The concept of generics has been around at least since the early 1980's, when Ada provided generic units that are rather like C++ templates. Researchers have been experimenting with various approaches to incorporating generics into Java-like languages. Pizza was one example. Another was GJ: Generic Java. Generics have finally arrived in the mainstream Java world with JDK 5.0.

This presentation will discuss the experience of implementing Java generics in an STL-like generic-programming library. We will examine Sun's approach to generics and the implications of the approach taken, where generics are strictly a compile time issue. We will also discuss the process of getting started with JDK 5.0 and generics, where to find information, our initial approach to parameterizing, and how that approach evolved, as we gained experience. There is a good argument to be made for incorporating generics in your new Java development.

The presentation is here.

Presented by Jim Bender

Sponsored by Recursion Software, Inc.