I'm having a hard time trying to figure this out. Say I have the following code:
class Animal { }
class Mammal extends Animal { }
class Giraffe extends Mammal { }
...
public static List extends Mammal> getMammals() { return ...; }
...
public static void main(String[] args) {
List mammals = getMammals(); // compilation error
}
Why does the assignment result in a compilation error? The error is something like:
Type mismatch: cannot convert from List to List
According to my understanding of covariance, the getMammals() method returns a list that will always contain Mammal objects so it should be assignable. What am I missing?
解决方案
Because getMammals could return a List, and if that was convertable to List then you'd be able to add a Zebra to it. You can't be allowed to add a Zebra to a list of Giraffe, can you?
class Zebra extends Mammal { }
List giraffes = new List();
List mammals = giraffes; // not allowed
mammals.add(new Zebra()); // would add a Zebra to a list of Giraffes