Java tutorial
//package com.java2s; import java.util.Collection; import java.util.Map; public class Main { public static Class<?> findCommonElementType(Collection collection) { if (isEmpty(collection)) return null; Class<?> candidate = null; for (Object val : collection) { if (val != null) { if (candidate == null) candidate = val.getClass(); else if (candidate != val.getClass()) return null; } } return candidate; } public static boolean isEmpty(Collection collection) { return collection == null || collection.isEmpty(); } public static boolean isEmpty(Map map) { return map == null || map.isEmpty(); } }