block1.java

myList = new ArrayList(); // create a raw type
myList.add(“someString”):
String str = (String) myList.get(0); // someString
Integer i = (Integer) myList.get(0); // error: java.lang.ClassCastException
```
Lots of casting, not very type-safe huh, you would end up with a ClassCastException if you’re not careful.
When JCP introduced generics in Java 5, they have to make sure full backward compatibility with this kind of non-generic code. So, type erasure was introduced.

## Type Erasure
When you write code that made use of generics
```
List<String> myList = new ArrayList<>();
myList.add("filthy frank");
String s = myList.get(0);
```
It gets compiled to 
```
List myList = new ArrayList();
myList.add(“filthy frank”):
String s = (String) myList.get(0);