Instantiating a generic class in Java

Question

I know Java's generics are somewhat inferior to .Net's.

I have a generic class Foo<T>, and I really need to instantiate a T in Foo using a parameter-less constructor. How can one work around Java's limitation?

Answer 1

I really need to instantiate a T in Foo using a parameter-less constructor

Simple answer is "you cant do that" java uses type erasure to implment generics which would prevent you from doing this.

How can one work around Java's limitation?

One way (there could be others) is to pass the object that you would pass the instance of T to the constructor of Foo<T>. Or you could have a method setBar(T theInstanceofT); to get your T instead of instantiating in the class it self.

Answer 2

One option is to pass in T.class as well, and keep that:

public class Test
{   
    public static void main(String [] args)
        throws Exception // Just for simplicity!
    {
        Generic<Foo> x = new Generic<Foo>(Foo.class);
        Foo y = x.buildOne();
    }
}

public class Generic<T>
{
    private Class<T> clazz;

    public Generic(Class<T> clazz)
    {
        this.clazz = clazz;
    }

    public T buildOne() throws InstantiationException,
        IllegalAccessException
    {
        return clazz.newInstance();
    }
}

public class Foo
{
    public Foo()
    {
        System.out.println("Constructing");
    }
}

Another option is to have a "factory" interface, and you pass a factory to the constructor of the generic class. That's more flexible, and you don't need to worry about the reflection exceptions.

Answer 3

Generics in Java are generally more powerful than in C#.

If you want to construct an object but without hardwiring a constructor/static method, use an abstract factory. You should be able to find detailed information and tutorials on the Abstract Factory Pattern in any basic design patterns book, introduction to OOP or all over the interwebs. It's not worth duplicating code here, other than to mention that Java's closure syntax sucks.

IIRC, C# has a special case for specifying a generic type has a no-args constructor. This irregularity, by definition, presupposes that client code wants to use this particular form of construction and encourages mutability.

Using reflection for this is just wrongheaded. Generics in Java are a compile-time, static-typing feature. Attempts to use them at runtime are a clear indication of something going wrong. Reflection causes verbose code, runtime failures, unchecked dependencies and security vulnerabilities. (Class.forName is particularly evil.)

Answer 4

Here's a rather contrived way to do it without explicitly using an constructor argument. You need to extend a parameterized abstract class.

public class Test {   
    public static void main(String [] args) throws Exception {
        Generic g = new Generic();
        g.initParameter();
    }
}

import java.lang.reflect.ParameterizedType;
public abstract class GenericAbstract<T extends Foo> {
    protected T parameter;

    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
    void initParameter() throws Exception, ClassNotFoundException, 
        InstantiationException {
        // Get the class name of this instance's type.
        ParameterizedType pt
            = (ParameterizedType) getClass().getGenericSuperclass();
        // You may need this split or not, use logging to check
        String parameterClassName
            = pt.getActualTypeArguments()[0].toString().split("\\s")[1];
        // Instantiate the Parameter and initialize it.
        parameter = (T) Class.forName(parameterClassName).newInstance();
    }
}

public class Generic extends GenericAbstract<Foo> {
}

public class Foo {
    public Foo() {
        System.out.println("Foo constructor...");
    }
}

Answer 5

And this is the Factory implementation, as Jon Skeet suggested:

interface Factory<T> {
    T factory();

}

class Araba {
    //static inner class for Factory<T> implementation
    public static class ArabaFactory implements Factory<Araba> {
        public Araba factory() {
            return new Araba();
        }

    }

    public String toString() {
        return "Abubeee";
    }
}

class Generic<T> {
    private T var;

    Generic(Factory<T> fact) {
        System.out.println("Constructor with Factory<T> parameter");
        var = fact.factory();
    }

    Generic(T var) {
        System.out.println("Constructor with T parameter");
        this.var = var;
    }

    T get() {
        return var;
    }

}

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] string) {
        Generic<Araba> gen = new Generic<Araba>(new Araba.ArabaFactory());
        System.out.print(gen.get());

    }
    }
//Output:
//Constructor with Factory<T> parameter
//Abubeee