Lower Bounded Wildcard TypeJ8 Home « Lower Bounded Wildcard Type

In the previous lesson we saw how we can use an Upper Bounded Wildcard Type when we have a scenario where we only want a method to work on a particular class or subtypes thereof. In this lesson we investigate the scenario where we only want a method to work on a particular class or supertypes thereof? In both of these situations we can use a bounded wildcard type to only allow certain types to use an identifier.

The table below lists the bounded wildcard types we can use with examples.

Bounded Wildcard Types
Term Examples Notes Lesson
Upper Bounded Wildcard TypeList<? extends Number>Create a superclass boundary which all unknown types must be, or subtypes thereof.Upper Bounded Wildcard Type
Lower Bounded Wildcard TypeList<? super Integer>Create a subclass boundary which all unknown types must be, or supertypes thereof.This lesson

Lets look at a code example of using the lower bounded wildcard type.

Ok, lets start by creating and building some simple classes:


package info.java8;

public class A { 
    {
        System.out.println("A Object initializer"); 
    }
}


package info.java8;

public class B extends A { 
    {
        System.out.println("B Object initializer"); 
    }
}


package info.java8;

public class C extends B {    
    {
        System.out.println("C Object initializer"); 
    }
}


package info.java8;

public class D { // Nothing to do  with other classes    
    {
        System.out.println("D Object initializer"); 
    }
}

Build the classes in the usual way.

Now we need to write a simple generic class that will take any type and have a method within in that will eventually only work on the B class and superclasses of it; first we will let the method work with any type:


package info.java8;

/*
  Simple generic class that accepts any object
*/
public class LowerBoundedWildcardType<T> {

    // Generic object declaration
    private final T genericObj;

    // Pass reference to object of type T to our constructor
    public LowerBoundedWildcardType(T genericObj) {
        this.genericObj = genericObj;
    }

    // Output object type of LowerBoundedWildcardType to console 
    public void showObjectType(LowerBoundedWildcardType<T> obj) {
        System.out.println("Object type of LowerBoundedWildcardType is " + genericObj.getClass().getName());
    }
}

Building the LowerBoundedWildcardType class produces the following output:

Build lower bounded wilcard type class
Screenshot 1. Building the LowerBoundedWildcardType class.

Now we need to write a test class to show how we can pass various objects to our BoundedWildcardType class:


package info.java8;

/*
  Test our LowerBoundedWildcardType class that accepts any object
*/
public class TestLowerBoundedWildcardType {

    public static void main(String[] args) { 

        // Create some objects
        A a = new A(); 
        B b = new B(); 
        C c = new C(); 
        D d = new D();  
    
        // Test the LowerBoundedWildcardType using A, B, C and D objects
        LowerBoundedWildcardType<A> genAObj = new LowerBoundedWildcardType<>(a);
        genAObj.showObjectType(genAObj);

        LowerBoundedWildcardType<B> genBObj = new LowerBoundedWildcardType<>(b);
        genBObj.showObjectType(genBObj);
 
        LowerBoundedWildcardType<C> genCObj = new LowerBoundedWildcardType<>(c);
        genCObj.showObjectType(genCObj);
 
        LowerBoundedWildcardType<D> genDObj = new LowerBoundedWildcardType<>(d);
        genDObj.showObjectType(genDObj);
    }
}

Running the TestLowerBoundedWildcardType class produces the following output:

Run test lower bounded wilcard type class
Screenshot 2. Running the TestLowerBoundedWildcardType class.

Well nothing new here, all the classes run as expected. Now we want to change the LowerBoundedWildcardType class so that only objects of type B or superclasses thereof can use the showObjectType(LowerBoundedWildcardType<T> obj) method and for this we need a lower bounded wildcard type.

Change the signature to showObjectType(LowerBoundedWildcardType<? super B> obj) as shown below and rebuild the LowerBoundedWildcardType class.


package info.java8;

/*
  Simple generic class that accepts any object
*/
public class LowerBoundedWildcardType<T> {

    // Generic object declaration
    private final T genericObj;

    // Pass reference to object of type T to our constructor
    public LowerBoundedWildcardType(T genericObj) {
        this.genericObj = genericObj;
    }

    // Output object type of LowerBoundedWildcardType to console 
    public void showObjectType(LowerBoundedWildcardType<? super B> obj) { // Changed to lower bounded wild card type
        System.out.println("Object type of LowerBoundedWildcardType is " + genericObj.getClass().getName());
    }
}

Rebuilding the TestLowerBoundedWildcardType class after the amendments produces the following output:

Rebuild test lower bounded wilcard type class
Screenshot 3. Rebuilding the TestLowerBoundedWildcardType class after the amendments.

As you can see from the screenshot above the compiler won't allow us to call the showObjectType(LowerBoundedWildcardType<? super B> obj) method with an object of class C or D because the method now has a lower bounded wildcard type that only allows the B class and its superclasses.

Remove the creation and call for the genCObj and genDObj in the TestLowerBoundedWildcardType class for the C and D types as shown below and rebuild the TestLowerBoundedWildcardType class.


package info.java8;

/*
  Test our LowerBoundedWildcardType class that accepts any object
*/
public class TestLowerBoundedWildcardType {

    public static void main(String[] args) { 

        // Create some objects
        A a = new A(); 
        B b = new B(); 
    
        // Test the LowerBoundedWildcardType using A, and B objects
        LowerBoundedWildcardType<A> genAObj = new LowerBoundedWildcardType<>(a);
        genAObj.showObjectType(genAObj);

        LowerBoundedWildcardType<B> genBObj = new LowerBoundedWildcardType<>(b);
        genBObj.showObjectType(genBObj);
    }
}

Rerunning the TestLowerBoundedWildcardType class after the amendments produces the following output:

Rerun test lower bounded wilcard type class
Screenshot 4. Rerunning the TestLowerBoundedWildcardType class after the amendments.

Related Quiz

Generics Quiz 8 - Lower Bounded Wildcard Types Quiz

Lesson 8 Complete

In this lesson we looked at the generic lower bounded wild card type and how to use it.

What's Next?

In the next lesson we look at generic methods.