Java map with values limited by key's type parameter

Posted by Ashley Mercer on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by Ashley Mercer
Published on 2009-01-06T13:41:37Z Indexed on 2010/05/28 15:02 UTC
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Is there a way in Java to have a map where the type parameter of a value is tied to the type parameter of a key? What I want to write is something like the following:

public class Foo {
    // This declaration won't compile - what should it be?
    private static Map<Class<T>, T> defaultValues;

    // These two methods are just fine
    public static <T> void setDefaultValue(Class<T> clazz, T value) {
        defaultValues.put(clazz, value);
    }

    public static <T> T getDefaultValue(Class<T> clazz) {
        return defaultValues.get(clazz);
    }
}

That is, I can store any default value against a Class object, provided the value's type matches that of the Class object. I don't see why this shouldn't be allowed since I can ensure when setting/getting values that the types are correct.

EDIT: Thanks to cletus for his answer. I don't actually need the type parameters on the map itself since I can ensure consistency in the methods which get/set values, even if it means using some slightly ugly casts.

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