How to parametrize Comparable interface?

Question

I have a main class -- Simulator -- that uses two other classes -- Producer and Evaluator. Producer produces results, while the Evaluator evaluates those results. The Simulator controls the flow of execution by querying the Producer and then conveying the results to the Evaluator.

The actual implementation of the Producer and Evaluator are known at run-time, at compile time I only know their interfaces. Below I paste the contents of interfaces, example implementations and the Simulator class.

Old code

package com.test;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Map.Entry;

/**
 * Producers produce results. I do not care what is their type, but the values
 * in the map have to be comparable amongst themselves.
 */
interface IProducer {
    public Map<Integer, Comparable> getResults();
}

/**
 * This implementation ranks items in the map by using Strings.
 */
class ProducerA implements IProducer {
    @Override
    public Map<Integer, Comparable> getResults() {
        Map<Integer, Comparable> result = new HashMap<Integer, Comparable>();
        result.put(1, "A");
        result.put(2, "B");
        result.put(3, "B");
        return result;
    }
}

/**
 * This implementation ranks items in the map by using integers.
 */
class ProducerB implements IProducer {
    @Override
    public Map<Integer, Comparable> getResults() {
        Map<Integer, Comparable> result = new HashMap<Integer, Comparable>();
        result.put(1, 10);
        result.put(2, 30);
        result.put(3, 30);

        return result;
    }
}

/**
 * Evaluator evaluates the results against the given groundTruth. All it needs
 * to know about results, is that they are comparable amongst themselves.
 */
interface IEvaluator {
    public double evaluate(Map<Integer, Comparable> results,
            Map<Integer, Double> groundTruth);
}

/**
 * This is example of an evaluator (a metric) -- Kendall's Tau B.
 */
class KendallTauB implements IEvaluator {
    @Override
    public double evaluate(Map<Integer, Comparable> results,
            Map<Integer, Double> groundTruth) {

        int concordant = 0, discordant = 0, tiedRanks = 0, tiedCapabilities = 0;

        for (Entry<Integer, Comparable> rank1 : results.entrySet()) {
            for (Entry<Integer, Comparable> rank2 : results.entrySet()) {
                if (rank1.getKey() < rank2.getKey()) {
                    final Comparable r1 = rank1.getValue();
                    final Comparable r2 = rank2.getValue();
                    final Double c1 = groundTruth.get(rank1.getKey());
                    final Double c2 = groundTruth.get(rank2.getKey());

                    final int rankDiff = r1.compareTo(r2);
                    final int capDiff = c1.compareTo(c2);

                    if (rankDiff * capDiff > 0) {
                        concordant++;
                    } else if (rankDiff * capDiff < 0) {
                        discordant++;
                    } else {
                        if (rankDiff == 0)
                            tiedRanks++;

                        if (capDiff == 0)
                            tiedCapabilities++;
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        final double n = results.size() * (results.size() - 1d) / 2d;

        return (concordant - discordant)
                / Math.sqrt((n - tiedRanks) * (n - tiedCapabilities));
    }
}

/**
 * The simulator class that queries the producer and them conveys results to the
 * evaluator.
 */
public class Simulator {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Map<Integer, Double> groundTruth = new HashMap<Integer, Double>();
        groundTruth.put(1, 1d);
        groundTruth.put(2, 2d);
        groundTruth.put(3, 3d);

        List<IProducer> producerImplementations = lookUpProducers();
        List<IEvaluator> evaluatorImplementations = lookUpEvaluators();

        IProducer producer = producerImplementations.get(1); // pick a producer
        IEvaluator evaluator = evaluatorImplementations.get(0); // pick an evaluator
        // Notice that this class should NOT know what actually comes from
        // producers (besides that is comparable)
        Map<Integer, Comparable> results = producer.getResults();
        double score = evaluator.evaluate(results, groundTruth);

        System.out.printf("Score is %.2f\n", score);
    }

    // Methods below are for demonstration purposes only. I'm actually using
    // ServiceLoader.load(Clazz) to dynamically discover and load classes that
    // implement these interfaces

    public static List<IProducer> lookUpProducers() {
        List<IProducer> producers = new ArrayList<IProducer>();
        producers.add(new ProducerA());
        producers.add(new ProducerB());

        return producers;
    }

    public static List<IEvaluator> lookUpEvaluators() {
        List<IEvaluator> evaluators = new ArrayList<IEvaluator>();
        evaluators.add(new KendallTauB());

        return evaluators;
    }
}

This code should compile and run. You should get the same result (0.82) regardless which producer implementation you select.

