SpringSource/spring-framework — pull request #97 by sbrannen (2012-06-19 14:01:19+00:00)
Title: Infer return type of parametrized factory methods

Currently, if a factory method is parameterized and the corresponding
variable types are declared on the method itself instead of on the
enclosing class or interface, Spring always predicts the return type to
be Object, even if the return type can be explicitly inferred from the
method signature and supplied arguments (which are available in the bean
definition).

This commit introduces a new resolveParameterizedReturnType() method in
GenericTypeResolver that attempts to infer the concrete type for the
generic return type of a given parameterized method, falling back to the
standard return type if necessary. Furthermore,
AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory now delegates to
resolveParameterizedReturnType() when predicting the return type for
factory methods.

resolveParameterizedReturnType() is capable of inferring the concrete
type for return type T for method signatures similar to the following.
Such methods may potentially be static. Also, the formal argument list
for such methods is not limited to a single argument.

- public T foo(Class clazz)
- public T foo(Object obj, Class clazz)
- public T foo(V obj, Class clazz)
- public T foo(T obj)

Issue: SPR-9493