I've got the following code example:
class p {
public void druckauftrag() {
// ...
drucke();
}
public void drucke() {
System.out.println("B/W-Printer");
}
}
class cp extends p {
public void drucke() {
System.out.println("Color-Printer");
}
}
Calling the following lines:
cp colorprinter = new cp();
cp.druckauftrag();
There is no problem understanding why "cp.druckauftrag();" results in console output "Color-Printer".
But when I call:
p drucker = (p)colorprinter;
drucker.druckauftrag();
I get the same output - why?
Does the typecast overwrite the object "drucker" 's method "drucke" with "drucke" from colorprinter?
Thanks in advance for every explanation.
colorprinter does not stop being an instance of cp when you use the cast operator on it, so its implementation of public void drucke() does not change
What you are expressing with your (p)colorprinter casting is the kind of contract (interface) you expect the object colorprinter to satisfy, which includes a public method with the signature public void drucke(), but not any specific implementation.
And, by the way, this casting is already performed implicitly when you declare drucker of the type p, so (p) is redundant in p drucker = (p)colorprinter;. p drucker = colorprinter; will suffice.
Here you can learn more about typecasting.
Keep in mind that it's best practice to extend from abstract classes or interfaces and only #Override (implement) abstract methods. A better design of your code would be:
abstract class BasePrinter {
public void druckauftrag() {
// ...
drucke();
}
public void drucke();
}
class p extends BasePrinter {
public void drucke() {
System.out.println("B/W-Printer");
}
}
class cp extends BasePrinter {
public void drucke() {
System.out.println("Color-Printer");
}
}
But of course constraints don't always allow for that kind of redesign. Passing the base requirements as parameters to the constructor (dependency injection) instead of extending a base class can also be a good alternative:
interface Druckable {
void drucke();
}
class Druckauftrager {
Druckable dk;
Druckauftrager(Drukable dk){
this.dk = dk;
}
public void druckauftrag() {
// ...
dk.drucke();
}
}
class p implements Druckable {
public void drucke() {
System.out.println("B/W-Printer");
}
}
class cp implements Druckable {
public void drucke() {
System.out.println("Color-Printer");
}
}
Now, if you want to express that a printer requires or can have multiple printing capabilities (like both color and b/w), you just write the class with as much extra Drukable properties and constructor parameters as you want, for example:
class BlackAndWhiteOrColorPrinter {
p blackAndWhitePrintService;
cp colorPrintService;
Druckable selectedPrintService;
BlackAndWhiteOrColorPrinter (p blackAndWhitePrintService, cp colorPrintService){
this.blackAndWhitePrintService = blackAndWhitePrintService;
this.colorPrintService = colorPrintService;
this.selectedPrintService = blackAndWhitePrintService;
}
public void druckauftrag() {
// ...
selectedPrintService.drucke();
}
}
This way, you can even write a class MultiPrinter with a MultiPrinter(List<Druckable> printServices) constructor and add any number of printing modes to its list of printing services: p, cp, and whatever other implementation of Druckable with its public void drucke() comes in the future. It is also extra practical if you want to introduce unit testing, so you can provide mockup objects that force the particular conditions you want to test, like druke() throwing a PaperJamException, for example.
For more information on how interfaces, overriding and inheritance work, see https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/IandI/usinginterface.html
BTW, acording to the latest revision of the official java code conventions guide and also by de facto standard, classes in Java should use CamelCase naming convention. You can also benefit greatly from using semanting naming on all your definitions, like BlackAndWhitePrinter blackAndWhitePrinter and ColorPrinter colorPrinter.
colorprinter is an instance of cp. Even when you upcast it to p, it's drucke() method will be still the one from cp.
The difference is that after you upcast colorprinter, you will not be able to invoke the methods that cp defines on its own.
When you create an object using new operator, memory is allocated in heap. Methods and fields are actually there depending upon the concrete actual class of the object.
Alter a sub class overrides and modifies a behavior from its super class, invoking the overridden method will always result in the modified behavior. Casting will only mean that the object of sub class is now represented by the super type as the object has a modified behavior for a method will always result in the modified behavior.
Suppose you have below classes
public class Fruit{
public void taste(){
System.out.println("depends upon the actual fruit");
}
}
public class Mango extends Fruit{
#Override
public void taste(){
System.out.println("sweet");
}
public void wayToExposeSuperMethod(){
super.taste();
}
}
In other words its like calling mango as a fruit but still mango remains mango.
For above code
Fruit fruit = new Mango();
fruit.taste(); // <-- this will output : sweet
((Mango)fruit).taste();// <-- this will output : sweet
fruit.wayToExposeSuperMethod(); // <-- this will not compile
((Mango)fruit).wayToExposeSuperMethod(); // <-- this will output : depends upon the actual fruit
Related
Today I was thinking about a nice way to write less code for a common functionality that is required for different objects.
Inheritance can do the job but then the classes won't be able to inherit from anyone else, so I chose Interfaces.
