An example of a utility method that uses short-cuts for known types.

CollectionUtils.java

public class CollectionUtils {

  public static <E extends Object> E getLast(final Collection<E> col) {
    if (col.isEmpty()) {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException("cannot retrieve last element from empty collection");
    }
    if (col instanceof LinkedList) {
      return ((LinkedList<E>) col).getLast();
    } else if (col instanceof List) {
      return ((List<E>) col).get(col.size() - 1);
    } else {
      // skip all but last element and return last element
      final Iterator<E> it = col.iterator();
      E last = null;
      while (it.hasNext()) {
        last = it.next();
      }
      return last;
    }
  }
}