Understanding Generics and Reflection in Java to Make Array Generic - java

I am trying to model a train with a Java program.
Currently I have four classes:
Train,
BoxCar,
Cargo,
Person.
The BoxCar class has an array of Person and an array of Cargo. A BoxCar can only hold one type so when that type is given from the constructor,
I decide which array to use (either the people array or the cargo array). The thing is, I'd like to make that array inside BoxCar "generic" so that if there is another "kind" of type the user wants to use, it can be easily set.
They wouldn't need to declare another array inside the BoxCar class for that type and change the rest of the code.
How would I do this? I looked up Generic and Reflection but the examples I saw weren't exactly for my scenario and I'm learning this for the first time.
Can someone map out the right approach to take?
BoxCar:
class BoxCar {
String boxType;
int boxID;
int count;
boolean isEmpty;
Cargo cargo[];
Person people[];
int capacity;
BoxCar(String box_type, int ID, int cap) {
boxType = box_type;
boxID = ID;
isEmpty = true;
count = 0;
capacity = cap;
}
}
Person:
class Person {
String government_ID, name;
int age;
Person(String gov_ID, String Name, int Age) {
government_ID = gov_ID;
name = Name;
age = Age;
}
}
Cargo:
class Cargo {
String cargo_ID;
int height, weight;
Cargo(String c_id, int w, int h) {
cargo_ID = c_id;
height = h;
weight = w;
}
}

Maybe this helps you out
public class Train {
public static void main(String[] args) {
new Train();
}
public Train() {
List<Person> persons = new ArrayList<>();
persons.add(new Person("foo", "bar"));
BoxCar<Person> personBoxCar = new BoxCar<>(persons);
List<Cargo> cargo = new ArrayList<>();
cargo.add(new Cargo("test"));
BoxCar<Cargo> cargoBoxCar = new BoxCar<>(cargo);
}}
public class Person {
private String name;
private String surname;
public Person(String name, String surname) {
this.name = name;
this.surname = surname;
}
public String getName() {
return name;
}
public String getSurname() {
return surname;
}}
public class Cargo {
private String cargoType;
public Cargo(String cargoType) {
this.cargoType = cargoType;
}
public String getCargoType() {
return cargoType;
}}
public class BoxCar<T> {
private List<T> myArray;
public BoxCar(List<T> myArray) {
this.myArray = myArray;
}}

The best way to accomplish that is using generics.
Generics are a facility of generic programming that were added to the Java programming language in 2004 within version J2SE 5.0. They were designed to extend Java's type system to allow “a type or method to operate on objects of various types while providing compile-time type safety”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generics_in_Java
The generic E allows passing a type according to your needs.
class BoxCar<E> {
private int boxID;
private int count;
private boolean isEmpty;
private E target[];
private int capacity;
public BoxCar(int ID, int cap) {
boxID = ID;
isEmpty = true;
count = 0;
capacity = cap;
}
public setTarget(E target[]) {
thid.target = target;
}
}
Another approach is to use interfaces, for example this could be a solution:
Implementing an interface allows a class to become more formal about the behavior it promises to provide. Interfaces form a contract between the class and the outside world, and this contract is enforced at build time by the compiler. If your class claims to implement an interface, all methods defined by that interface must appear in its source code before the class will successfully compile.
https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/concepts/interface.html
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Map;
public class A {
public static void main(String[] args) {
BoxCar<String, String> boxCar_1 = new BoxCar<>(new Person("gov_id", "name", 35), 1, 1);
BoxCar<String, String> boxCar_2 = new BoxCar<>(new Cargo("c_id", 1, 1), 1, 1);
}
}
/**
* This interface declares the
* methods for box targets.
*
* #param <T> for jey
* #param <E> for value
*/
interface BoxCarTarget<T, E> {
/**
* This method returns the data regarding to
* a specific BoxCar target.
*
* #return Map with specific data.
*/
Map<T, E> getPayload();
}
class BoxCar<T, E> {
private BoxCarTarget<T, E> target;
private int boxID;
private int count;
private boolean isEmpty;
private int capacity;
BoxCar(BoxCarTarget<T, E> target, int ID, int cap) {
this.target = target;
boxID = ID;
isEmpty = true;
count = 0;
capacity = cap;
/*
* Here you can handle the payload.
* I think we can use reflection for
* extracting data.
*/
Map<T, E> payload = this.target.getPayload();
}
}
/**
* Class person
*/
class Person implements BoxCarTarget<String, String> {
private String government_ID, name;
private int age;
Person(String gov_ID, String Name, int Age) {
government_ID = gov_ID;
name = Name;
age = Age;
}
/**
* This method returns the data regarding to
* a specific BoxCar target.
*
* #return Map with specific data.
*/
#Override
public Map<String, String> getPayload() {
Map<String, String> payload = new HashMap<>();
payload.put("government_ID", government_ID);
payload.put("name", name);
payload.put("age", String.valueOf(age));
return payload;
}
}
/**
* Class Cargo
*/
class Cargo implements BoxCarTarget<String, String> {
private String cargo_ID;
private int height, weight;
Cargo(String c_id, int w, int h) {
cargo_ID = c_id;
height = h;
weight = w;
}
/**
* This method returns the data regarding to
* a specific BoxCar target.
*
* #return Map with specific data.
*/
#Override
public Map<String, String> getPayload() {
Map<String, String> payload = new HashMap<>();
payload.put("cargo_ID", String.valueOf(cargo_ID));
payload.put("height", String.valueOf(height));
payload.put("weight", String.valueOf(weight));
return payload;
}
}
Hope this helps!