So I have my interface with the functionality I will need for some objects:
public interface Test {
String message = "Hello from Interface!";
default void printMessage() {
System.out.println(message);
}
}
And then I can use it in any object without having to override/write any code more than just simply calling the method when needed:
public class TestingTest implements Test {
public String message = "Hello from Class!";
public TestingTest() {
printMessage();
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
new TestingTest();
}
}
It works like a charm! But... Then I thought, what if I want some of those objects to specify a different message without being required (optional), well first thing I thought was to shadow the interface variable, but it doesn't work, the default method keeps using the variable from the interface instead of the class variable (which shadowed it).
A solution of course would be to overload the printMessage method in the interface so it recieves the message as a parameter for when the user requires to specify the message, but is there any more elegant way? Something like simply just declaring a new message in the class?
The String message in the interface is static (AFAIK). So that scheme does not work.
You might do something (ugly) as:
default void printMessage(String... messages) {
if (messages.length == 0) {
messages = new String[] { "arrgg" };
}
System.out.println(messages[0]);
}
Fields have no inheritance, so the value can only stem from an overridable method like
public String message() { return "..."; }
What you want is a functionality in n classes that should also be modifiable, if needed.
To be honest, your example is a little bit abstract and thus my answer will be abstract, too.
public interface Test {
void printMessage();
default void printMessage(String message) {
System.out.println(message);
}
}
public class TestingTest {
private final test;
public TestingTest(Test test) {
this.test = test;
}
public void someMethod() {
test.printMessage("Hello from class");
}
}
Additionally, you would have a class that implements the interface and offers the message. This way you could group your objects, change the message, make more complex logging and you would actually see the dependency from outside.
In my opinion, you are misusing the interface. An interface offers public methods to call it from outside, but you want to use them inside like they were private functionalities for the class.
Just use objects instead.
I have a question. I have multiple classes in a package: Let's say package is
com.myPackage.first
And this package has the following classes:
firstGood
secondGood
thirdBad
fourthGood
Each of these classes have a method with the same name but different implementation. So say each have a one particular function called:
public void runMe(){
}
For now I want to come up with a way to given a class name, it'll go inside the class and run that particular method.
So conceptually, my method will look like those:
ArrayList<Class> classList ; // where classList is a list of classes I want to run
public void execute(){
for(Class c : classList){
// Go inside that class, (maybe create an intance of that class) and run the method called run me
}
}
or
public void execute(Class c, String methodToRun){
for(Class c : classList){
// Go inside that class, (maybe create an intance of that class) and run the method called run me
}
}
For now. what I have been able to do is get the name of the classes I want to run the
runMe()
method. So I have been able to come with a way to get the arraylist of classes I want to run. So what I need help with is coming up with a method such that it takes a class name and run the method I want it to. Any help is appreciated. Thanks
I suggest having a look at Class.forName ( ... ) to get the class object, Class.newInstance(); if your classes have a default constructor (or Class.getDeclaredConstructor(...) otherwise) to create a new instance and then Class.getDeclaredMethod( ... ) to find the method and invoke it.
All of this without any regard if your idea is really a good one, since I really didn't quite understand WHY you want to do what you want to do...
interface Me {
void runMe();
}
Then let all classes implement Me.
And have a list of Mes
List<Class<Me>> ...
Then
void test(Class<Me> cl) {
Me me = cl.newInstance();
me.runMe();
}
My adage is always use reflection to solve a problem - now you have two problems. In view of that have you considered a simple pattern like this:
interface Runner {
public void runMe();
}
static abstract class BaseRunner implements Runner {
public BaseRunner() {
// Automagically register all runners in the RunThem class.
RunThem.runners.add(this);
}
}
class FirstGood extends BaseRunner implements Runner {
#Override
public void runMe() {
System.out.println(this.getClass().getSimpleName() + ":runMe");
}
}
class SecondGood extends BaseRunner implements Runner {
#Override
public void runMe() {
System.out.println(this.getClass().getSimpleName() + ":runMe");
}
}
static class RunThem {
static final Set<Runner> runners = new HashSet<>();
static void runThem() {
for (Runner r : runners) {
r.runMe();
}
}
}
public void test() {
Runner f = new FirstGood();
Runner s = new SecondGood();
RunThem.runThem();
}
Here all of your runMe objects extend a base class whose constructor installs the object in a Set held by the class that calls their runMe methods.
inline
void execute() throws Exception{
for (Class<?> c : classesList)
{
//If you don't already have an instance then you need one
//note if the method is static no need for any existing instance.
