objects flowing around in expression evaluation are now TypedValue's - these carry generics info, used for conversions.

org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/expression/BeanExpressionContextAccessor.java

@@ -17,15 +17,18 @@
 package org.springframework.context.expression;
 
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanExpressionContext;
+import org.springframework.core.convert.TypeDescriptor;
 import org.springframework.expression.AccessException;
 import org.springframework.expression.EvaluationContext;
 import org.springframework.expression.PropertyAccessor;
+import org.springframework.expression.TypedValue;
 
 /**
  * EL property accessor that knows how to traverse the beans and contextual objects
  * of a Spring {@link org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanExpressionContext}.
  *
  * @author Juergen Hoeller
+ * @author Andy Clement
  * @since 3.0
  */
 public class BeanExpressionContextAccessor implements PropertyAccessor {
@@ -34,8 +37,8 @@ public class BeanExpressionContextAccessor implements PropertyAccessor {
 		return (((BeanExpressionContext) target).containsObject(name));
 	}
 
-	public Object read(EvaluationContext context, Object target, String name) throws AccessException {
-		return ((BeanExpressionContext) target).getObject(name);
+	public TypedValue read(EvaluationContext context, Object target, String name) throws AccessException {
+		return new TypedValue(((BeanExpressionContext) target).getObject(name));
 	}
 
 	public boolean canWrite(EvaluationContext context, Object target, String name) throws AccessException {

org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/expression/BeanFactoryAccessor.java

@@ -17,15 +17,18 @@
 package org.springframework.context.expression;
 
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanFactory;
+import org.springframework.core.convert.TypeDescriptor;
 import org.springframework.expression.AccessException;
 import org.springframework.expression.EvaluationContext;
 import org.springframework.expression.PropertyAccessor;
+import org.springframework.expression.TypedValue;
 
 /**
  * EL property accessor that knows how to traverse the beans of a
  * Spring {@link org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanFactory}.
  *
  * @author Juergen Hoeller
+ * @author Andy Clement
  * @since 3.0
  */
 public class BeanFactoryAccessor implements PropertyAccessor {
@@ -34,8 +37,8 @@ public class BeanFactoryAccessor implements PropertyAccessor {
 		return (((BeanFactory) target).containsBean(name));
 	}
 
-	public Object read(EvaluationContext context, Object target, String name) throws AccessException {
-		return ((BeanFactory) target).getBean(name);
+	public TypedValue read(EvaluationContext context, Object target, String name) throws AccessException {
+		return new TypedValue(((BeanFactory) target).getBean(name));
 	}
 
 	public boolean canWrite(EvaluationContext context, Object target, String name) throws AccessException {

org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/expression/MapAccessor.java

@@ -21,12 +21,15 @@ import java.util.Map;
 import org.springframework.expression.AccessException;
 import org.springframework.expression.EvaluationContext;
 import org.springframework.expression.PropertyAccessor;
+import org.springframework.expression.TypedValue;
+import org.springframework.expression.spel.ast.CommonTypeDescriptors;
 
 /**
  * EL property accessor that knows how to traverse the keys
  * of a standard {@link java.util.Map}.
  *
  * @author Juergen Hoeller
+ * @author Andy Clement
  * @since 3.0
  */
 public class MapAccessor implements PropertyAccessor {
@@ -35,8 +38,8 @@ public class MapAccessor implements PropertyAccessor {
 		return (((Map) target).containsKey(name));
 	}
 
-	public Object read(EvaluationContext context, Object target, String name) throws AccessException {
-		return ((Map) target).get(name);
+	public TypedValue read(EvaluationContext context, Object target, String name) throws AccessException {
+		return new TypedValue(((Map) target).get(name),CommonTypeDescriptors.OBJECT_TYPE_DESCRIPTOR);
 	}
 
 	public boolean canWrite(EvaluationContext context, Object target, String name) throws AccessException {