public static Class decodeSolutionType(String encodedQuestion) throws DecodeException, ClassNotFoundException {
        Class res;
        int i=0;
        int beginning = i;
        while (encodedQuestion.charAt(i) != '>') {
            i++;
        }
        String type = encodedQuestion.substring(beginning, i);
        
        switch(type) {
            case "int":
                res = Class.forName("Integer");
                break;
            case "dbl":
                res = Class.forName("Double");
                break;
            case "str":
                res = Class.forName("String");
                break;
            case "chr":
                res = Class.forName("Character");
                break;
            default:
                throw new DecodeException("non recognized type");
        }
        return res;
    }