Why does this Java method appear to have two return types?

Question

public <E extends Foo> List<E> getResult(String s);

where Foo is my own class.

What is the return type of this method? Why does it seem to have two return types?

Answer 1

No, you don't have two return types.It's a generic method you are seeing.

 <E extends Foo> --> you are declaring a generic type for your method

 List<E> --> this is your return type

Your method can have a generic type E which is a sub-class of Foo. your return type is a List<Foo or any SubType Of FOO>