Dynamic Return Type in Java method

Question

I\'ve seen a question similar to this multiple times here, but there is one big difference.

In the other questions, the return type is to be determined by the parameter.

Answer 1

This CAN be done. The following code will work:

public byte BOOLEAN = 1;
public byte FLOAT = 2;
public static  Any getParam(byte[] data) {
    if (data[0] == BOOLEAN) {
        return (Any)((Boolean)(boolean)(data[1] != 0));
    } else if (data[0] == FLOAT) {
        return (Any)((Float)(float)data[1]);
    } else {
        return null;
    }
}

By using a generic for the return type any Java method can dynamically return any object or primitive types. You can name the generic whatever you want, and in this case I called it 'Any'. Using this code you avoid casting the return type when the method is called. You would use the method like so:

byte[] data = new byte[] { 1, 5 };
boolean b = getParam(data);
data = new byte[] { 2, 5 };
float f = getParam(data);

The best you can do without this trick is manually casting an Object:

float f = (float)getParam(data);

Java dynamic return types can reduce boilerplate code.