Overriding “equals” method: how to figure out the type of the parameter?

Question

I\'m trying to override equals method for a parameterized class.

@Override
public boolean equals(Object obj) {
    if (this == obj)
        return t         


        

Answer 1

I just ran into this problem myself, and in my -particular- case, I didn't need to know the type E.

For example:

public class Example {
    E value;

    public boolean equals(Object obj) {
        if (this == obj)
            return true;
        if (obj == null)
            return false;
        if (getClass() != obj.getClass())
            return false;
        Example other = (Example) obj;
        if (value == null) {
            if (other.value != null)
                return false;
        } else if (!value.equals(other.value))
            return false;
        return true;
    }
}

In the above code, there is no unchecked cast because of using Example. The type parameter wildcard '?' saves the day.