Generics and Inheritance

[Tim99]

Hi,

I'm stuck with a generics problem. Here it is in very simplified form:

 public abstract class Animal {
}

public class Elephant extends Animal {
}

public class Crocodile extends Animal {
}


public abstract class Zookeeper {
  public abstract void feed(??? extends Animal??? a);
}

public abstract class ElephantKeeper extends Zookeeper {
  public void feed(Elephant e) {
  }
}

public abstract class CrocodileKeeper extends Zookeeper {
  public void feed(Crocodile c) {
  }
}

My question now is: How does the parameter for the Zookeeper's feed-method look like? Is this possible at all or do I mandatory have to use something like

public abstract class Zookeeper<X extends Animal>

...which I want to avoid. Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Fubarable]

.....

My question now is: How does the parameter for the Zookeeper's feed-method look like? Is this possible at all or do I mandatory have to use something like

public abstract class Zookeeper<X extends Animal>

...which I want to avoid. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Why do you want to avoid this?