Could someone clarify why iterate1() is not accepted by compiler (Java 1.6)? I do not see why iterate2() and iterate3() are much better.

This paragraph is added to avoid silly "Your post does not have much context to explain the code sections; please explain your scenario more clearly." protection.

import java.util.Collection;
import java.util.HashSet;

public class Test<T> {

    public Collection<String> getCollection() {
        return new HashSet<String>();
    }

    public void iterate1(Test test) {
        for (String s : test.getCollection()) {
            // ...
        }
    }

    public void iterate2(Test test) {
        Collection<String> c = test.getCollection();
        for (String s : c) {
            // ...
        }
    }

    public void iterate3(Test<?> test) {
        for (String s : test.getCollection()) {
            // ...
        }
    }


}

Compiler output:

$ javac Test.java
Test.java:11: incompatible types
found   : java.lang.Object
required: java.lang.String
  for (String s : test.getCollection()) {
                                              ^
Note: Test.java uses unchecked or unsafe operations.
Note: Recompile with -Xlint:unchecked for details.
1 error