Java List toArray(T[] a) implementation

Question

I was just looking at the method defined in the List interface:

Returns an array containing all of the elements in this list in the correct order; the

Answer 1

  357       public  T[] toArray(T[] a) {
  358           if (a.length < size)
  359               // Make a new array of a's runtime type, but my contents:
  360               return (T[]) Arrays.copyOf(elementData, size, a.getClass());
  361           System.arraycopy(elementData, 0, a, 0, size);
  362           if (a.length > size)
  363               a[size] = null;
  364           return a;
  365       }

Maybe so it has a runtime type?

From wiki:

Consequently, instantiating a Java class of a parameterized type is impossible because instantiation requires a call to a constructor, which is unavailable if the type is unknown.