Compiler warns me about not using generics in several places:

• In Simulator class, in interfaces IEvaluator and IProducer, and in classes that implement the IProducer interface, I get the following warning, whenever I reference the Comparable interface: Comparable is a raw type. References to generic type Comparable should be parameterized
• In classes that implement IEvaluator I get the following warning (when calling compareTo() on the values of Map): Type safety: The method compareTo(Object) belongs to the raw type Comparable. References to generic type Comparable should be parameterized

All that said, the Simulator works. Now, I'd like to get rid of compile warnings. The problem is, that I have no idea, how to parametrize the interfaces IEvaluator and IProducer, and how to change the implementations of IProducer and IEvaluator.

I have some limitations:

• I cannot know the type of values in the Map that the producer will return. But I know, that they will all be of the same type and that they will implement the Comparable interface.
• Similarly, the IEvaluator instance does not need to know anything about results that is evaluating, except that they are of the same type and that they are comparable (IEvaluator implemetations need to be able to call the compareTo() method.).
• I have to to keep the Simulator class out of this "Comparable" dilemma -- it does not need to know anything about those types (besides being of the same type, which is also comparable). Its job is to simply convey results from Producer to Evaluator.

Any ideas?

Edited and revised version

Using some ideas from answers below, I got to this stage, which compiles and runs without warnings and with no need to use SuppressWarnings directive. This is very similar to what Eero suggested, but the main method is a bit different.

package com.test;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Map.Entry;

/**
 * Producers produce results. I do not care what is their type, but the values
 * in the map have to be comparable amongst themselves.
 */
interface IProducer<T extends Comparable<T>> {
    public Map<Integer, T> getResults();
}

/**
 * This implementation ranks items in the map by using Strings.
 */
class ProducerA implements IProducer<String> {
    @Override
    public Map<Integer, String> getResults() {
        Map<Integer, String> result = new HashMap<Integer, String>();
        result.put(1, "A");
        result.put(2, "B");
        result.put(3, "B");

        return result;
    }
}

/**
 * This implementation ranks items in the map by using integers.
 */
class ProducerB implements IProducer<Integer> {
    @Override
    public Map<Integer, Integer> getResults() {
        Map<Integer, Integer> result = new HashMap<Integer, Integer>();
        result.put(1, 10);
        result.put(2, 30);
        result.put(3, 30);

        return result;
    }
}

/**
 * Evaluator evaluates the results against the given groundTruth. All it needs
 * to know about results, is that they are comparable amongst themselves.
 */
interface IEvaluator {
    public <T extends Comparable<T>> double evaluate(Map<Integer, T> results,
            Map<Integer, Double> groundTruth);
}

/**
 * This is example of an evaluator (a metric) -- Kendall's Tau B.
 */
class KendallTauB implements IEvaluator {
    @Override
    public <T extends Comparable<T>> double evaluate(Map<Integer, T> results,
            Map<Integer, Double> groundTruth) {
        int concordant = 0, discordant = 0, tiedRanks = 0, tiedCapabilities = 0;

        for (Entry<Integer, T> rank1 : results.entrySet()) {
            for (Entry<Integer, T> rank2 : results.entrySet()) {
                if (rank1.getKey() < rank2.getKey()) {
                    final T r1 = rank1.getValue();
                    final T r2 = rank2.getValue();
                    final Double c1 = groundTruth.get(rank1.getKey());
                    final Double c2 = groundTruth.get(rank2.getKey());

                    final int rankDiff = r1.compareTo(r2);
                    final int capDiff = c1.compareTo(c2);

                    if (rankDiff * capDiff > 0) {
                        concordant++;
                    } else if (rankDiff * capDiff < 0) {
                        discordant++;
                    } else {
                        if (rankDiff == 0)
                            tiedRanks++;

                        if (capDiff == 0)
                            tiedCapabilities++;
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        final double n = results.size() * (results.size() - 1d) / 2d;

        return (concordant - discordant)
                / Math.sqrt((n - tiedRanks) * (n - tiedCapabilities));
    }
}

/**
 * The simulator class that queries the producer and them conveys results to the
 * evaluator.
 */
public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Map<Integer, Double> groundTruth = new HashMap<Integer, Double>();
        groundTruth.put(1, 1d);
        groundTruth.put(2, 2d);
        groundTruth.put(3, 3d);

