TypeReferences.java

import java.lang.reflect.Constructor;
import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
import java.lang.reflect.ParameterizedType;
import java.lang.reflect.Type;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

public abstract class TypeReference<T> {

    private final Type type;
    private volatile Constructor<?> constructor;

    public TypeReference() {
        Type superclass = getClass().getGenericSuperclass();
        if (superclass instanceof Class) {
            throw new RuntimeException("Missing type parameter");
        }
        this.type = ((ParameterizedType)superclass).getActualTypeArguments()[0];
    }

    public T newInstance() throws NoSuchMethodException,
            IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException, InstantiationException {
        if (constructor == null) {
            Class<?> rawType = type instanceof Class<?>
                    ? (Class<?>) type
                    : (Class<?>) ((ParameterizedType)type).getRawType();
            constructor = rawType.getConstructor();
        }

        return (T)constructor.newInstance();
    }

    public Type getType() {
        return this.type;
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        List<String> l1 = new TypeReference<ArrayList<String>>() {}.newInstance();
        List l2 = new TypeReference<ArrayList>() {}.newInstance();
    }
}