Question

This is the follow up of my question here: Weird Java generic.

If I have a code like this:

Casts.<X, T> cast(iterable[index]);

Can I add a static import and do:

<X, T> cast(iterable[index]);

Eclipse doesn’t allow this. But after seeing so many bugs with static import in Eclipse, I’m not that certain.

Answer 1

No, you can’t : I just confirmed this via some test code.

PS > javac -version
javac 1.6.0_04

Casts.java

public class Casts
{
    public static <From, To> To cast(final From object)
    {
        return (To)object;
    }
}

Test.java

import static Casts.cast;

public class Test
{
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        final Integer integer = new Integer(5);

        // This one compiles fine.
        final Number number = Casts.<Integer, Number>cast(integer);

        // This one fails compilation:
        // PS> javac Test.java
        // Test.java:11: illegal start of expression
        //             final Number number = <Integer, Number>cast(integer);
        //                                                    ^
        // Test.java:11: not a statement
        //             final Number number = <Integer, Number>cast(integer);
        //                                                        ^
        final String string = <Integer, String>cast(integer);
    }
}