Generics

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 Recap

● String - an object that represents a number of character values

● StringBuffer - It is used to create modifiable strings.
● String pool - It is the special area in the heap memory to store string objects.

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 Quiz
Q1.What will be the output of below statements?
String s1= “abc”;
String s2=”def”;
System.out.println(s1.compareTo(s2));

A 0

B true

C -3

D false

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 Quiz
Q1.What will be the output of below statements?
String s1= “abc”;
String s2=”def”;
System.out.println(s1.compareTo(s2));

A 0

B true

C -3

D false

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 Quiz

Q2.Which of the following classes, you can create objects without using new
operator?

A StringBuilder

B String

C StringBuffer

D Object

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 Quiz

Q2.which of the following classes, you can create objects without using new
operator?

A StringBuilder

B String

C StringBuffer

D Object

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 Learning Objective

● Explore generics syntax in Java and review examples.

● Grasp the concept of generic classes for type-safe and reusable code.
● Understand the necessity of generics to address type safety and code flexibility.
● Learn about generic methods and their role in writing flexible code.
● Master the rules for declaring generic methods in Java.
● Understand unbounded wildcards for handling unknown types.
● Navigate the use of bounded wildcards to restrict types for precision.
● Grasp the application of lower-bounded wildcards for accepting specific types.
● Apply generics in practical scenarios to enhance code quality and adaptability.

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 Hook

Can we reuse the same class to send message of type Employee

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 Generics with syntax and example

● Generics is a mechanism by which a single piece of code can manipulate many

different data types without explicitly having a separate entity for each data type.
● The Java Generics allows us to create a single class, interface, and method that can
be used with different types of data (objects).
● Generics are used to check the type compatibility at the compile time and hence
removing the chances of occuring ClassCastException at run time.
● Generics, as the name suggests, is a general way of defining methods, definitions,
and collections so that they are not dependent on the data type supplied to them.

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 ● Generics allows programmer to create parameterized types Instances of such types
can be created by passing reference types.

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 ● They can function the same no matter what data type they use.
● Collections such as ArrayLists use generics extensively.
● Generics are generally declared in the “<>” brackets.

Syntax:

class Class_Name<T1, T2, T3 ... Tn>

{
//Generic Type or Parameterized type
}
Where T1, T2, T3 … Tn (T stands for Type) enclosed within angle brackets (<>) are called
type parameters and class ‘Class_Name‘ is called generic type or parameterized type.

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 Generic Class

● A class that is declared generic type is called generic class in Java. It is type-safe and
can act upon any data type.
● A generic class is also called “parameterized types” because it uses a parameter that
determines which data type it should work upon.
● Java Generic class is designed to work upon objects. Hence, it cannot work with
primitive data types.
● Generic class works on any kind of data type, we cannot specify a specific data type
such as Integer, String, etc.
class Myclass<T>
{
// class code
}

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 Example

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 Hands on Coding

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 Need of Generics

● Errors are integral part of coding. Some errors occur at compile time and some errors
occur at run time.
● Errors which occur at compile time can be easily identified and can be removed. But,
run time errors occur when an application is running in real time. If they happen, they
cause abrupt termination of an application.
● ClassCastException is also such an exception which happens only at run time.
● It occurs when data of one type cannot be casted to another type.
● You will never get a single clue about this exception during compilation.

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 Activity

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 Generic Method

● A method that takes generic type parameters is called generic method in Java.
● A generic type can be applied for the static method. We can define a generic method
by putting generic type parameter <T> before the method return type and immediately
after the keyword static.
● The general syntax to declare a generic method in Java is as follows:
public static <T> void display(T[ ] list)
{
// method code;
}

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 Rules to declare Generic Methods in Java

● You should explicitly specify type parameters before the actual name of the return
type of the method. The type parameter is delimited by angle brackets.

Example: <T>

● You should also include the type parameters in the declaration of the program and
separate them with commas.
● A type parameter specifies a generic type name in the method.
● All the type parameters are only useful when they have to declare reference types.
Remember that the type parameters cannot denote primitive data types such as
int, float, String etc.

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 Hands on Coding

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 Unbounded Wildcards
● An unbounded wildcard is represented by <?>. It means the data type is unknown.
● For instance, consider a method that prints the contents of a list:

public void printList(List<?> list)

{
for (Object item : list)
{
System.out.println(item);
}

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 Bounded Wildcards
● There are instances where you might want to restrict the types that a method accepts.
This is where bounded wildcards come into play.
● Upper Bounded Wildcards use the extends keyword.
● For example, a method processing numbers might only want to accept lists of Number
or its subclasses.
public void processNumbers(List<? extends Number> numbers)
{
// Process the list here
}

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 Lower Bound

● Lower Bounded Wildcards use the super keyword.

● They restrict the unknown type to be a particular type or a superclass of that type.

public void addIntegers(List<? super Integer> list)

{
list.add(new Integer(50)); // Adds the integer to the list
}

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 Hands on Coding

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 Uses of Generics

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 Hands on Coding

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 Quiz

Q1.What is the main purpose of using generics in Java?

A To improve runtime performance

B To enforce type safety

To reduce code readability

C

D To eliminate the need for comments

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 Quiz

Q1.What is the main purpose of using generics in Java?

A To improve runtime performance

B To enforce type safety

To reduce code readability

C

D To eliminate the need for comments

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 Quiz

Q2. Which wildcard is used to represent an unknown type in generics?

A Unbounded Wildcard (?)

B Upper Bounded Wildcard (? extends T)

C Lower Bounded Wildcard (? super T)

D Generic Wildcard (*)

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 Quiz

Q2. Which wildcard is used to represent an unknown type in generics?

A Unbounded Wildcard (?)

B Upper Bounded Wildcard (? extends T)

C Lower Bounded Wildcard (? super T)

D Generic Wildcard (*)

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 Summary

● Generics - single piece of code can manipulate many different data types without
explicitly having a separate entity for each data type.
● Generics - It is declared in the “<>” brackets
● Generic class - It is designed to work upon objects. Hence, it cannot work with primitive
data types.
● Generic Method- A method that takes generic type parameters.
● Unbounded WildCard-An unbounded wildcard is represented by <?>.
● Lower Wildcard - It use the super keyword.

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 Assignment Question

Generic Inventory System

Objective:

Create a generic inventory system that can manage different types of products using
Java generics.

Requirements:

Product Class:

Create a Product class with attributes like id (String), name (String), and price
(double).
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 Inventory Class:

● Implement a generic Inventory class that can manage various types of products.
● The inventory should use a data structure to store products (e.g., ArrayList).

Add and Remove Products:

Implement methods to add and remove products from the inventory.

Display Inventory:

Create a method to display the current inventory, including product details.

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 Generic Methods:

Use generic methods to handle different types of products in the inventory.

Test the System:

● Create a test program to demonstrate the functionality of the generic inventory system.
● Add products of different types (e.g., electronics, clothing) and display the inventory.

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 Let’s Reflect -

1. What is your major learning from today’s session?

2. How are you going to use this learning in your journey on the job?

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