I misunderstood your question previously. Here is what it should be:
public class BoxCarContents {
...
}
public class Person extends BoxCarContents {
...
}
public class Cargo extends BoxCarContents {
...
}
public class BoxCar<E extends BoxCarContents> {
E[] contents;
public BoxCar(int capacity) {
contents = new E[n];
}
...
}
//Alternative way
public class BoxCar {
BoxCarContents[] contents;
public BoxCar(BoxCarContents[] boxContents) {
contents = boxContents;
}
...
}
Basically the <E extends BoxCarContents> means E can be anything that extends BoxCarContents.

Related

My getters and setters aren't wokring correctly

As I'm going though the debugger it looks like it is working at first, however when I try calling getCoordinates() in my shipSunk() method, it returns a null value almost every time. What is wrong here?
public boolean shipSunk(ShipDerived[] s){
ArrayListMultimap<Integer, Integer> temp;
ArrayList<Integer> temp2 = new ArrayList<>();
boolean sunk = false;
for(int i=s.length-1; i>=0;i--){
Ship st = s[i];
temp = s[i].getCoordinates(); //returns null almost every time???
temp2 = s[i].getCoordinatesList();
for (Map.Entry<Integer, Integer> entry : temp.entries()){
//System.out.println(entry.getKey() + ", " + entry.getValue());
if(grid[entry.getKey()][entry.getValue()]=='x'){
sunk = true;
}
else{
sunk = false;
}
}
if(sunk==true){
System.out.println("Ship has been sunk!");
}
temp.clear();
}
return sunk;
}
And here is my Ship class (extended from abstract class) methods:
import java.util.ArrayList;
public class ShipDerived extends Ship{
private String type;
private int length;
private ArrayListMultimap<Integer, Integer> coordinates = ArrayListMultimap.create();
private ArrayList<Integer> c2 = new ArrayList<>();
public ShipDerived(){
this.type = type;
this.length = length;
this.coordinates = getCoordinates();
this.c2 = getCoordinatesList();
}
public ShipDerived(String t, int l){
this.type = t;
this.length = l;
this.coordinates = getCoordinates();
this.c2 = getCoordinatesList();
}
#Override
void setType(String t) {
type = t;
}
#Override
void setLength(int l) {
length = l;
}
#Override
String getType() {
return type;
}
#Override
int getLength() {
return length;
}
#Override
ArrayListMultimap<Integer, Integer> getCoordinates() {
return this.coordinates;
}
ArrayList<Integer> getCoordinatesList() {
return this.c2;
}
#Override
void setCoordinates(int i, int j) {
//coordinates.putAll(i, Collections.singleton(j));
this.coordinates.put(i,j);
this.c2.add(i);
this.c2.add(j);
}
}
Here is my Ship (abstract) class:
public abstract class Ship {
private int length;
private String type;
private ArrayListMultimap<Integer, Integer> coordinates;
Ship(){
this.length = length;
this.type = type;
}
abstract void setType(String t);
abstract void setLength(int l);
abstract String getType();
abstract int getLength();
abstract ArrayListMultimap<Integer, Integer> getCoordinates();
abstract void setCoordinates(int i, int j);
}
And this is what I am passing into my shipSunk() method. I an using getters/setters to create my ships:
p1board.shipSunk(p1.getShips()); //player 1
p2board.shipSunk(p2.getShips()); //player 2
These seem to work but here's some code into these as well:
public class Player {
private String name;
private ShipDerived[] ships = new ShipDerived[5];
public Player(){
this.name = name;
this.ships = ships;
}
public String getName(){
return name;
}
public void setName(String x){
name = x;
}
public void setShips(){
int a = 0;
for(int i=5; i>=1;i--){
ShipDerived s = new ShipDerived("null", 0);
Array.set(ships, a, s);
a++;
}
ships[0].setType("carrier");
ships[0].setLength(5);
ships[1].setType("battleship");
ships[1].setLength(4);
ships[2].setType("destroyer");
ships[2].setLength(3);
ships[3].setType("submarine");
ships[3].setLength(3);
ships[4].setType("patrol boat");
ships[4].setLength(2);
}
public ShipDerived[] getShips(){
return ships;
}
You initialize this.coordinates twice. First as an inline field initializer and second in the constructor. The statement this.coordinates = getCoordinates(); does not make sense because the getter returns this.coordinates, so you effectively get this.coordinates = this.coordinates;
This shouldn't effect your issue, but my recommendation for easier debugging is to just set all fields that you can to final to avoid issues such as this and remove the superfluous call from the constructor.
Then I would investigate the ArrayListMultimap.create(); method, if there is any way that one returns null.
You have #Override annotation on getCoordinates() so I'm guessing your Ship class also have coordinates field. In shipSunk method you cast your object to Ship class so most likely it operate on field Ship.coordintes whis is null because you are initializing only DerivedShip.coordinates.
Check this for simple example of hiding fields: If you overwrite a field in a subclass of a class, the subclass has two fields with the same name(and different type)?
There are so many strange things in your code:
Why has the Ship class private fields if you don't provide access methods for those fields? Without accessor methods nobody can use those fields, so just delete them!
Why do the ShipDerived constructors initialize the coordinates and c2 fields if you already initialize them at the declaration?
Why does Player.setShips() use some obscure Array.set(ships, a, s); when ships[a] = s; would be sufficient?
Why do your constructors (for Ship, ShipDerived and Player) contain nonsense-code like this.type = type; (in ShipDeriveds default constructor) that seems important but does nothing?
Why does the Player.setShips() method create empty ShipDerived instances and only afterwards sets their values?
After some cleanup your classes could look like:
Ship.java:
import com.google.common.collect.ArrayListMultimap;
public abstract class Ship {
Ship(){
}
abstract void setType(String t);
abstract void setLength(int l);
abstract String getType();
abstract int getLength();
abstract ArrayListMultimap<Integer, Integer> getCoordinates();
abstract void setCoordinates(int i, int j);
}
ShipDerived.java:
import java.util.ArrayList;
import com.google.common.collect.ArrayListMultimap;
public class ShipDerived extends Ship{
private String type;
private int length;
private ArrayListMultimap<Integer, Integer> coordinates = ArrayListMultimap.create();
private ArrayList<Integer> c2 = new ArrayList<>();
public ShipDerived(){
}
public ShipDerived(String t, int l){
this.type = t;
this.length = l;
}
#Override
void setType(String t) {
type = t;
}
#Override
void setLength(int l) {
length = l;
}
#Override
String getType() {
return type;
}
#Override
int getLength() {
return length;
}
#Override
ArrayListMultimap<Integer, Integer> getCoordinates() {
return this.coordinates;
}
ArrayList<Integer> getCoordinatesList() {
return this.c2;
}
#Override
void setCoordinates(int i, int j) {
this.coordinates.put(i, j);
this.c2.add(i);
this.c2.add(j);
}
}
Player.java:
public class Player {
private String name;
private ShipDerived[] ships = new ShipDerived[5];
public Player(){
}
public String getName(){
return name;
}
public void setName(String x){
name = x;
}
public void setShips(){
ships[0] = new ShipDerived("carrier", 5);
ships[1] = new ShipDerived("battleship", 4);
ships[2] = new ShipDerived("destroyer", 3);
ships[3] = new ShipDerived("submarine", 3);
ships[4] = new ShipDerived("patrol boat", 2);
}
public ShipDerived[] getShips(){
return ships;
}
}
These changes might not yet solve your issue, but at least make your code easier to read and understand.
Actually, since the Ship class no longer contains any fields and has only abstract methods you could even turn it into an interface (but that would mean that your methods are now public instead of package private, which would mean that you would also need to declare them as public in ShipDerived).
Ship.java, interface version:
import com.google.common.collect.ArrayListMultimap;
public interface Ship {
void setType(String t);
void setLength(int l);
String getType();
int getLength();
ArrayListMultimap<Integer, Integer> getCoordinates();
void setCoordinates(int i, int j);
}

