How to handle simple polymorphism with case classes? - scala

I have the following case classes:
object Fields {
abstract class Base{
def getString: String
}
case class A() extends Base{
def getString = "A+++"
}
case class B() extends Base{
def getString = "B++"
}
def fieldsToString(fields: List[Base]): String = {
fields.tail.foldLeft(s"${fields.head.getString}") {(acc, f) =>
acc + s",${f.getString}"
}
}
}
Then I tried to call this function in the following way:
val fields = List(A, B, A)
val result = Fields.fieldsToString(fields)
which gives me the following error:
type mismatch;
[error] found : List[scala.runtime.AbstractFunction0[Product with Serializable
with Fields.Base] with Serializable]
So I thought I needed to introduce covariance:
def fieldsToString[T >: Base](fields: List[T]): String = {
fields.tail.foldLeft(s"${fields.head.getString}") {(acc, f) =>
acc + s",${f.getString}"
}
}
Which then gives me the following compile error:
do not conform to method fieldsToString's type parameter bounds [T <: Fields.Base]
What exactly is the problem, is this due to the case classes, do they behave differently then normal classes?

Rightfold answer was close, what you have are not really functions but singleton types:
scala> case class A()
defined class A
scala> A
res0: A.type = A
scala> res0()
res1: A = A()
Quoting the scala overview paper (on page 9, right column) by Odersky when talking about abstract members:
Here, p.type is a singleton type, which represents just the object denoted by p. Singleton types by themselves are also useful for supporting chaining of method calls.

If you look closely at the first error message, you see that you have created a list of functions. Call them:
val fields = List(A(), B(), A())
This is due to case classes implicitly having companion objects with apply methods.

Related

What exactly does 'is more specific than' mean in the context of implicits?

So, implicit precedence is based on two factors: one is about the scope of declaration itself having precedence (scope A extending scope/trait B, or scope A being a companion object of a type extended from a type with scope B as its companion object). The other simply mentions that declaration A is more specific than declaration B. Now, when reading it for the first time I had several possible interpretations in mind, especially considering potential parameters (implicit and not) of implicit method and type parameters. Experience seemed to teach me that it means that the type of the returned value by declaration A, after all type inference/tapply, is a subtype of the return type of declaration B. So, this is fine:
class A
class B extends A
implicit val A = new A
implicit val B = new B
implicitly[A]
Why this doesn't compile, then?
implicit class A(val toInt :Int) {
def ! = (1 /: (2 to toInt))(_ * _)
}
implicit class B(i :Int) extends A(i)
1.!
When this does?
class A(val toInt :Int) {
def ! = (1 /: (2 to toInt))(_ * _)
}
class B(i :Int) extends A(i)
implicit val A = { i :Int => new A(i) }
implicit val B = { i :Int => new B(i) }
1.!
Is it another case of 'the compiler works in mysterious ways'?
Based on SIP-13 - IMPLICIT CLASSES proposal your declaration:
implicit class A(val toInt :Int) {
def ! = (1 /: (2 to toInt))(_ * _)
}
Will be transformed to something like:
class A(toInt: Int) {
...
}
implicit final def A(toInt: Int): A = new A(toInt);
And your B in its turn will be transformed to something like:
class B(i: Int) extends A(i) {
...
}
implicit final def B(i: Int): B = new B(i);
So you are basically declaring 2 implicit conversion methods with the same parameters which are ambiguous. While the last one is not ambiguous due to already mentioned "most specific" rule for implicit parameters resolution.

Type parameters cannot be referred in function body in Scala?

