Java has generics but they are only reified for arrays. C has types that are only generic in the case of arrays. There is a difference. In Java I can write t

Java has generics but they are only reified for arrays. C has types that are only generic in the case of arrays. There is a difference. In Java I can write this function <T> String getTypeOfArray(T[] arr) { return arr.getClass().getComponentType().getName(); } and that will return the name of type T at run-time. If I instead of T[] I use List<T>, getComponentType will return null and there is no way to access what type T is at run-time. At compile time List<T> and T[] behave the same, but at runtime the List loses what type if contains. In C I can't write a function with that signature at all because it doesn't support generic functions.