Create instance of generic type in Java?

Question

Is it possible to create an instance of a generic type in Java? I\'m thinking based on what I\'ve seen that the answer is no (due to type erasure), but

Answer 1

Here is an option I came up with, it may help:

public static class Container {
    private Class clazz;

    public Container(Class clazz) {
        this.clazz = clazz;
    }

    public E createContents() throws Exception {
        return clazz.newInstance();
    }
}

EDIT: Alternatively you can use this constructor (but it requires an instance of E):

@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
public Container(E instance) {
    this.clazz = (Class) instance.getClass();
}