ifndef NoGenericFunctions
static O first(O list) {
  ret first((Iterable) list);
}
endifndef

static <A> A first(L<A> list) {
  return empty(list) ? null : list.get(0);
}

static <A> A first(A[] bla) {
  ret bla == null || bla.length == 0 ? null : bla[0];
}

ifclass IterableIterator
static <A> A first(IterableIterator<A> i) {
  ret first((Iterator<A>) i);
}
endif

static <A> A first(Iterator<A> i) {
  ret i == null || !i.hasNext() ? null : i.next();
}

static <A> A first(Iterable<A> i) {
  if (i == null) ret null;
  Iterator<A> it = i.iterator();
  ret it.hasNext() ? it.next() : null;
}

static Char first(S s) { ret empty(s) ? null : s.charAt(0); }
static Char first(CharSequence s) { ret empty(s) ? null : s.charAt(0); }

ifclass Pair
static <A, B> A first(Pair<A, B> p) {
  ret p == null ? null : p.a;
}
endif

ifclass T3
static <A, B, C> A first(T3<A, B, C> t) {
  ret t == null ? null : t.a;
}
endif

static Byte first(byte[] l) { 
  ret empty(l) ? null : l[0];
}

ifclass IntBuffer
static int first(IntBuffer buf) {
  ret buf.get(0);
}
endif

ifclass ByteBuffer
static byte first(ByteBuffer buf) {
  ret buf.get(0);
}
endif