I came from C++ world and new to Scala, and this behavior looks unusual.
class G1[A]( val a : A) {
//val c:A = new A //This gives compile error
def fcn1(b: A): Unit = {
//val aobj = new A // This gives compile error
println(a.getClass.getSimpleName)
println(b.getClass.getSimpleName)
}
}
def fcnWithTP[A](): Unit = {
//val a = new A // This gives compile error
//println(a.getClass.getSimpleName)
}
I am not able to crate a object using the type parameter in a class in a function body or a class body. I am only be able to use it in the function parameter.
What is the reason for this? Is this because of type erasure? At run time, the function does not know what the actual type A is, so it cannot create an object of that type?
What is the general rule for this? Does it that mean the type parameter cannot appear in function body or class definition at all? If they can actually appear, what are the examples?
Yes, you're right that this is because of erasure—you don't know anything about A at runtime that you haven't explicitly asserted about it as a constraint in the method signature.
Type erasure on the JVM is only partial, so you can do some horrible things in Scala like ask for the class of a value:
scala> List(1, 2, 3).getClass
res0: Class[_ <: List[Int]] = class scala.collection.immutable.$colon$colon
Once you get to generics, though, everything is erased, so for example you can't tell the following things apart:
scala> List(1, 2, 3).getClass == List("a", "b", "c").getClass
res1: Boolean = true
(In case it's not clear, I think type erasure is unambiguously a good thing, and that the only problem with type erasure on the JVM is that it's not more complete.)
You can write the following:
import scala.reflect.{ ClassTag, classTag }
class G1[A: ClassTag](val a: A) {
val c: A = classTag[A].runtimeClass.newInstance().asInstanceOf[A]
}
And use it like this:
scala> val stringG1: G1[String] = new G1("foo")
stringG1: G1[String] = G1#33d71170
scala> stringG1.c
res2: String = ""
This is a really bad idea, though, since it will crash at runtime for many, many type parameters:
scala> class Foo(i: Int)
defined class Foo
scala> val fooG1: G1[Foo] = new G1(new Foo(0))
java.lang.InstantiationException: Foo
at java.lang.Class.newInstance(Class.java:427)
... 43 elided
Caused by: java.lang.NoSuchMethodException: Foo.<init>()
at java.lang.Class.getConstructor0(Class.java:3082)
at java.lang.Class.newInstance(Class.java:412)
... 43 more
A better approach is to pass in the constructor:
class G1[A](val a: A)(empty: () => A) {
val c: A = empty()
}
And a much better approach is to use a type class:
trait Empty[A] {
def default: A
}
object Empty {
def instance[A](a: => A): Empty[A] = new Empty[A] {
def default: A = a
}
implicit val stringEmpty: Empty[String] = instance("")
implicit val fooEmpty: Empty[Foo] = instance(new Foo(0))
}
class G1[A: Empty](val a: A) {
val c: A = implicitly[Empty[A]].default
}
And then:
scala> val fooG1: G1[Foo] = new G1(new Foo(10101))
fooG1: G1[Foo] = G1#5a34b5bc
scala> fooG1.c
res0: Foo = Foo#571ccdd0
Here we're referring to A in the definition of G1, but we're only making reference to properties and operations that we've confirmed hold or are available at compile time.
Generics are not the same thing as templates. In C++ Foo<Bar> and Foo<Bat> are two different classes, generated at compile time.
In scala or java, Foo[T] is a single class that has with a type parameter. Consider this:
class Foo(val bar)
class Bar[T] {
val foo = new T // if this was possible ...
}
new Bar[Foo]
In C++, (an equivalent of) this would fail to compile, because there is no accessible constructor of Foo that takes no arguments. The compiler would know that when it tried to instantiate a template for Bar<Foo> class, and fail.
In scala, there is no separate class for Bar[Foo], so, at compilation time, the compiler doesn't know anything about T, other than that it is some type. It has no way of knowing whether calling a constructor (or any other method for that matter) is possible or sensible (you can't instantiate a trait for example, or an abstract class), so new T in that context has to fail: it simply does not make sense.
Roughly speaking, you can use type parameters in places where any type can be used (do declare a return type for example, or a variable), but when you are trying to do something that only works for some types, and not for others, you have to make your type param more specific. For example, this: def foo[T](t: T) = t.intValue does not work, but this: def foo[T <: Number](t: T) = t.intValue does.
Well the compiler does not know how to create an instance of type A. You need to either provide a factory function that returns instance of A, or use Manifest which creates instance of A from reflection.
With factory function:
class G1[A](val a:A)(f: () => A) {
val c:A = f()
}
With Manifest:
class G1[A](val a: A)(implicit m: scala.reflect.Manifest[A]) {
val c: A = m.erasure.newInstance.asInstanceOf[A]
}
When using type parameter, usually you will specify more details on the type A, unless you're implementing some sort of container for A that does not directly interact with A. If you need to interact with A, you need some specification on it. You can say A must be a subclass of B
class G1[A <: B](val a : A)
Now compiler would know A is a subclass of B so you can call all functions defined in B on a:A.

