Get generic type of java.util.List

Question

I have;

List stringList = new ArrayList();
List integerList = new ArrayList();

Is

Answer 1

Had the same problem, but I used instanceof instead. Did it this way:

List<Object> listCheck = (List<Object>)(Object) stringList;
    if (!listCheck.isEmpty()) {
       if (listCheck.get(0) instanceof String) {
           System.out.println("List type is String");
       }
       if (listCheck.get(0) instanceof Integer) {
           System.out.println("List type is Integer");
       }
    }
}

This involves using unchecked casts so only do this when you know it is a list, and what type it can be.

Answer 2

The type is erased so you will not be able to. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_erasure and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generics_in_Java#Type_erasure