how to create comparator with generic Treeset?

in need help with generics ,i have this class:
public class Course<T> {
private T idOrName;
private float avg;
public Course(T idOrName,float avg){
this.idOrName=idOrName;
this.avg=avg;
}
}
....and i need to make the user choose between String or Integer and then create a Treeset and sort it by this generics type.how can i do that if i dont know if its a number or String?? i have a problem with making the comparator :
Set<Course<?>> list=new TreeSet<>(new Comparator<Course<?>(){
#Override
public int compare(Course<?> o1, Course<?> o2) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
return 0;
}
});
First you need to indicate that the expected class must be Comparable by proceeding as next
public class Course<T extends Comparable<T>> {
...
}
Then your generic comparator could be something like this:
Set<Course<?>> list = new TreeSet<>(new Comparator<Course<?>>(){
#Override
public int compare(Course<?> o1, Course<?> o2) {
// If idOrName are both of the same class then we use the
// comparator of this class as we know that they are Comparable
if (o1.idOrName.getClass() == o2.idOrName.getClass()) {
return ((Comparable)o1.idOrName).compareTo((Comparable)o2.idOrName);
}
// If they are not of the same class we compare the name of the class
return o1.idOrName.getClass().getName().compareTo(
o2.idOrName.getClass().getName()
);
}
});
Go for duplication of the fields. Any other solution would be more circumstantial. Here I added a toString that unifies both cases.
public class Course {
private int id;
private String name;
private float avg;
public Course(int id, float avg){
this(id, "", avg);
}
public Course(String name, float avg){
this(0, name, avg);
}
private Course(int id, String name, float avg){
this.id = id;
this.name = name;
this.avg = avg;
}
#Override
public String toString() {
return id != 0 ? String.value(id) : name;
}
}
And a comparator (since java 8):
Comparator.comparingInt(course -> course.id)
.thenComparing(course -> course.name);
Comparator.comparingInt(Course::getId)
.thenComparing(Course::getName);

How do I sort an array of objects of different class types?