Shapeless: Checking Type Constraints of Polymorphic functions

I'm working on a small library for economic models that check the Units of the entities, using Types, e.g. instead of val apples = 2.0 we write val apples = GoodsAmount[KG, Apples](2.0). For creating bundle of goods, I trying to use HLists from the shapeless library. This works fine, but in some cases I can not be as generic code as I prefer. See e.g. the following problem.
I start with a simple code that explain what I want to lift into shapeless. We create two classes, on that represent Km, the other Miles. It should be allowed to add Km classes, but not miles. That I use a abstract type T is mainly motivated be our more complex library. And the indirect call to the '+' function is just because we need something similar in the shapeless case behind.
trait Foo {
type T
val v: Double
def +[B <: Foo](other: B)(implicit ev: this.T =:= other.T) = v + other.v
}
trait _Km
trait _Miles
case class Km(v: Double) extends Foo { type T = _Km }
case class Miles(v: Double) extends Foo { type T = _Miles }
object ExampleSimple extends App {
def add[A <: Foo, B <: Foo](a: A, b: B)(implicit ev: a.T =:= b.T) = { a + b }
add(Km(1), Km(2))
// add(Km(1), Miles(2)) /* does not compile as intended */
}
This works as intended. But it's necessary to have the Type Contraint check on the 'add' function. My attempt to extend this to HLists looks like this:
object ExampleShapeless extends App {
import shapeless._
val l1 = Km(1) :: Km(2) :: HNil
val l2 = Km(4) :: Km(3) :: HNil
object add extends Poly1 {
implicit def caseTuple[A <: Foo] = at[(A,A)] { case (a, b) => a + b }
}
(l1 zip l2).map(add)
}
But this generate the following error message (using Scala 2.10.2):
[error] /home/fuerst/gitg3m/code/types/src/main/scala/lagom_d/extract.scala:50: Cannot prove that a.T =:= b.T.
[error] implicit def caseTuple[A <: Foo] = at[(A,A)] { case (a: Foo, b) => a + b }
[error] ^
[error] /home/fuerst/gitg3m/code/types/src/main/scala/lagom_d/extract.scala:54: could not find implicit value for parameter mapper: shapeless.Mapper[ExampleShapeless.add.type,shapeless.::[(Km, Km),shapeless.::[(Km, Km),shapeless.HNil]]]
[error] (l1 zip l2).map(add)
The first error should be fixed, in the case that I could add a Type Constraint to the caseTuple function, but to be honest, I have not understood how the at function is working and where I could add the implicit evidence parameter. And I'm also don't know, what I must do, so that the Mapper would find his implicit value.
A less generic version, where I replase the caseTuple function with
implicit def caseTuple = at[(Km,Km)] { case (a, b) => a + b }
works fine, but would need to write a lot of redundant code (okay, this solution would be still better as our current solution using Tuples). Can somebody give me a hint how I can solve this problem?
Thanks,
Klinke
You can require the type members to match by adding a type parameter to the case:
object add extends Poly1 {
implicit def caseTuple[_T, A <: Foo { type T = _T }] = at[(A, A)] {
case (a, b) => a + b
}
}
Or you could use an existential type, since you only really care that they're the same:
object add extends Poly1 {
implicit def caseTuple[A <: Foo { type T = _T } forSome { type _T }] =
at[(A, A)] {
case (a, b) => a + b
}
}
Either version will provide the behavior you want.

What does the `#` operator mean in Scala?

I see this code in this blog: Type-Level Programming in Scala:
// define the abstract types and bounds
trait Recurse {
type Next <: Recurse
// this is the recursive function definition
type X[R <: Recurse] <: Int
}
// implementation
trait RecurseA extends Recurse {
type Next = RecurseA
// this is the implementation
type X[R <: Recurse] = R#X[R#Next]
}
object Recurse {
// infinite loop
type C = RecurseA#X[RecurseA]
}
There is an operator # in the code R#X[R#Next] which I've never seen. Since it's difficult to search it(ignored by search engines), who can tell me what does it mean?
To explain it, we first have to explain nested classes in Scala. Consider this simple example:
class A {
class B
def f(b: B) = println("Got my B!")
}
Now let's try something with it:
scala> val a1 = new A
a1: A = A#2fa8ecf4
scala> val a2 = new A
a2: A = A#4bed4c8
scala> a2.f(new a1.B)
<console>:11: error: type mismatch;
found : a1.B
required: a2.B
a2.f(new a1.B)
^
When you declare a class inside another class in Scala, you are saying that each instance of that class has such a subclass. In other words, there's no A.B class, but there are a1.B and a2.B classes, and they are different classes, as the error message is telling us above.
If you did not understand that, look up path dependent types.
Now, # makes it possible for you to refer to such nested classes without restricting it to a particular instance. In other words, there's no A.B, but there's A#B, which means a B nested class of any instance of A.
We can see this in work by changing the code above:
class A {
class B
def f(b: B) = println("Got my B!")
def g(b: A#B) = println("Got a B.")
}
And trying it out:
scala> val a1 = new A
a1: A = A#1497b7b1
scala> val a2 = new A
a2: A = A#2607c28c
scala> a2.f(new a1.B)
<console>:11: error: type mismatch;
found : a1.B
required: a2.B
a2.f(new a1.B)
^
scala> a2.g(new a1.B)
Got a B.
It's known as type projection, and is used to access type members.
scala> trait R {
| type A = Int
| }
defined trait R
scala> val x = null.asInstanceOf[R#A]
x: Int = 0
Basically, it's a way of referring to classes within other classes.
http://jim-mcbeath.blogspot.com/2008/09/scala-syntax-primer.html (search for "pound")
Here's a resource for searching on "symbolic operators" (which are really methods), but I haven't figured out how to escape "#" to search on in scalex)
http://www.artima.com/pins1ed/book-index.html#indexanchor

