Explain the concept of type erasure in programming.

Type erasure is a concept in programming where information about data types is removed or not preserved during program execution.

In languages with generics, such as Swift or Java, the compiler uses type erasure to convert generic code into code with specific types without retaining information about type parameters at runtime.

This means that during execution, the program does not know the specific types with which the generic code was working, but operates with basic types or objects.

Example in Swift:

func printValue<T>(_ value: T) {
    print(value)
}

// During runtime, type T is erased, and the function works with any type without information about T

Type erasure allows maintaining compatibility with the runtime and reducing code size, but it limits the ability to perform type checks at runtime.