I am trying to develop a program that can sort an array of objects that are of different class types, but in the same hierarchy as one another. All of the objects are listed within the same array that I am trying to sort, and while I can alphabetically sort an array of objects that are of the same type easily enough, I cannot figure out how to sort everything all at once with the same Arrays.sort() method. Any help that anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated.
import java.util.Arrays;
public class Driver {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Vehicle[] machines = new Vehicle[3];//Example of an array that I can sort
machines[0] = new Vehicle("Giant Robot");
machines[1] = new Vehicle("Time Machine");
machines[2] = new Vehicle("Airplane");
Arrays.sort(machines);
for (int i = 0; i < machines.length; i++)
System.out.println(machines[i].getName());
Vehicle[] vehicles = new Vehicle[7];//example of an array that I cannot sort
vehicles[0] = new Car("Batmobile", 10);
vehicles[1] = new Helicopter("Batcopter", "x");
vehicles[2] = new Car("Jaguar", 6);
vehicles[3] = new Helicopter("RC Copter", "t");
vehicles[4] = new Car("Accelerator", 6);
vehicles[5] = new Helicopter("Stormshadow", "z");
vehicles[6] = new Car("Batmobile", 11);
}
}
**
public class Vehicle implements Comparable {
private String name;
public Vehicle(){
name = "no name";
}
public Vehicle(String newName){
name = newName;
}
public String getName(){
return name;
}
public int compareTo(Object o)
{
if ((o != null) &&
(o instanceof Vehicle))
{
Vehicle otherVehicle = (Vehicle) o;
return (name.compareTo(otherVehicle.name));
}
return -1;
}
}
**
public class Car extends Vehicle {
private int tireSize;
public Car(){
super();
tireSize = 0;
}
public Car(String newName, int newTireSize){
super(newName);
tireSize = newTireSize;
}
public int getSize(){
return tireSize;
}
}
**
public class Helicopter extends Vehicle {
private String bladeType;
public Helicopter(){
super();
bladeType = "none";
}
public Helicopter(String newName, String newBlade){
super(newName);
bladeType = newBlade;
}
public String getType(){
return bladeType;
}
}
Goal: You need to be able to compare a Vehicle to other of Vehicle.
To achieve that goal:
public class Vehicle implements Comparable<? extends Vehicle> {
....
public int compareTo(Object o) {
// Now, that the Comparable is for the type Vehicle
// you know that o is some kind of vehicle
// check vehicle related things
// number of seats, dogs, whatever
return -1;
}
}
You just need to adjust your code to:
class Vehicle implements Comparable<Vehicle> {
private String name;
/* ... */
#Override
public int compareTo(Vehicle vehicle) {
return name.compareTo(vehicle.getName());
}
}
In most cases, your classes should not implement Comparable, unless there is one and only one ordering that is always the correct one, like with numbers. Your vehicles can be sorted by name, by age, and probably by more criteria, so they should not implement Comparable.
Instead, you can pass the ordering function as a lambda function, at the time where you actually sort your vehicles:
Arrays.sort(machines, (left, right) -> left.getName().compareTo(right.getName()));
Or, equivalently:
Arrays.sort(machines, Comparator.comparing(Vehicle::getName));
This way you don’t need the implements Comparable anymore.
If you want to sort by vehicle type then you need to take class type into consideration, while sorting the element. Modify the compareTo() method as shown below:
public int compareTo(Object o){
if ((o != null) &&
(o instanceof Vehicle)){
Vehicle otherVehicle = (Vehicle) o;
return (otherVehicle.getClass().getSimpleName().equals(this.getClass().getSimpleName()) ?
name.compareTo(otherVehicle.name)
: otherVehicle.getClass().getSimpleName().compareTo(this.getClass().getSimpleName()));
}
return -1;
}

Create a List of generic list

How do I create a list of generic list? I have a Boxcar class that takes a generic argument and a Train class that is supposed to create a list of Boxcars. We are supposed to specify the type that will be in Boxcar in a separate main class, so until then boxcar has to stay generic. The following is the code that I have written. It compiles but in a separate driver class when calling the load method I get the error The method load(capture#1-of ?) in the type Boxcar<capture#1-of ?> is not applicable for the arguments (Person)
package proj5;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
public class Train {
private List<Boxcar<?>> train;
private int maxSpeed;
private int minSpeed;
private String position;
private int numBoxcars;
private int maxNumBoxcars;
private int speed;
private String destination;
private boolean stopped = true;
public Train(int maxSpeed, int minSpeed, int maxNumBoxcars, String position){
train = new ArrayList<Boxcar<?>>();
this.maxSpeed = maxSpeed;
this.minSpeed = minSpeed;
this.maxNumBoxcars = maxNumBoxcars;
this.position = position;
}
public int getMaxNumBoxcars(){
return maxNumBoxcars;
}
public int getSpeed(){
return speed;
}
public String getPosition(){
return position;
}
public int getMaxSpeed(){
return maxSpeed;
}
public int getNumBoxcars(){
return numBoxcars;
}
public List<Boxcar<?>> getTrain(){
return train;
}
public void depart(String destination){
this.destination = destination;
speed = minSpeed;
stopped = false;
}
public void arrive(){
stopped = true;
position = destination;
}
public void addCar(Boxcar<?> boxcar, int i){
if(stopped){
boxcar.setMaxItems(i);
train.add(boxcar);
}
}
public void removeCar(int i){
if(stopped){
train.remove(i);
}
}
}
package proj5;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Collections;
public class Boxcar<T extends Comparable<T>> {
private List<T> boxcar;
private int maxItems;
public Boxcar(){
boxcar = new ArrayList<T>();
}
public void load(T thing){
if(!boxcar.contains(thing) && boxcar.size() < maxItems){
boxcar.add(thing);
Collections.sort(boxcar);
}else{
}
}
public int getMaxItems(){
return maxItems;
}
public void setMaxItems(int i){
maxItems = i;
}
public void unload(T thing){
boxcar.remove(thing);
}
public List<T> getBoxcar(){
return boxcar;
}
}
I hope this better conveys what I am trying to accomplish
BoxCar which is a generic class:
class BoxCar<T>{
}
Train class which has a list of Boxcar:
class Train {
List<BoxCar<PassTheTypeHere>> = new ArrayList<BoxCar<PassTheTypeHere>>();
}
You need to supply a type in place of T and ? when creating a Generic List. For example a List of Boxcars containing Strings would look like this:
List<Boxcar<String>> train = new ArrayList<Boxcar<String>>();
The ? is an example of a wildcard, while a T represents a type that is referenced inside the source of List. That point can be tricky to understand without a deeper understanding of Generics, but I wanted to be sure address it for completeness sake. Take a look at this page for more information about how to use Generics inside your code.
Looking at your revised question, I would direct you to this line of code:
public class Boxcar<T extends Comparable<T>> {
and then just below it this line:
private List<T> boxcar;
This means whatever type you pass to new Boxcar<type>() will be carried over to the inner list (and other methods that expect an object of type T).
Based on the wording of your original question it sounds like you want to create a list of boxcars.
Below is all you would need to do.
private List<Boxcar> boxcarList = new ArrayList<Boxcar>();

