What are the advantages of type erasure in programming?

What are the advantages of type erasure in programming?

Type erasure allows for more flexible and generic code, enabling developers to write functions that can operate on different data types without needing to know their specific types at compile time.

Can you give me an example of how type erasure is used?

Sure! In Java, generics use type erasure to allow a List<T> to be treated as a List at runtime, which simplifies the implementation and maintains backward compatibility.

What are the downsides of type erasure?

One downside is that it can lead to runtime type errors since type information is not available at runtime, making debugging more challenging.

Is type erasure common in all programming languages?

No, type erasure is primarily found in languages like Java and Scala. Other languages, like C++, use different approaches like templates.

How does type erasure affect performance?

Type erasure can improve performance by reducing the overhead of maintaining type information at runtime, but it may also introduce some runtime checks that can impact speed.