Scala double definition (2 methods have the same type erasure)

I wrote this in scala and it won't compile:
class TestDoubleDef{
def foo(p:List[String]) = {}
def foo(p:List[Int]) = {}
}
the compiler notify:
[error] double definition:
[error] method foo:(List[String])Unit and
[error] method foo:(List[Int])Unit at line 120
[error] have same type after erasure: (List)Unit
I know JVM has no native support for generics so I understand this error.
I could write wrappers for List[String] and List[Int] but I'm lazy :)
I'm doubtful but, is there another way expressing List[String] is not the same type than List[Int]?
Thanks.
I like Michael Krämer's idea to use implicits, but I think it can be applied more directly:
case class IntList(list: List[Int])
case class StringList(list: List[String])
implicit def il(list: List[Int]) = IntList(list)
implicit def sl(list: List[String]) = StringList(list)
def foo(i: IntList) { println("Int: " + i.list)}
def foo(s: StringList) { println("String: " + s.list)}
I think this is quite readable and straightforward.
[Update]
There is another easy way which seems to work:
def foo(p: List[String]) { println("Strings") }
def foo[X: ClassTag](p: List[Int]) { println("Ints") }
def foo[X: ClassTag, Y: ClassTag](p: List[Double]) { println("Doubles") }
For every version you need an additional type parameter, so this doesn't scale, but I think for three or four versions it's fine.
[Update 2]
For exactly two methods I found another nice trick:
def foo(list: => List[Int]) = { println("Int-List " + list)}
def foo(list: List[String]) = { println("String-List " + list)}
Instead of inventing dummy implicit values, you can use the DummyImplicit defined in Predef which seems to be made exactly for that:
class TestMultipleDef {
def foo(p:List[String]) = ()
def foo(p:List[Int])(implicit d: DummyImplicit) = ()
def foo(p:List[java.util.Date])(implicit d1: DummyImplicit, d2: DummyImplicit) = ()
}
To understand Michael Krämer's solution, it's necessary to recognize that the types of the implicit parameters are unimportant. What is important is that their types are distinct.
The following code works in the same way:
class TestDoubleDef {
object dummy1 { implicit val dummy: dummy1.type = this }
object dummy2 { implicit val dummy: dummy2.type = this }
def foo(p:List[String])(implicit d: dummy1.type) = {}
def foo(p:List[Int])(implicit d: dummy2.type) = {}
}
object App extends Application {
val a = new TestDoubleDef()
a.foo(1::2::Nil)
a.foo("a"::"b"::Nil)
}
At the bytecode level, both foo methods become two-argument methods since JVM bytecode knows nothing of implicit parameters or multiple parameter lists. At the callsite, the Scala compiler selects the appropriate foo method to call (and therefore the appropriate dummy object to pass in) by looking at the type of the list being passed in (which isn't erased until later).
While it's more verbose, this approach relieves the caller of the burden of supplying the implicit arguments. In fact, it even works if the dummyN objects are private to the TestDoubleDef class.
Due to the wonders of type erasure, the type parameters of your methods' List get erased during compilation, thus reducing both methods to the same signature, which is a compiler error.
As Viktor Klang already says, the generic type will be erased by the compiler. Fortunately, there's a workaround:
class TestDoubleDef{
def foo(p:List[String])(implicit ignore: String) = {}
def foo(p:List[Int])(implicit ignore: Int) = {}
}
object App extends Application {
implicit val x = 0
implicit val y = ""
val a = new A()
a.foo(1::2::Nil)
a.foo("a"::"b"::Nil)
}
Thanks for Michid for the tip!
If I combine Daniels response and Sandor Murakozis response here I get:
#annotation.implicitNotFound(msg = "Type ${T} not supported only Int and String accepted")
sealed abstract class Acceptable[T]; object Acceptable {
implicit object IntOk extends Acceptable[Int]
implicit object StringOk extends Acceptable[String]
}
class TestDoubleDef {
def foo[A : Acceptable : Manifest](p:List[A]) = {
val m = manifest[A]
if (m equals manifest[String]) {
println("String")
