CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javastringgenericscasting
Ronald
Ronald

Reputation: 343

Why is either casting or the use of generics necessary for adding Strings to ArrayLists in Java?

I'm trying to understand ArrayLists and in the process have realized I also need to understand generics, raw types, and more about type casting. I'm reading the Oracle tutorial and this is the example they give for why generics are helpful:

The following code snippet without generics requires casting:

List list = new ArrayList();
list.add("hello");
String s = (String) list.get(0);

What I don't understand is why type casting is necessary here because as far as I can tell 'list.get(0)' is of type 'String' before and after the typecasting. I used the code here to check the type, not sure if it's correct or not. 

List list = new ArrayList();
list.add("hello");

Object obj= list.get(0);

Class cls=obj.getClass();

String answer = cls.getSimpleName();
System.out.println(answer);

String s = (String) list.get(0);

Object obj2= list.get(0);

Class cls2=obj2.getClass();
System.out.println(cls2);

String answer2 = cls2.getSimpleName();
System.out.println(answer2);

So I'm asking for an explanation as to why type casting is necessary here and in here non generic-ed Arraylists in general.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 106

Answers (1)

John Kugelman
John Kugelman

Reputation: 361645

The run-time type is String, but the compile-time type is Object. The compiler doesn't know what a raw ArrayList holds, so when you call get() it assigns a compile-time type of Object. An Object can't be assigned directly to a String, thus the cast.

The cast is the developer's way of saying to the compiler, "You think it's a list of Objects, but trust me, the thing I'm pulling out is definitely a String."

Upvotes: 8

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