Named Parameter idiom in Java

How to implement Named Parameter idiom in Java? (especially for constructors)
I am looking for an Objective-C like syntax and not like the one used in JavaBeans.
A small code example would be fine.
The best Java idiom I've seem for simulating keyword arguments in constructors is the Builder pattern, described in Effective Java 2nd Edition.
The basic idea is to have a Builder class that has setters (but usually not getters) for the different constructor parameters. There's also a build() method. The Builder class is often a (static) nested class of the class that it's used to build. The outer class's constructor is often private.
The end result looks something like:
public class Foo {
public static class Builder {
public Foo build() {
return new Foo(this);
}
public Builder setSize(int size) {
this.size = size;
return this;
}
public Builder setColor(Color color) {
this.color = color;
return this;
}
public Builder setName(String name) {
this.name = name;
return this;
}
// you can set defaults for these here
private int size;
private Color color;
private String name;
}
public static Builder builder() {
return new Builder();
}
private Foo(Builder builder) {
size = builder.size;
color = builder.color;
name = builder.name;
}
private final int size;
private final Color color;
private final String name;
// The rest of Foo goes here...
}
To create an instance of Foo you then write something like:
Foo foo = Foo.builder()
.setColor(red)
.setName("Fred")
.setSize(42)
.build();
The main caveats are:
Setting up the pattern is pretty verbose (as you can see). Probably not worth it except for classes you plan on instantiating in many places.
There's no compile-time checking that all of the parameters have been specified exactly once. You can add runtime checks, or you can use this only for optional parameters and make required parameters normal parameters to either Foo or the Builder's constructor. (People generally don't worry about the case where the same parameter is being set multiple times.)
You may also want to check out this blog post (not by me).
This is worth of mentioning:
Foo foo = new Foo() {{
color = red;
name = "Fred";
size = 42;
}};
the so called double-brace initializer. It is actually an anonymous class with instance initializer.
Java 8 style:
public class Person {
String name;
int age;
private Person(String name, int age) {
this.name = name;
this.age = age;
}
static PersonWaitingForName create() {
return name -> age -> new Person(name, age);
}
static interface PersonWaitingForName {
PersonWaitingForAge name(String name);
}
static interface PersonWaitingForAge {
Person age(int age);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
Person charlotte = Person.create()
.name("Charlotte")
.age(25);
}
}
named parameters
fix order of arguments
static check -> no nameless Person possible
hard to switch arguments of same type by accident (like it is possible in telescop constructors)
You could also try to follow advice from here.
int value;
int location;
boolean overwrite;
doIt(value=13, location=47, overwrite=true);
It's verbose on the call site, but overall gives the lowest overhead.
I would like to point out that this style addresses both the named parameter and the properties features without the get and set prefix which other language have. Its not conventional in Java realm but its simpler and shorter, especially if you have handled other languages.
class Person {
String name;
int age;
// name property
// getter
public String name() { return name; }
// setter
public Person name(String val) {
name = val;
return this;
}
// age property
// getter
public int age() { return age; }
// setter
public Person age(int val) {
age = val;
return this;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
// addresses named parameter
Person jacobi = new Person().name("Jacobi Adane").age(3);
// addresses property style
System.out.println(jacobi.name());
System.out.println(jacobi.age());
// updates property values
jacobi.name("Lemuel Jacobi Adane");
jacobi.age(4);
System.out.println(jacobi.name());
System.out.println(jacobi.age());
}
}
If you are using Java 6, you can use the variable parameters and import static to produce a much better result. Details of this are found in:
http://zinzel.blogspot.com/2010/07/creating-methods-with-named-parameters.html
In short, you could have something like:
go();
go(min(0));
go(min(0), max(100));
go(max(100), min(0));
go(prompt("Enter a value"), min(0), max(100));
What about
public class Tiger {
String myColor;
int myLegs;
public Tiger color(String s)
{
myColor = s;
return this;
}
public Tiger legs(int i)
{
myLegs = i;
return this;
}
}
Tiger t = new Tiger().legs(4).color("striped");
Java does not support Objective-C-like named parameters for constructors or method arguments. Furthermore, this is really not the Java way of doing things. In java, the typical pattern is verbosely named classes and members. Classes and variables should be nouns and method named should be verbs. I suppose you could get creative and deviate from the Java naming conventions and emulate the Objective-C paradigm in a hacky way but this wouldn't be particularly appreciated by the average Java developer charged with maintaining your code. When working in any language, it behooves you to stick to the conventions of the language and community, especially when working on a team.
