Testing the main method of a generic class from another class

Question

Someone wrote a generic class that I wish to test. It looks something like:

public class < E > foo{  
     public static void main(String[] args){
         do_stuff();
     }
}

I have another class which tries to test the above function's main method as follows:

public class Test{
   public static void main(String[] args){
        foo<Integer>.main({"hello"});
   }
}

Why doesn't this work? What is the correct way to do this? Note: It is possible the problem is with their code and not with mine, but I can't confirm this.

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 08 '17 at 07:00

First off, the class with the generic type will not compile, as you have to define the type after the name: public class foo<E> (watch your conventions!).

Next, you can use the following to call its method with a specific generic type, however the type is unused in this case:

public class Test {
    public static void main(String[] args){
         foo.<Integer>main(new String[] {"hello"});
    }
}

Your compiler will most likely warn you against doing this though!

Testing the main method of a generic class from another class

1 Answers1