Lesson 25 of 55
15 mins readPython Introduction to Generics
In Plain English
Generics allow you to create functions, classes, and interfaces that work over a variety of types rather than a single one, while preserving full type safety.
Core Rules to Remember
Type Parameters: Enables capturing argument types dynamically with <T>.
Type Preservation: Retains specific member methods without falling back to any.
Live Interactive Example
Hit Run Code to see it liveWriting Generic Identity and Wrapper Functions
Python 3.12
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Output Console
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How it works: TypeScript infers T as number for numBox and T as string for strBox.
Your Turn: Micro Challenge
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Micro Exercise
Build a Generic Array First-Item Selector
- Write a generic function getFirst<T>(items: T[]): T | undefined that returns items[0].
- Call getFirst with [10, 20, 30] and ["apple", "banana"] and print both results separated by " | ".
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Sandbox Output
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