Pre-generics example that uses a collection.
import java.util.ArrayList; import java.util.Iterator; class OldStyle { public static void main(String args[]) { ArrayList list = new ArrayList(); list.add("one"); list.add("two"); list.add("three"); list.add("four"); Iterator itr = list.iterator(); while (itr.hasNext()) { String str = (String) itr.next(); // explicit cast needed here. System.out.println(str + " is " + str.length() + " chars long."); } } }