} else if (m equals manifest[Int]) {
println("Int")
}
}
}
I get a typesafe(ish) variant
scala> val a = new TestDoubleDef
a: TestDoubleDef = TestDoubleDef#f3cc05f
scala> a.foo(List(1,2,3))
Int
scala> a.foo(List("test","testa"))
String
scala> a.foo(List(1L,2L,3L))
<console>:21: error: Type Long not supported only Int and String accepted
a.foo(List(1L,2L,3L))
^
scala> a.foo("test")
<console>:9: error: type mismatch;
found : java.lang.String("test")
required: List[?]
a.foo("test")
^
The logic may also be included in the type class as such (thanks to jsuereth):
#annotation.implicitNotFound(msg = "Foo does not support ${T} only Int and String accepted")
sealed trait Foo[T] { def apply(list : List[T]) : Unit }
object Foo {
implicit def stringImpl = new Foo[String] {
def apply(list : List[String]) = println("String")
}
implicit def intImpl = new Foo[Int] {
def apply(list : List[Int]) = println("Int")
}
}
def foo[A : Foo](x : List[A]) = implicitly[Foo[A]].apply(x)
Which gives:
scala> #annotation.implicitNotFound(msg = "Foo does not support ${T} only Int and String accepted")
| sealed trait Foo[T] { def apply(list : List[T]) : Unit }; object Foo {
| implicit def stringImpl = new Foo[String] {
| def apply(list : List[String]) = println("String")
| }
| implicit def intImpl = new Foo[Int] {
| def apply(list : List[Int]) = println("Int")
| }
| } ; def foo[A : Foo](x : List[A]) = implicitly[Foo[A]].apply(x)
defined trait Foo
defined module Foo
foo: [A](x: List[A])(implicit evidence$1: Foo[A])Unit
scala> foo(1)
<console>:8: error: type mismatch;
found : Int(1)
required: List[?]
foo(1)
^
scala> foo(List(1,2,3))
Int
scala> foo(List("a","b","c"))
String
scala> foo(List(1.0))
<console>:32: error: Foo does not support Double only Int and String accepted
foo(List(1.0))
^
Note that we have to write implicitly[Foo[A]].apply(x) since the compiler thinks that implicitly[Foo[A]](x) means that we call implicitly with parameters.
There is (at least one) another way, even if it is not too nice and not really type safe:
import scala.reflect.Manifest
object Reified {
def foo[T](p:List[T])(implicit m: Manifest[T]) = {
def stringList(l: List[String]) {
println("Strings")
}
def intList(l: List[Int]) {
println("Ints")
}
val StringClass = classOf[String]
val IntClass = classOf[Int]
m.erasure match {
case StringClass => stringList(p.asInstanceOf[List[String]])
case IntClass => intList(p.asInstanceOf[List[Int]])
case _ => error("???")
}
}
def main(args: Array[String]) {
foo(List("String"))
foo(List(1, 2, 3))
}
}
The implicit manifest paramenter can be used to "reify" the erased type and thus hack around erasure. You can learn a bit more about it in many blog posts,e.g. this one.
What happens is that the manifest param can give you back what T was before erasure. Then a simple dispatch based on T to the various real implementation does the rest.
Probably there is a nicer way to do the pattern matching, but I haven't seen it yet. What people usually do is matching on m.toString, but I think keeping classes is a bit cleaner (even if it's a bit more verbose). Unfortunately the documentation of Manifest is not too detailed, maybe it also has something that could simplify it.
A big disadvantage of it is that it's not really type safe: foo will be happy with any T, if you can't handle it you will have a problem. I guess it could be worked around with some constraints on T, but it would further complicate it.
And of course this whole stuff is also not too nice, I'm not sure if it worth doing it, especially if you are lazy ;-)
Instead of using manifests you could also use dispatchers objects implicitly imported in a similar manner. I blogged about this before manifests came up: http://michid.wordpress.com/code/implicit-double-dispatch-revisited/
This has the advantage of type safety: the overloaded method will only be callable for types which have dispatchers imported into the current scope.
Nice trick I've found from http://scala-programming-language.1934581.n4.nabble.com/disambiguation-of-double-definition-resulting-from-generic-type-erasure-td2327664.html
by Aaron Novstrup
Beating this dead horse some more...
