Introduce ResolvableType.toClass() shortcut [SPR-17086]

[spring-projects-issues]

Juergen Hoeller opened SPR-17086 and commented

With a ResolvableType argument coming into a method, there is often a need to use it as a Class, e.g. for basic assignability checks or for comparison purposes. Let's introduce a Resolvable.toClass() method which serves as a convenient non-null shortcut for resolve(Object.class) (since the basic resolve() method is nullable, a fallback has to be specified, and we can simply assume Object.class as fallback for toClass()).

For many purposes, this is also an alternative to ResolvableType.getRawClass(): non-null and also taking resolved top-level type variables into account. However, if code wants to actually check the top-level raw type in a parameterized arrangement, e.g. expecting a fixed outer collection declaration, then getRawClass() remains the right method to use, typically skipping non-null results from it.

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No further details from SPR-17086