What are best practices for working with generics overview?

Working with generics in Java is essential for building robust, type-safe programs. Generics allow you to define classes, interfaces, and methods with a placeholder for the type of data they operate on. This leads to greater code reusability and helps catch errors at compile time rather than at runtime.

Best Practices for Using Generics

  • Use Bounded Type Parameters: When defining generic types, it's often beneficial to limit the types that can be used as type arguments. You can do this using bounded type parameters.
  • Favor Interfaces over Implementation: When possible, program to interfaces rather than concrete implementations to maximize flexibility.
  • Use Wildcards Wisely: Wildcards can make generics more flexible in method parameters. Use extends T> for reading and super T> for writing.
  • Keep A Single Responsibility: A generic class should have a single responsibility. It can help prevent confusion regarding what type of data it should handle.
  • Avoid Raw Types: Always prefer parameterized types over their raw counterparts to prevent runtime ClassCastException.

Example of Generics in Java

<?php class Box<T> { private T item; public void setItem(T item) { this.item = item; } public T getItem() { return item; } } public class GenericDemo { public static void main(String[] args) { Box<String> stringBox = new Box<>(); stringBox.setItem("Hello World"); System.out.println(stringBox.getItem()); } } ?>

generics java generics best practices in java type safety bounded type parameters wildcards in java