Type cast to Class Object

[Chethan Sharma]

Program:
-----------
public static void main(String[] args) {
{
List names = new ArrayList();
names.add("Rams");
names.add("Shanker");

List numbers = new ArrayList();
numbers.add(new Integer("1"));
numbers.add(new Integer("2"));

printDet(numbers,"mumbers");
printDet(names,"names");
}
public static void printDet(List list,String type){
Class myclass;
if(type.equals("numbers")){
myclass = Integer.class;
}
else if(type.equals("names")){
myclass = String.class;
}
for(int i=0;i<list.size();i++){
System.out.println((myclass)list.get(i));
}

}
output:
--------
Error: 'myclass' is not resolved to a type...

Can anybody explain why this is not working?
Is there anyother way of coding to compile this example successfully?

Thanks,

[Paul Sturrock]

Not an advanced question. Moving...

[Paul Sturrock]

myclass is a variable, not a type.

If you have specific functionality for a particular type you can use method overloading to handle it. For example:

List listOfRandomTypes = new ArrayList();
// populate the List
....
//
 
for (int i =0; i < list.size(); i++) {
     doStuff(list.get(i));
}
 
// ...
 
private void doStuff(Integer obj) {
   // handle integers 
}
 
private void doStuff(String obj) {
   // handle Strings 
}
 

[Ilja Preuss]

Originally posted by Paul Sturrock:
If you have specific functionality for a particular type you can use method overloading to handle it.

No, that won't work. Overloading is resolved at compile time, not at runtime (in contrast to overriding).

But in the original example above, there is no need for casting, anyway. Println isn't overloaded, it simply gets an object as a parameter.