Introduction to Generics

Generics are used to apply stronger type checks at compile time. They enforce type-safety in code. For example, the type safety in collections is enforced by holding the same type of data. Generics help write reusable classes and methods/functions for different data types.

Type Safety: A programming concept that allows a memory block to contain only one type of data.

The concept of generics in Dart is similar to Java’s generics and C++'s templates.

Dart’s collection is able to hold different data types in one collection. It is optional in Dart to mention data type for a value. Usually, the variable’s data type is inferred automatically. For example, var myVar = 5; will infer myVar's data type as int. The code snippet below is valid in Dart. To verify Dart’s support for different data types, try to add/remove different data types. Add a list ['hello'] as an entry in the items list.