implementing a comparable interface in java

Question

I want my class to implement the Comparable interface. Which of the following approaches is correct

Option 1:

public Myclass implements Comparable<MyClass>{

  public int compareTo(MyClass o){
   //impl here
  }

}

Option 2:

public Myclass implements Comparable{

  public int compareTo(Object o){
     //check if o  instance of my class
     //impl here
  }


}

rkg · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-04 06:04:59Z

4

Option 1. The answer is in the comments of the second snippet. You would avoid explicit type casting.

Option 1 takes advantage of Java Generics. Here is a link to the tutorial on Generics

answered Mar 4, 2011 at 6:04

rkg

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Comments

Michael McGowan · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-04 06:05:41Z

1

I'd hesitate to call one "correct" and the other "incorrect," but option 1 seems "better." Option 1 uses generics, and one of the primary benefits of generics is to avoid doing the awkward instanceof followed by a cast from Option 2. However, generics were not originally part of Java, so some legacy code still uses the Option 2 approach.

answered Mar 4, 2011 at 6:05

Michael McGowan

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