CODEWITHSUNDEEP
scalatypescasting
Alt
Alt

Reputation: 2755

Type of types in Scala

Is it possible in Scala to pass a type to a function as an argument (along with other parameters) and return an object of that type?

For example, let's say I have n different classes where each of them has its own members. I want some thing like:

def Make(T:TypeOfPossibleClasses):T={
   val A= new T()
   // do some thing on A
   A
}

I'm aware of Manifest, and I know that I can do this by matching manifest of T with manifest of all possible classes of interest. But, I may have too many classes (and in fact new class types may get introduced later on).

Does Scala support generic type passing?

Thanks!

Upvotes: 1

Views: 84

Answers (1)

Sergii Lagutin
Sergii Lagutin

Reputation: 10681

I suppose you can act like in java 

def make[T](clz: Class[T]): T = clz.newInstance() // class should have default constructor

make(classOf[String])

or use Manifest instance:

def make[T](implicit m : Manifest[T]): T =
  m.runtimeClass.asInstanceOf[Class[T]].newInstance()

make[String] // res0: String = ""

make[AnyRef] // res1: AnyRef = java.lang.Object@7794ed7a

Upvotes: 3

Related Questions