lot of common problems from the pre-5 days, i.e. a step in the right direction.

By: Taylor

Taylor — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:49:23 +0000

True, I’m afraid the arguments always focus on the library developer, rather than the api consumer. As a consumer, generics are great, you know what you’re getting, less type casting, etc.