# Type Argument

DevFeed: [Type Argument](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/type-argument-25024.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://typealias.com/concepts/type-argument/>)

Author: author@typealias.com (Dave Leeds)

Published: 2018-01-10T02:43:41Z

Content type: tutorial

Language: en

Sources: [Dave Leeds on Kotlin - typealias.com](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/dave-leeds-on-kotlin-typealias-com.md>)

Topics: [generics](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/generics.md>), [Code](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/code.md>), [context](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/context.md>), [Compiler](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/compiler.md>)

Tags: [compiler](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/compiler.md>), [context](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/context.md>), [generic](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/generic.md>), [generics](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/generics.md>), [kotlin](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/kotlin.md>), [parameter](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/parameter.md>), [programming](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/programming.md>), [type-argument](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/type-argument.md>), [type-parameter](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/type-parameter.md>), [type-parameters](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/type-parameters.md>), [type-projection](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/type-projection.md>), [types](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/types.md>), [variance](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/variance.md>)

## AI overview

This article explains type arguments in generics, including how they are specified in type declarations and function calls, inferred by the compiler, and used with variance annotations for type projection. It also distinguishes type arguments from type parameters.

## Source excerpt

A type argument is a specific type, specified by the calling code, that a generic will use in place of a type parameter. If your generic were a light fixture, then the light bulb that's screwed into that light fixture is the type argument. Just as different kinds of light bulbs can be used in a light fixture's socket, different call sites can each specify a different type argument to use in instances of a generic.