Getting the class of a generic type in Java

Question

Possible Duplicate:
How to determine the class of a generic type?

I have a method such as:

public <T> List<T> bar() {
    return new Baz<T.class>().toList();
}

T.class creates a compiler error. Is there some way to do this in Java, or is it impossible because of type erasure?

You can do this just fine: `return new Baz().toList()`. There's no need for the method to know exactly what type `T` is at runtime in this case. — ColinD, Jun 12 '11 at 22:24

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 12 '11 at 21:22

0

Type erasure prevents it. The best you can do is:

public <T> List<T> bar(Class<T> clazz) {
    // do something useful with the Class object
}

answered Jun 12 '11 at 21:22

Ted Hopp

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:26

0

According to my limited knowledge this is undoable due to type erasure. However, some nice workarounds are given in this thread.

I would, however, see the non-workaround solution.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:26

Community

answered Jun 12 '11 at 21:22

Miki

2 Answers2