Generics

Generics allow us to create classes that are not bound to a specific type, and must provide generic functionality for all types. It can be used to provide type-safety during compile-time.

Here is a sample program I wrote to demonstrate how to create a Generic class. I intentionally avoided using for the type, to show this is not a requirement.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Collections;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

namespace SystemTypesCollections
{
    public class GenericsTest<ZX>
    {
        public ZX MyVal { get; set; }

        public override string ToString()
        {
            if (MyVal is String)
            {
                return "My String is: '" + MyVal + "'";
            }
            else if (MyVal is int)
            {
                return "I am an Integer: " + MyVal;
            }
            else
            {
                return "I am an object";
            }
            
        }
        public GenericsTest(ZX val)
        {
            MyVal = val;
        }
    }

    public class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            GenericsTest<int> g1 = new GenericsTest<int>(5);
            GenericsTest<String> g2 = new GenericsTest<string>("Hello, world");
            GenericsTest<IList> g3 = new GenericsTest<IList>(new ArrayList());

            System.Console.WriteLine(g1);
            System.Console.WriteLine(g2);
            System.Console.WriteLine(g3);
        }
    }
}

Output result:
I am an Integer: 5
My String is: 'Hello, world'
I am an object