        List<IProducer<?>> producerImplementations = lookUpProducers();
        List<IEvaluator> evaluatorImplementations = lookUpEvaluators();

        IProducer<?> producer = producerImplementations.get(0);
        IEvaluator evaluator = evaluatorImplementations.get(0);

        // Notice that this class should NOT know what actually comes from
        // producers (besides that is comparable)
        double score = evaluator.evaluate(producer.getResults(), groundTruth);

        System.out.printf("Score is %.2f\n", score);
    }

    // Methods below are for demonstration purposes only. I'm actually using
    // ServiceLoader.load(Clazz) to dynamically discover and load classes that
    // implement these interfaces
    public static List<IProducer<?>> lookUpProducers() {
        List<IProducer<?>> producers = new ArrayList<IProducer<?>>();
        producers.add(new ProducerA());
        producers.add(new ProducerB());

        return producers;
    }

    public static List<IEvaluator> lookUpEvaluators() {
        List<IEvaluator> evaluators = new ArrayList<IEvaluator>();
        evaluators.add(new KendallTauB());

        return evaluators;
    }
}

The key difference seems to be in the main method, which currently looks like this.

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Map<Integer, Double> groundTruth = new HashMap<Integer, Double>();
        groundTruth.put(1, 1d);
        groundTruth.put(2, 2d);
        groundTruth.put(3, 3d);

        List<IProducer<?>> producerImplementations = lookUpProducers();
        List<IEvaluator> evaluatorImplementations = lookUpEvaluators();

        IProducer<?> producer = producerImplementations.get(0);
        IEvaluator evaluator = evaluatorImplementations.get(0);

        // Notice that this class should NOT know what actually comes from
        // producers (besides that is comparable)
        double score = evaluator.evaluate(producer.getResults(), groundTruth);

        System.out.printf("Score is %.2f\n", score);
    }

This works. However, If I change the code to this:

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Map<Integer, Double> groundTruth = new HashMap<Integer, Double>();
        groundTruth.put(1, 1d);
        groundTruth.put(2, 2d);
        groundTruth.put(3, 3d);

        List<IProducer<?>> producerImplementations = lookUpProducers();
        List<IEvaluator> evaluatorImplementations = lookUpEvaluators();

        IProducer<?> producer = producerImplementations.get(0);
        IEvaluator evaluator = evaluatorImplementations.get(0);

        // Notice that this class should NOT know what actually comes from
        // producers (besides that is comparable)

        // Lines below changed
        Map<Integer, ? extends Comparable<?>> ranks = producer.getResults();            
        double score = evaluator.evaluate(ranks, groundTruth);

        System.out.printf("Score is %.2f\n", score);
}

The darn thing won't even compile, saying: Bound mismatch: The generic method evaluate(Map, Map) of type IEvaluator is not applicable for the arguments (Map>, Map). The inferred type capture#3-of ? extends Comparable is not a valid substitute for the bounded parameter >

This is totally weird to me. The code works if I invoke the evaluator.evaluate(producer.getResults(), groundTruth). However, if I first call producer.getResults() method, and store it to a variable, and then invoke the evaluate method with that variable (evaluator.evaluate(ranks, groundTruth)), I get the compile error (regardless of that variable's type).

Answer 1

Are the warnings simply asking you to do something like this?

public interface IProducer<T extends Comparable<? super T>> {
    public Map<Integer, T> getResults();
}

Whenever I implement Comparable (or extend Comparator) I always do something like this:

public class Dog implements Comparable<Dog> {

    private String breed;

    public String getBreed() {
        return breed;
    }

    public void setBreed(String s) {
        breed = s;
    }

    public int compareTo(Dog d) {
        return breed.compareTo(d.getBreed());
    }

}

Note that there's no need to use an object in compareTo when Comparable is parameterized.

Answer 2

I've posted my answer below. Some notes:

• The Producers obviously know their own type
• The Evaluator doesn't know what it's dealing with until the method is called
• The producerImplementations contains several different types, so you end up with one cast when you actually pick one of them.

