How to get a class instance of generics type T

Question

I have a generics class, Foo<T>. In a method of Foo, I want to get the class instance of type T, but I just can't call T.class.

What is the preferred way to get around it using T.class?

Answer 1

I found a generic and simple way to do that. In my class I created a method that returns the generic type according to it's position in the class definition. Let's assume a class definition like this:

public class MyClass<A, B, C> {

}

Now let's create some attributes to persist the types:

public class MyClass<A, B, C> {

    private Class<A> aType;

    private Class<B> bType;

    private Class<C> cType;

// Getters and setters (not necessary if you are going to use them internally)

    } 

Then you can create a generic method that returns the type based on the index of the generic definition:

   /**
     * Returns a {@link Type} object to identify generic types
     * @return type
     */
    private Type getGenericClassType(int index) {
        // To make it use generics without supplying the class type
        Type type = getClass().getGenericSuperclass();

        while (!(type instanceof ParameterizedType)) {
            if (type instanceof ParameterizedType) {
                type = ((Class<?>) ((ParameterizedType) type).getRawType()).getGenericSuperclass();
            } else {
                type = ((Class<?>) type).getGenericSuperclass();
            }
        }

        return ((ParameterizedType) type).getActualTypeArguments()[index];
    }

Finally, in the constructor just call the method and send the index for each type. The complete code should look like:

public class MyClass<A, B, C> {

    private Class<A> aType;

    private Class<B> bType;

    private Class<C> cType;


    public MyClass() {
      this.aType = (Class<A>) getGenericClassType(0);
      this.bType = (Class<B>) getGenericClassType(1);
      this.cType = (Class<C>) getGenericClassType(2);
    }

   /**
     * Returns a {@link Type} object to identify generic types
     * @return type
     */
    private Type getGenericClassType(int index) {

        Type type = getClass().getGenericSuperclass();

        while (!(type instanceof ParameterizedType)) {
            if (type instanceof ParameterizedType) {
                type = ((Class<?>) ((ParameterizedType) type).getRawType()).getGenericSuperclass();
            } else {
                type = ((Class<?>) type).getGenericSuperclass();
            }
        }

        return ((ParameterizedType) type).getActualTypeArguments()[index];
    }
}

Answer 2

If you are extending or implementing any class/interface that are using generics , you may get the Generic Type of parent class/interface, without modifying any existing class/interface at all.

There could be three possibilities,

Case 1 When your class is extending a class that is using Generics

public class TestGenerics {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Type type = TestMySuperGenericType.class.getGenericSuperclass();
        Type[] gTypes = ((ParameterizedType)type).getActualTypeArguments();
        for(Type gType : gTypes){
            System.out.println("Generic type:"+gType.toString());
        }
    }
}

class GenericClass<T> {
    public void print(T obj){};
}

class TestMySuperGenericType extends GenericClass<Integer> {
}

Case 2 When your class is implementing an interface that is using Generics

public class TestGenerics {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Type[] interfaces = TestMySuperGenericType.class.getGenericInterfaces();
        for(Type type : interfaces){
            Type[] gTypes = ((ParameterizedType)type).getActualTypeArguments();
            for(Type gType : gTypes){
                System.out.println("Generic type:"+gType.toString());
            }
        }
    }
}

interface GenericClass<T> {
    public void print(T obj);
}

class TestMySuperGenericType implements GenericClass<Integer> {
    public void print(Integer obj){}
}

Case 3 When your interface is extending an interface that is using Generics

public class TestGenerics {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Type[] interfaces = TestMySuperGenericType.class.getGenericInterfaces();
        for(Type type : interfaces){
            Type[] gTypes = ((ParameterizedType)type).getActualTypeArguments();
            for(Type gType : gTypes){
                System.out.println("Generic type:"+gType.toString());
            }
        }
    }
}

interface GenericClass<T> {
    public void print(T obj);
}

interface TestMySuperGenericType extends GenericClass<Integer> {
}

Answer 3

You can't do it because of type erasure. See also Stack Overflow question Java generics - type erasure - when and what happens.

Answer 4

A better route than the Class the others suggested is to pass in an object that can do what you would have done with the Class, e.g., create a new instance.

interface Factory<T> {
  T apply();
}

<T> void List<T> make10(Factory<T> factory) {
  List<T> result = new ArrayList<T>();
  for (int a = 0; a < 10; a++)
    result.add(factory.apply());
  return result;
}

class FooFactory<T> implements Factory<Foo<T>> {
  public Foo<T> apply() {
    return new Foo<T>();
  }
}

List<Foo<Integer>> foos = make10(new FooFactory<Integer>());

Answer 5

A standard approach/workaround/solution is to add a class object to the constructor(s), like:

 public class Foo<T> {

    private Class<T> type;
    public Foo(Class<T> type) {
      this.type = type;
    }

    public Class<T> getType() {
      return type;
    }

    public T newInstance() {
      return type.newInstance();
    }
 }

Answer 6

As explained in other answers, to use this ParameterizedType approach, you need to extend the class, but that seems like extra work to make a whole new class that extends it...

So, making the class abstract it forces you to extend it, thus satisfying the subclassing requirement. (using lombok's @Getter).

@Getter
public abstract class ConfigurationDefinition<T> {

    private Class<T> type;
    ...

    public ConfigurationDefinition(...) {
        this.type = (Class<T>) ((ParameterizedType) this.getClass().getGenericSuperclass()).getActualTypeArguments()[0];
        ...
    }
}

Now to extend it without defining a new class. (Note the {} on the end... extended, but don't overwrite anything - unless you want to).

private ConfigurationDefinition<String> myConfigA = new ConfigurationDefinition<String>(...){};
private ConfigurationDefinition<File> myConfigB = new ConfigurationDefinition<File>(...){};
...
Class stringType = myConfigA.getType();
Class fileType = myConfigB.getType();