I feel like the "comment-workaround" deserves it's own answer (hidden in existing answers and mentioned in comments here).
someMethod(/* width */ 1024, /* height */ 768);
You could use a usual constructor and static methods that give the arguments a name:
public class Something {
String name;
int size;
float weight;
public Something(String name, int size, float weight) {
this.name = name;
this.size = size;
this.weight = weight;
}
public static String name(String name) {
return name;
}
public static int size(int size) {
return size;
}
public float weight(float weight) {
return weight;
}
}
Usage:
import static Something.*;
Something s = new Something(name("pen"), size(20), weight(8.2));
Limitations compared to real named parameters:
argument order is relevant
variable argument lists are not possible with a single constructor
you need a method for every argument
not really better than a comment (new Something(/*name*/ "pen", /*size*/ 20, /*weight*/ 8.2))
If you have the choice look at Scala 2.8. http://www.scala-lang.org/node/2075
Using Java 8's lambdas you can get even closer to real named parameters.
foo($ -> {$.foo = -10; $.bar = "hello"; $.array = new int[]{1, 2, 3, 4};});
Do note that this probably violates a couple dozen "java best practices" (like anything that makes use of the $ symbol).
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Usage
foo($ -> {$.foo = -10; $.bar = "hello"; $.array = new int[]{1, 2, 3, 4};});
// Compare to roughly "equivalent" python call
// foo(foo = -10, bar = "hello", array = [1, 2, 3, 4])
}
// Your parameter holder
public static class $foo {
private $foo() {}
public int foo = 2;
public String bar = "test";
public int[] array = new int[]{};
}
// Some boilerplate logic
public static void foo(Consumer<$foo> c) {
$foo foo = new $foo();
c.accept(foo);
foo_impl(foo);
}
// Method with named parameters
private static void foo_impl($foo par) {
// Do something with your parameters
System.out.println("foo: " + par.foo + ", bar: " + par.bar + ", array: " + Arrays.toString(par.array));
}
}
Pros:
Considerably shorter than any builder pattern I've seen so far
Works for both methods and constructors
Completely type safe
It looks very close to actual named parameters in other programming languages
It's about as safe as your typical builder pattern (can set parameters multiple times)
Cons:
Your boss will probably lynch you for this
It's harder to tell what's going on
You can use project Lombok's #Builder annotation to simulate named parameters in Java. This will generate a builder for you which you can use to create new instances of any class (both classes you've written and those coming from external libraries).
This is how to enable it on a class:
#Getter
#Builder
public class User {
private final Long id;
private final String name;
}
Afterwards you can use this by:
User userInstance = User.builder()
.id(1L)
.name("joe")
.build();
If you'd like to create such a Builder for a class coming from a library, create an annotated static method like this:
class UserBuilder {
#Builder(builderMethodName = "builder")
public static LibraryUser newLibraryUser(Long id, String name) {
return new LibraryUser(id, name);
}
}
This will generate a method named "builder" which can be called by:
LibraryUser user = UserBuilder.builder()
.id(1L)
.name("joe")
.build();
This is a variant of the Builder Pattern as described by Lawrence above.
I find myself using this a lot (at the apropriate places).
The main difference is, that in this case the Builder is immuatable. This has the advantage that it can be reused and is thread-safe.
So you can use this to make one default Builder and then in the various places where you need it you can configure it and build your object.
This makes most sense, if you are building the same object over and over again, because then you can make the builder static and don't have to worry about changing it's settings.
On the other hand if you have to build objects with changing paramaters this has quiet some overhead. (but hey, you can combine static / dynamic generation with custom build methods)
Here is the example code:
public class Car {
public enum Color { white, red, green, blue, black };
private final String brand;
private final String name;
private final Color color;
private final int speed;
private Car( CarBuilder builder ){
this.brand = builder.brand;
this.color = builder.color;
this.speed = builder.speed;
this.name = builder.name;
}
public static CarBuilder with() {
return DEFAULT;
}
private static final CarBuilder DEFAULT = new CarBuilder(
null, null, Color.white, 130
);
public static class CarBuilder {
final String brand;
final String name;
final Color color;
final int speed;
private CarBuilder( String brand, String name, Color color, int speed ) {
this.brand = brand;
this.name = name;
this.color = color;
this.speed = speed;
}
public CarBuilder brand( String newBrand ) {
return new CarBuilder( newBrand, name, color, speed );
}
public CarBuilder name( String newName ) {
return new CarBuilder( brand, newName, color, speed );
}
public CarBuilder color( Color newColor ) {
return new CarBuilder( brand, name, newColor, speed );
}
public CarBuilder speed( int newSpeed ) {
return new CarBuilder( brand, name, color, newSpeed );
}
public Car build() {
return new Car( this );
}
}
public static void main( String [] args ) {
Car porsche = Car.with()
