Generics in JAVA

Generics in JAVA 

Introduction to Generics in Java:

    Java Generics is a feature that allows developers to create classes, interfaces, and methods that operate on different data types. Generics enable type parameterization for classes, interfaces, and methods, which means that they can work with any data type. Generics was added to Java 5 to provide better type safety and make code more readable and reusable.

    Generics in Java can be used to create a collection that can store different types of objects. Generics can also be used to create methods that accept different types of objects as arguments and return different types of objects as results. Java Generics provide compile-time type checking, which means that errors can be detected at compile time instead of runtime.

Syntax of Java Generics:

The syntax for declaring a generic class in Java is as follows:

class className<T> { 

   // code

}

Here, `T` is the type parameter, which can be replaced with any valid Java data type.

Example program using Generics in Java:

Let's take an example of a simple Java program that demonstrates the use of generics in Java:

public class GenericsExample {

   public static void main(String[] args) {

      // create a list of integers

      List<Integer> list = new ArrayList<Integer>();

      // add elements to the list

      list.add(10);

      list.add(20);

      list.add(30);

      // print the list

      System.out.println("List of Integers: " + list);

      // create a list of strings

      List<String> strList = new ArrayList<String>();

      // add elements to the list

      strList.add("Hello");

      strList.add("World");

      strList.add("Java");

      // print the list

      System.out.println("List of Strings: " + strList);

   }

}

    In this example program, we have created two lists, one for integers and one for strings. We have used the `<Integer>` and `<String>` to specify the type of elements that can be added to the list.

Conclusion:

    Java Generics is a powerful feature that provides type safety and makes code more readable and reusable. Generics can be used to create classes, interfaces, and methods that work with different types of data. Java Generics provide compile-time type checking, which means that errors can be detected at compile time instead of runtime. Generics also enable type parameterization for classes, interfaces, and methods, which means that they can work with any data type. By using Java Generics, developers can write more efficient, readable, and maintainable code.