java desing issue

Hello,


I have something like this:



So you see, I in my class I have redundancy: Abstract and you see a objects, object and a findObject (X's, X and findX).

Now, I want to improve that via abstraction:



Now, I want to instatiate a MyClass and assign a defined Object (Dog, Cat, Mouse) in it:



But now, I want to access the properties of my Dog-Class and this does not work as I cannot add a cast to my getter/setter.

Maybe there is a far better way to implement that.

How can I solve that and what is the best solution?

What does MyClass represent? What's its function?

MyClass is a type of an intermediate class.

Look at that:



I have the same name of properties in each Space:



the tasks (findObject, objects, object) represents type of objects depending on my space:

in catSpace the findObject, objects and object should be of type Cat.
in dogSpace the findObject, objects and object should be of type Dog.


How can I implement such a scenario?

Maybe I have to implement a abstract class or a class with a abstract <T>:



Is this the right way?

Close: the <T> goes directly after the class name:

okay, I guess, this is the right way to go.

I instantiate MyAssociations <T> with a concrete object:



What is wrong?

MyAssociations<Cat> myAssociations= new MyAssociations<Cat>;

The T can only be used inside the class. Outside of it, it does not exist; it is replaced by Cat, Dog or Mouse.

Also be careful; your code will throw a NullPointerException because myAssociations.getObject() will return null until you've actually set the object.

And what about that:



Now, I instantiate the generic object MyAssociations:



What is wrong?

When you use <?>, you are indicating you know nothing at all about the generic type. That means that test.getMyAssociations().getObject() can only return Object - because whatever it may return, it's always an instanceof of Object or a subclass of Object.

Likewise, test.getMyAssociations().setObject(x) will not compile, whatever x is. That's because the compiler cannot check if x matches the generic type - because it doesn't know it. The following example will show you why:

oh now I guess, I understand.

So I have to assign a explicit type:



then it works.

Is there way to assign the explicit type via the constructor of Test?



and then I assign a explicit type via constructor:




I guess, this does also not work, am I right?

Okay, got it. I assign a direct type instead of the generic type, then it works.

thank you very much!