TypeVariable (Java SE 11 & JDK 11 )
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Module java.base
Package java.lang.reflect
Interface TypeVariable<D extends GenericDeclaration>
Type Parameters:
D - the type of generic declaration that declared the
underlying type variable.
All Superinterfaces:
AnnotatedElement, Type
public interface TypeVariable<D extends GenericDeclaration>
extends Type, AnnotatedElement
TypeVariable is the common superinterface for type variables of kinds.
A type variable is created the first time it is needed by a reflective
method, as specified in this package.  If a type variable t is referenced
by a type (i.e, class, interface or annotation type) T, and T is declared
by the nth enclosing class of T (see JLS 8.1.2), then the creation of t
requires the resolution (see JVMS 5) of the ith enclosing class of T,
for i = 0 to n, inclusive. Creating a type variable must not cause the
creation of its bounds. Repeated creation of a type variable has no effect.
Multiple objects may be instantiated at run-time to
represent a given type variable. Even though a type variable is
created only once, this does not imply any requirement to cache
instances representing the type variable. However, all instances
representing a type variable must be equal() to each other.
As a consequence, users of type variables must not rely on the identity
of instances of classes implementing this interface.
Since:
1.5
Method Summary
All Methods Instance Methods Abstract Methods 
Modifier and Type
Method
Description
AnnotatedType[]
getAnnotatedBounds()
Returns an array of AnnotatedType objects that represent the use of
types to denote the upper bounds of the type parameter represented by
this TypeVariable.
Type[]
getBounds()
Returns an array of Type objects representing the
upper bound(s) of this type variable.
D
getGenericDeclaration()
Returns the GenericDeclaration object representing the
generic declaration declared this type variable.
String
getName()
Returns the name of this type variable, as it occurs in the source code.
Methods declared in interface java.lang.reflect.AnnotatedElement
getAnnotation, getAnnotations, getAnnotationsByType, getDeclaredAnnotation, getDeclaredAnnotations, getDeclaredAnnotationsByType, isAnnotationPresent
Methods declared in interface java.lang.reflect.Type
getTypeName
Method Detail
getBounds
Type[] getBounds()
Returns an array of Type objects representing the
upper bound(s) of this type variable.  If no upper bound is
explicitly declared, the upper bound is Object.
For each upper bound B:
if B is a parameterized
type or a type variable, it is created, (see ParameterizedType for the
details of the creation process for parameterized types).
Otherwise, B is resolved.
Returns:
an array of Types representing the upper
bound(s) of this type variable
Throws:
TypeNotPresentException - if any of the
bounds refers to a non-existent type declaration
MalformedParameterizedTypeException - if any of the
bounds refer to a parameterized type that cannot be instantiated
for any reason
getGenericDeclaration
D getGenericDeclaration()
Returns the GenericDeclaration object representing the
generic declaration declared this type variable.
Returns:
the generic declaration declared for this type variable.
Since:
1.5
getName
String getName()
Returns the name of this type variable, as it occurs in the source code.
Returns:
the name of this type variable, as it appears in the source code
getAnnotatedBounds
AnnotatedType[] getAnnotatedBounds()
Returns an array of AnnotatedType objects that represent the use of
types to denote the upper bounds of the type parameter represented by
this TypeVariable. The order of the objects in the array corresponds to
the order of the bounds in the declaration of the type parameter. Note that
if no upper bound is explicitly declared, the upper bound is unannotated
Object.
Returns:
an array of objects representing the upper bound(s) of the type variable
Since:
1.8
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