specific get methods or general get method?

Question

In some programming API's I see a list of methods to call, like getBoolean(String key, getDouble(String key), and getString(String key). Some other API's use a general get(String key) method, and return an Object which you are supposed to cast to an appropriate type yourself.

Now I am writing my own data accessing point, and I am wondering which approach to use. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach? When would you choose one over the other?

Answer 1

Advantage: getBoolean(), getDouble(), etc. allow you to return the respective primitive types. As far as I've seen, that's the primary reason anyone writes methods like that.