How to Determine If a Type Implements a Specific Generic Interface Type

How to determine if a type implements a specific generic interface type

By using the answer from TcKs it can also be done with the following LINQ query:

bool isBar = foo.GetType().GetInterfaces().Any(x =>
  x.IsGenericType &&
  x.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(IBar<>));

Check if a type implements a generic interface without considering the generic type arguments

As far as I know, the only way to do this is to get all interfaces and see if the generic definition matches the required interface type.

bool result1 = type.GetInterfaces()
    .Where(i => i.IsGenericType)
    .Select(i => i.GetGenericTypeDefinition())
    .Contains(typeof(MyInterface<,>));

EDIT: As Jon points out in the comments, you could also do:

bool result1 = type.GetInterfaces()
    .Where(i => i.IsGenericType)
    .Any(i => i.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(MyInterface<,>));

Check if object implements specific generic interface

Simply us the is or as operator:

if( this is IHandleEvent<Event1> )
    ....

Or, if the type argument isn't known at compile time:

var t = typeof( IHandleEvent<> ).MakeGenericType( /* any type here */ )
if( t.IsAssignableFrom( this.GetType() )
    ....

Finding out if a type implements a generic interface

// this conditional is necessary if myType can be an interface,
// because an interface doesn't implement itself: for example,
// typeof (IList<int>).GetInterfaces () does not contain IList<int>!
if (myType.IsInterface && myType.IsGenericType && 
    myType.GetGenericTypeDefinition () == typeof (IList<>))
    return myType.GetGenericArguments ()[0] ;

foreach (var i in myType.GetInterfaces ())
    if (i.IsGenericType && i.GetGenericTypeDefinition () == typeof (IList<>))
        return i.GetGenericArguments ()[0] ;

Edit: Even if myType implements IDerivedFromList<> but not directly IList<>, IList<> will show up in the array returned by GetInterfaces().

Update: added a check for the edge case where myType is the generic interface in question.

How to determine if a type implements an interface with C# reflection

You have a few choices:

1. typeof(IMyInterface).IsAssignableFrom(typeof(MyType))
2. typeof(MyType).GetInterfaces().Contains(typeof(IMyInterface))
3. With C# 6 you can use typeof(MyType).GetInterface(nameof(IMyInterface)) != null

For a generic interface, it’s a bit different.

typeof(MyType).GetInterfaces().Any(i => i.IsGenericType && i.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == typeof(IMyInterface<>))

Get type that implements generic interface by searching for a specific generic interface parameter

To refactor @lucky's answer, I prefer comparing the types with the generic type definition instead of using the type name:

static readonly Type GenericIEnumerableType = typeof(IEnumerable<>);

//Find all types that implement IEnumerable<T>
static IEnumerable<T> FindAllEnumerableTypes<T>(Assembly assembly) =>
  assembly
  .GetTypes()
  .Where(type =>
    type
      .GetInterfaces()
      .Any(interf =>
        interf.IsGenericType
        && interf.GetGenericTypeDefinition() == GenericIEnumerableType
        && interf.GenericTypeArguments.Single() == typeof(T)));

Alternatively, you can check if interf is assignable from GenericIEnumerableType.MakeGenericType(typeof(T)) or the other way around.

How to check if a generic type implements a specific type of generic interface in java?

Java implements erasure, so there's no way to tell on runtime if genericObject is an instance of Set<String> or not. The only way to guarantee this is to use bounds on your generics, or check all elements in the set.

Compile-time Generic Bounds

Using bounds checking, which will be checked at compile-time:

public <T extends SomeInterface> void genericMethod(Set<? extends T> tSet) {
    // Do something with tSet here
}

Java 8

We can use streams in Java 8 to do this natively in a single line:

public <T> void genericMethod(T t) {
    if (t instanceof Set<?>) {
        Set<?> set = (Set<?>) t;
        if (set.stream().allMatch(String.class:isInstance)) {
            Set<String> strs = (Set<String>) set;
            // Do something with strs here
        }
    }
}

Java 7 and older

With Java 7 and older, we need to use iteration and type checking:

public <T> void genericMethod(T t) {
    Set<String> strs = new HashSet<String>();
    Set<?> tAsSet;
    if (t instanceof Set<?>) {
        tAsSet = (Set<?>) t;
        for (Object obj : tAsSet) {
            if (obj instanceof String) {
                strs.add((String) obj);
            }
        }
        // Do something with strs here
    } else {
        // Throw an exception or log a warning or something.
    }
}

Guava

As per Mark Peters' comment below, Guava also has methods that do this for you if you can add it to your project:

public <T> void genericMethod(T t) {
    if (t instanceof Set<?>) {
        Set<?> set = (Set<?>) t;
        if (Iterables.all(set, Predicates.instanceOf(String.class))) {
            Set<String> strs = (Set<String>) set;
            // Do something with strs here
        }
    }
}

The statement, Iterables.all(set, Predicates.instanceOf(String.class)) is essentially the same thing as set instanceof Set<String>.

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