jdk 1.5 generics and return types

[Ian]

Hi,

I've got a question related to typing when using the new generics.

In the following, is there any way to specify the type of collection if
its known by the caller? Lets say the type of the objects to be return
is "Action".

static Collection getInstances(Collection<String> classNames,
Object ... args)
{
Collection instances = new ArrayList();
for (String className : classNames)
{
Object obj = getInstance(className, args);
instances.add(obj);
}
return instances;
}

 

[E.Otter]

Sure.... You have to remember that Collection is an interface so you have
to create an object of a class that implements the Collection interface in
some way. For example, create an ArrayList<Action> and then return the
reference to that.

static Collection<Action> getInstances(Collection<String> classNames, Object
.... args) {

ArrayList<Action> returnVals = new ArrayList<Action>();

... code that stores stuff in "returnVals" ...

return returnVals;
}

E.Otter