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

If you mean new E() then it is impossible. And I would add that it is not always correct - how do you know if E has public no-args constructor? But you can always delegate creation to some other class that knows how to create an instance - it can be Class or your custom code like this

interface Factory{
    E create();
}    

class IntegerFactory implements Factory{    
  private static int i = 0; 
  Integer create() {        
    return i++;    
  }
}