Since the introduction of generics in Java 5, the use of generic types such as ``++List<String>++`` is recommended over the use of raw ones such as ``++List++``. Assigning a raw type to a generic one is not type safe, and will generate a warning. The old ``++EMPTY_...++`` fields of the ``++Collections++`` class return raw types, whereas the newer ``++empty...()++`` methods return generic ones.