Advantages of Using Generics in Java with Examples

The two main advantages of using Genetics in Java are,

1. Type Safety:

When we use Generics, we force our code to follow stronger type checks at compile time. So all the errors that could come up during Runtime are converted into Compile time errors, thus making your code less prone to errors in production.

2. Eliminating Type Casting:

Once we introduce type safety using generics, the need for casting is eliminated, we can see this as a byproduct of type safety.

Let us look at both of the advantages with the help of a few examples.

Example 1: No Type Safety causing Runtime Exception

List list = new ArrayList();
list.add(20);

String name = (String) list.get(0);
System.out.println(name);

Output:
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.ClassCastException:
class java.lang.Integer cannot be cast to class java.lang.String




Example 2: Introducing Type Casting

List<String> list = new ArrayList<>();
list.add(20);

String name = (String) list.get(0);
System.out.println(name);

Compliation Error:
java: incompatible types: int cannot be converted to java.lang.String





Example 3: Type Casting leading to bugs fix at an early stage of development

List<String> list = new ArrayList<>();
list.add("Mike");

String name = (String) list.get(0);
System.out.println(name);

Output:
Mike




Example 4: Elimination of the need for Type Casing

List<String> list = new ArrayList<>();
list.add("Mike");

String name = (String) list.get(0);
System.out.println(name);

Output:
Mike