dart, why can't I use generics on a method

Question

I want to be able to specify a generic type for a particular class method in dart:

class Foo{
  // Dart doesn't support declaration of type parameters in methods
  void bar<T>(T a){}
}

I know I can specify generic types on classes but why not methods?

Answer 1

This is one of the oldest open issues in Dart.

https://code.google.com/p/dart/issues/detail?id=254

The issue contains a longer discussion about why this should/should not be implemented.

You can use type parameters on methods when you declare them on the type though

class Foo<T>{
  void bar(T a){} 
  T bar(a){}
}