It occurred to me that a cleaner hack is to use a unique dummy type
for each method with erased types in its signature:
object Baz {
private object dummy1 { implicit val dummy: dummy1.type = this }
private object dummy2 { implicit val dummy: dummy2.type = this }
def foo(xs: String*)(implicit e: dummy1.type) = 1
def foo(xs: Int*)(implicit e: dummy2.type) = 2
}
[...]
I tried improving on Aaron Novstrup’s and Leo’s answers to make one set of standard evidence objects importable and more terse.
final object ErasureEvidence {
class E1 private[ErasureEvidence]()
class E2 private[ErasureEvidence]()
implicit final val e1 = new E1
implicit final val e2 = new E2
}
import ErasureEvidence._
class Baz {
def foo(xs: String*)(implicit e:E1) = 1
def foo(xs: Int*)(implicit e:E2) = 2
}
But that will cause the compiler to complain that there are ambiguous choices for the implicit value when foo calls another method which requires an implicit parameter of the same type.
Thus I offer only the following which is more terse in some cases. And this improvement works with value classes (those that extend AnyVal).
final object ErasureEvidence {
class E1[T] private[ErasureEvidence]()
class E2[T] private[ErasureEvidence]()
implicit def e1[T] = new E1[T]
implicit def e2[T] = new E2[T]
}
import ErasureEvidence._
class Baz {
def foo(xs: String*)(implicit e:E1[Baz]) = 1
def foo(xs: Int*)(implicit e:E2[Baz]) = 2
}
If the containing type name is rather long, declare an inner trait to make it more terse.
class Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious[A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M] {
private trait E
def foo(xs: String*)(implicit e:E1[E]) = 1
def foo(xs: Int*)(implicit e:E2[E]) = 2
}
However, value classes do not allow inner traits, classes, nor objects. Thus also note Aaron Novstrup’s and Leo’s answers do not work with a value classes.
I didn't test this, but why wouldn't an upper bound work?
def foo[T <: String](s: List[T]) { println("Strings: " + s) }
def foo[T <: Int](i: List[T]) { println("Ints: " + i) }
Does the erasure translation to change from foo( List[Any] s ) twice, to foo( List[String] s ) and foo( List[Int] i ):
http://www.angelikalanger.com/GenericsFAQ/FAQSections/TechnicalDetails.html#FAQ108
I think I read that in version 2.8, the upper bounds are now encoded that way, instead of always an Any.
To overload on covariant types, use an invariant bound (is there such a syntax in Scala?...ah I think there isn't, but take the following as conceptual addendum to the main solution above):
def foo[T : String](s: List[T]) { println("Strings: " + s) }
def foo[T : String2](s: List[T]) { println("String2s: " + s) }
then I presume the implicit casting is eliminated in the erased version of the code.
UPDATE: The problem is that JVM erases more type information on method signatures than is "necessary". I provided a link. It erases type variables from type constructors, even the concrete bound of those type variables. There is a conceptual distinction, because there is no conceptual non-reified advantage to erasing the function's type bound, as it is known at compile-time and does not vary with any instance of the generic, and it is necessary for callers to not call the function with types that do not conform to the type bound, so how can the JVM enforce the type bound if it is erased? Well one link says the type bound is retained in metadata which compilers are supposed to access. And this explains why using type bounds doesn't enable overloading. It also means that JVM is a wide open security hole since type bounded methods can be called without type bounds (yikes!), so excuse me for assuming the JVM designers wouldn't do such an insecure thing.
At the time I wrote this, I didn't understand that stackoverflow was a system of rating people by quality of answers like some competition over reputation. I thought it was a place to share information. At the time I wrote this, I was comparing reified and non-reified from a conceptual level (comparing many different languages), and so in my mind it didn't make any sense to erase the type bound.