.brand( "Porsche" )
.name( "Carrera" )
.color( Color.red )
.speed( 270 )
.build()
;
// -- or with one default builder
CarBuilder ASSEMBLY_LINE = Car.with()
.brand( "Jeep" )
.name( "Cherokee" )
.color( Color.green )
.speed( 180 )
;
for( ;; ) ASSEMBLY_LINE.build();
// -- or with custom default builder:
CarBuilder MERCEDES = Car.with()
.brand( "Mercedes" )
.color( Color.black )
;
Car c230 = MERCEDES.name( "C230" ).speed( 180 ).build(),
clk = MERCEDES.name( "CLK" ).speed( 240 ).build();
}
}
Any solution in Java is likely going to be pretty verbose, but it's worth mentioning that tools like Google AutoValues and Immutables will generate builder classes for you automatically using JDK compile time annotation processing.
For my case, I wanted named parameters to use in a Java enum, so a builder pattern wouldn't work because enum instances can't be instantiated by other classes. I came up with an approach similar #deamon's answer but adds compile-time checking of parameter ordering (at the expense of more code)
Here's client code:
Person p = new Person( age(16), weight(100), heightInches(65) );
And the implementation:
class Person {
static class TypedContainer<T> {
T val;
TypedContainer(T val) { this.val = val; }
}
static Age age(int age) { return new Age(age); }
static class Age extends TypedContainer<Integer> {
Age(Integer age) { super(age); }
}
static Weight weight(int weight) { return new Weight(weight); }
static class Weight extends TypedContainer<Integer> {
Weight(Integer weight) { super(weight); }
}
static Height heightInches(int height) { return new Height(height); }
static class Height extends TypedContainer<Integer> {
Height(Integer height) { super(height); }
}
private final int age;
private final int weight;
private final int height;
Person(Age age, Weight weight, Height height) {
this.age = age.val;
this.weight = weight.val;
this.height = height.val;
}
public int getAge() { return age; }
public int getWeight() { return weight; }
public int getHeight() { return height; }
}
Here is a compiler-checked Builder pattern. Caveats:
this can't prevent double assignment of an argument
you can't have a nice .build() method
one generic parameter per field
So you need something outside the class that will fail if not passed Builder<Yes, Yes, Yes>. See the getSum static method as an example.
class No {}
class Yes {}
class Builder<K1, K2, K3> {
int arg1, arg2, arg3;
Builder() {}
static Builder<No, No, No> make() {
return new Builder<No, No, No>();
}
#SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
Builder<Yes, K2, K3> arg1(int val) {
arg1 = val;
return (Builder<Yes, K2, K3>) this;
}
#SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
Builder<K1, Yes, K3> arg2(int val) {
arg2 = val;
return (Builder<K1, Yes, K3>) this;
}
#SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
Builder<K1, K2, Yes> arg3(int val) {
this.arg3 = val;
return (Builder<K1, K2, Yes>) this;
}
static int getSum(Builder<Yes, Yes, Yes> build) {
return build.arg1 + build.arg2 + build.arg3;
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Compiles!
int v1 = getSum(make().arg1(44).arg3(22).arg2(11));
// Builder.java:40: error: incompatible types:
// Builder<Yes,No,Yes> cannot be converted to Builder<Yes,Yes,Yes>
int v2 = getSum(make().arg1(44).arg3(22));
System.out.println("Got: " + v1 + " and " + v2);
}
}
Caveats explained. Why no build method? The trouble is that it's going to be in the Builder class, and it will be parameterized with K1, K2, K3, etc. As the method itself has to compile, everything it calls must compile. So, generally, we can't put a compilation test in a method of the class itself.
For a similar reason, we can't prevent double assignment using a builder model.
The idiom supported by the karg library may be worth considering:
class Example {
private static final Keyword<String> GREETING = Keyword.newKeyword();
private static final Keyword<String> NAME = Keyword.newKeyword();
public void greet(KeywordArgument...argArray) {
KeywordArguments args = KeywordArguments.of(argArray);
String greeting = GREETING.from(args, "Hello");
String name = NAME.from(args, "World");
System.out.println(String.format("%s, %s!", greeting, name));
}
public void sayHello() {
greet();
}
public void sayGoodbye() {
greet(GREETING.of("Goodbye");
}
public void campItUp() {
greet(NAME.of("Sailor");
}
}
You can imitate named parameters applying this pattern:
public static class CarParameters {
// to make it shorter getters and props are omitted
public ModelParameter setName(String name) {
this.name = name;
return new ModelParameter();
}
public class ModelParameter {
public PriceParameter setModel(String model) {
CarParameters.this.model = model;
return new PriceParameter();
}
}
public class PriceParameter {
public YearParameter setPrice(double price) {
CarParameters.this.price = price;
return new YearParameter();
}
}
public class YearParameter {
public ColorParameter setYear(int year) {
CarParameters.this.year = year;
return new ColorParameter();
}
}
public class ColorParameter {
public CarParameters setColor(Color color) {
CarParameters.this.color = color;
return new CarParameters();
}
}
}
and then you can pass it to your method as this:
factory.create(new CarParameters()
.setName("Ford")
.setModel("Focus")
.setPrice(20000)
.setYear(2011)
.setColor(BLUE));
You can read more here https://medium.com/#ivorobioff/named-parameters-in-java-9072862cfc8c
