Java How to Program, Early Objects, 11th Edition

20.1 Introduction

You’ve used existing generic methods and classes in Chapters 7 and 16. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to write your own.

It would be nice if we could write a single sort method to sort the elements in an Integer array, a String array or an array of any type that supports ordering (i.e., its elements can be compared). It would also be nice if we could write a single Stack class that could be used as a Stack of integers, a Stack of floating-point numbers, a Stack of Strings or a Stack of any other type. It would be even nicer if we could detect type mismatches at compile time—known as compile-time type safety. For example, if a Stack should store only integers, an attempt to push a String onto that Stack should issue a compilation ...