Code below:

package com.test;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Map.Entry;

/**
 * Producers produce results. I do not care what their actual type is, but the
 * values in the map have to be comparable amongst themselves.
 */
interface IProducer<T extends Comparable<T>> {
    public Map<Integer, T> getResults();
}

/**
 * This example implementation ranks items in the map by using Strings.
 */
class ProducerA implements IProducer<String> {
    @Override
    public Map<Integer, String> getResults() {
        Map<Integer, String> result = new HashMap<Integer, String>();
        result.put(1, "A");
        result.put(2, "B");
        result.put(3, "B");

        return result;
    }
}

/**
 * This example implementation ranks items in the map by using integers.
 */
class ProducerB implements IProducer<Integer> {
    @Override
    public Map<Integer, Integer> getResults() {
        Map<Integer, Integer> result = new HashMap<Integer, Integer>();
        result.put(1, 10);
        result.put(2, 30);
        result.put(3, 30);

        return result;
    }
}

/**
 * Evaluator evaluates the results against the given groundTruth. All it needs
 * to know about results, is that they are comparable amongst themselves.
 */
interface IEvaluator {
    public <T extends Comparable<T>> double evaluate(Map<Integer, T> results,
            Map<Integer, Double> groundTruth);
}

/**
 * This is example of an evaluator, metric Kendall Tau-B. Don't bother with
 * semantics, all that matters is that I want to be able to call
 * r1.compareTo(r2) for every (r1, r2) that appear in Map<Integer, T> results.
 */
class KendallTauB implements IEvaluator {
    @Override
    public <T extends Comparable<T>> double evaluate(Map<Integer, T> results,
            Map<Integer, Double> groundTruth) {
        int concordant = 0, discordant = 0, tiedRanks = 0, tiedCapabilities = 0;

        for (Entry<Integer, T> rank1 : results.entrySet()) {
            for (Entry<Integer, T> rank2 : results.entrySet()) {
                if (rank1.getKey() < rank2.getKey()) {
                    final T r1 = rank1.getValue();
                    final T r2 = rank2.getValue();
                    final Double c1 = groundTruth.get(rank1.getKey());
                    final Double c2 = groundTruth.get(rank2.getKey());

                    final int ranksDiff = r1.compareTo(r2);
                    final int actualDiff = c1.compareTo(c2);

                    if (ranksDiff * actualDiff > 0) {
                        concordant++;
                    } else if (ranksDiff * actualDiff < 0) {
                        discordant++;
                    } else {
                        if (ranksDiff == 0)
                            tiedRanks++;

                        if (actualDiff == 0)
                            tiedCapabilities++;
                    }
                }
            }
        }

        final double n = results.size() * (results.size() - 1d) / 2d;

        return (concordant - discordant)
                / Math.sqrt((n - tiedRanks) * (n - tiedCapabilities));
    }
}

/**
 * The simulator class that queries the producer and them conveys results to the
 * evaluator.
 */
public class Simulator {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // example of a ground truth
        Map<Integer, Double> groundTruth = new HashMap<Integer, Double>();
        groundTruth.put(1, 1d);
        groundTruth.put(2, 2d);
        groundTruth.put(3, 3d);

        // dynamically load producers
        List<IProducer<?>> producerImplementations = lookUpProducers();

        // dynamically load evaluators
        List<IEvaluator> evaluatorImplementations = lookUpEvaluators();

        // pick a producer
        IProducer<?> producer = producerImplementations.get(0);

        // pick an evaluator
        IEvaluator evaluator = evaluatorImplementations.get(0);

        // evaluate the result against the ground truth
        double score = evaluator.evaluate(producer.getResults(), groundTruth);

        System.out.printf("Score is %.2f\n", score);
    }

    // Methods below are for demonstration purposes only. I'm actually using
    // ServiceLoader.load(Clazz) to dynamically discover and load classes that
    // implement interfaces IProducer and IEvaluator
    public static List<IProducer<?>> lookUpProducers() {
        List<IProducer<?>> producers = new ArrayList<IProducer<?>>();
        producers.add(new ProducerA());
        producers.add(new ProducerB());

        return producers;
    }

    public static List<IEvaluator> lookUpEvaluators() {
        List<IEvaluator> evaluators = new ArrayList<IEvaluator>();
        evaluators.add(new KendallTauB());

        return evaluators;
    }
}

Answer 3

You need to specify what kinds of things the object is willing to compare itself to. Something like:

import java.util.Map;
import java.util.HashMap;

interface IProducer<T extends Comparable<? super T>> {
    public Map<Integer, T> getResults();
}

interface IEvaluator {
    public <T extends Comparable<? super T>> double evaluate(Map<Integer, T> results,
                                                             Map<Integer, Double> groundTruth);
}

public class Main {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    IProducer<String> producer = null;
    IEvaluator evaluator = null;
    Map<Integer, String> results = producer.getResults();
    double score = evaluator.evaluate(results, new HashMap<Integer, Double>());
  }
}