Now that we're all on Java 17 ;-), using records is a super-easy way to imitate this idiom:
public class OrderTemplate() {
private int tradeSize, limitDistance, backoffDistance;
public record TradeSize( int value ) {}
public record LimitDistance( int value ) {}
public record BackoffDistance( int value ) {}
public OrderTemplate( TradeSize t, LimitDistance d, BackoffDistance b ) {
this.tradeSize = t.value();
this.limitDistance = d.value();
this.backoffDistance = b.value();
}
}
Then you can call:
var t = new OrderTemplate( new TradeSize(30), new LimitDistance(182), new BackoffDistance(85) );
Which I've found extremely easy to read and I've completely stopped getting all the int parameters mixed up ("was it size first or distance...").
package org.xxx.lang;
/**
* A hack to work around the fact that java does not support
* named parameters in function calls.
*
* Its easy to swap a few String parameters, for example.
* Some IDEs are better than others than showing the parameter names.
* This will enforce a compiler error on an inadvertent swap.
*
* #param <T>
*/
public class Datum<T> {
public final T v;
public Datum(T v) {
this.v = v;
}
public T v() {
return v;
}
public T value() {
return v;
}
public String toString() {
return v.toString();
}
}
Example
class Catalog extends Datum<String> {
public Catalog(String v) {
super(v);
}
}
class Schema extends Datum<String> {
public Schema(String v) {
super(v);
}
}
class Meta {
public void getTables(String catalog, String schema, String tablePattern) {
// pseudo DatabaseMetaData.getTables();
}
}
class MetaChecked {
public void getTables(Catalog catalog, Schema schema, String tablePattern) {
// pseudo DatabaseMetaData.getTables();
}
}
#Test
public void test() {
Catalog c = new Catalog("test");
assertEquals("test",c.v);
assertEquals("test",c.v());
assertEquals("test",c.value());
String t = c.v;
assertEquals("test",t);
}
public void uncheckedExample() {
new Meta().getTables("schema","catalog","%");
new Meta().getTables("catalog","schema","%"); // ooops
}
public void checkedExample() {
// new MetaChecked().getTables(new Schema("schema"),new Catalog("catalog"),"%"); // won't compile
new MetaChecked().getTables(new Catalog("catalog"), new Schema("schema"),"%");
}
maybe can use this:
HashMapFlow<String,Object> args2 = HashMapFlow.of( "name", "Aton", "age", 21 );
Integer age = args2.get("age",51);
System.out.println(args2.get("name"));
System.out.println(age);
System.out.println((Integer)args2.get("dayOfBirth",26));
class:
import java.util.HashMap;
public class HashMapFlow<K,V> extends HashMap {
public static <K, V> HashMapFlow<K, V> of(Object... args) {
HashMapFlow<K, V> map = new HashMapFlow();
for( int i = 0; i < args.length; i+=2) {
map.put((K)args[i], (V)args[i+1]);
}
return map;
}
public <T> T get(Object key, V defaultValue) {
V result = (V)get(key);
if( result == null ) {
result = defaultValue;
}
return (T)result;
}
public HashMapFlow add(K key, V value) {
put(key,value);
return this;
}
}
#irreputable came up with a nice solution. However - it might leave your Class instance in a invalid state, as no validation and consistency checking will happen. Hence I prefer to combine this with the Builder solution, avoiding the extra subclass to be created, although it would still subclass the builder class. Additionally, because the extra builder class makes it more verbose, I added one more method using a lambda. I added some of the other builder approaches for completeness.
Starting with a class as follows:
public class Foo {
static public class Builder {
public int size;
public Color color;
public String name;
public Builder() { size = 0; color = Color.RED; name = null; }
private Builder self() { return this; }
public Builder size(int size) {this.size = size; return self();}
public Builder color(Color color) {this.color = color; return self();}
public Builder name(String name) {this.name = name; return self();}
public Foo build() {return new Foo(this);}
}
private final int size;
private final Color color;
private final String name;
public Foo(Builder b) {
this.size = b.size;
this.color = b.color;
this.name = b.name;
}
public Foo(java.util.function.Consumer<Builder> bc) {
Builder b = new Builder();
bc.accept(b);
this.size = b.size;
this.color = b.color;
this.name = b.name;
}
static public Builder with() {
return new Builder();
}
public int getSize() { return this.size; }
public Color getColor() { return this.color; }
public String getName() { return this.name; }
}
Then using this applying the different methods:
Foo m1 = new Foo(
new Foo.Builder ()
.size(1)
.color(BLUE)
.name("Fred")
);
Foo m2 = new Foo.Builder()
.size(1)
.color(BLUE)
.name("Fred")
.build();
Foo m3 = Foo.with()
.size(1)
.color(BLUE)
.name("Fred")
.build();
Foo m4 = new Foo(
new Foo.Builder() {{
size = 1;
color = BLUE;
name = "Fred";
}}
);
Foo m5 = new Foo(
(b)->{
b.size = 1;
b.color = BLUE;
b.name = "Fred";
}
);
It looks like in part a total rip-off from what #LaurenceGonsalves already posted, but you will see the small difference in convention chosen.
I am wonder, if JLS would ever implement named parameters, how they would do it? Would they be extending on one of the existing idioms by providing a short-form support for it? Also how does Scala support named parameters?
Hmmm - enough to research, and maybe a new question.

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