Object obj = Class.forName(c.getName());
// name of the method and list of arguments to pass
Method m = c.getDeclaredMethod(methodName,null);
//method accessibility check
if(!m.isAccessible())
m.setAccessible(true);
//invoke method if method with arguements then pass them as new Object[]{arg0...} instead of null
//if method is static then m.innvoke(null,null)
m.invoke(obj, null);
}
}
I would recommend using an Interface that defines the runMe() method and then have all your classes implement that interface. Then you would have a list of this Interface:
List<MyInterface> classes = new ArrayList<MyInterface>();
Then you could easily iterate over it and invoke "runMe()" on all of them or if you only want to invoke it for instances of a certain class you could do it like this:
public void execute(Class classForWhichToExecute) {
for (MyInterface myInterface : classes) {
if (classForWhichToExecute.isAssignableForm(myInterface)) {
myInterface.runMe();
}
}
}
Of course this wouldn't work if your method is a static method - so adding more information from your side would help.
I would suggest to use an interface with a common method to override in each class. So that any class can be casted to interface and use its method to execute the method.
interface GoodAndBad{
public void runMe();
}
Implemented class
class FirstGood implements GoodAndBad{
#override
public void runMe(){
// Code to be executed
}
}
You can use execute() method as follows
public void execute(List<GoodAndBad> classList){
for(GoodAndBad c : classList){
c.runMe();
// Go inside that class, (maybe create an intance of that class) and
// run the method called run me
}
}
Change the Class to GoodAndBad interface to change the other method too.
This is loosely coupling objects to support favor over composition in Java Object Oriented Design Patterns.
Never use Strings of method names to execute a method at anytime. There are plenty of other cool solutions for that using design patterns.
Suppose we have some Base class with a method with Object parameter, and in a newer vesion developers decide to change Ojbect to int.
for example:
public class Base {
public void foo(Object i)
{
System.out.println("ahahaa");
}
}
public class Child extends Base
{
public void foo(Object i)
{
System.out.println("tru-la-la");
}
}
Then new version of Base:
public class Base
{
public void foo(int i)
{
Console.WriteLine("ahahaa");
}
}
Then if we call something like:
Child child = new Child();
child.foo(5);
We'll get "ahaha" instead of expected "tru-la-la"
So how can we deal with it, and what architecture solution should we use?
It seems you are not looking for an explanation regarding why you get "ahaha" and not "tru-la-la" (which you used to get before the change in the Base class).
If you are releasing libraries to be used by other developers, you are expected to maintain backward comptibility. The chnage you describe in the Base class clearly doesn't respect backward comptibility, so any code that relies on it would break.
There's nothing you can do other than change your code or stop using that library.
You can change your code, for example, by calling child.foo(new Integer(5)), which would invoke the sub-class method.
Another thing that can help is to mark the method in the Child class with #Override annotation. This would stop your code from compiling after the change in the Base class.
If you are using an int -child.foo(5); then the JVM will naturaly take the method in the child object that is most specific. In this case it is
a choice between
public void foo (Object i) {
&
public void foo (int i) {
the more specific is --
public void foo(int i) {
which writes "ahahaa"
Lets suppose I have the following two classes
public class alpha {
public alpha(){
//some logic
}
public void alphaMethod1(){
//some logic
}
}
public class beta extends alpha {
public beta(){
//some logic
}
public void alphaMethod1(){
//some logic
}
}
public class Test extends beta
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
beta obj = new beta();
obj.alphaMethod1();// Here I want to call the method from class alpha.
}
}
If I initiate a new object of type beta, how can I execute the alphamethod1 logic found in class alpha rather than beta? Can I just use super().alphaMethod1() <- I wonder if this is possible.
Autotype in Eclipse IDE is giving me the option to select alphamethod1 either from class alpha or class beta.
You can do:
super.alphaMethod1();
Note, that super is a reference to the parent class, but super() is its constructor.
Simply use super.alphaMethod1();
See super keyword in java
You can't call alpha's alphaMethod1() by using beta's object But you have two solutions:
solution 1: call alpha's alphaMethod1() from beta's alphaMethod1()
class Beta extends Alpha
{
public void alphaMethod1()
{
super.alphaMethod1();
}
}
or from any other method of Beta like:
class Beta extends Alpha
{
public void foo()
{
super.alphaMethod1();
}
}
class Test extends Beta
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
Beta beta = new Beta();
beta.foo();
}
}
solution 2: create alpha's object and call alpha's alphaMethod1()
class Test extends Beta
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
Alpha alpha = new Alpha();
alpha.alphaMethod1();
}
}
It is possible to use super to call the method from mother class, but this would mean you probably have a design problem.
Maybe B.alphaMethod1() shouldn't override A's method and be called B.betaMethod1().
If it depends on the situation, you can put some code logic like :
public void alphaMethod1(){
if (something) {
super.alphaMethod1();
return;
}
// Rest of the code for other situations
}
Like this it will only call A's method when needed and will remain invisible for the class user.
Whenever you create child class object then that object has all the features of parent class.
Here Super() is the facilty for accession parent.
If you write super() at that time parents's default constructor is called.
same if you write super.
this keyword refers the current object same as super key word facilty for accessing parents.
Solution is at the end of this answer, but before you read it you should also read what is before it.
What you are trying to do would break security by allowing skipping possible validation mechanisms added in overridden methods.
For now lets imagine we can invoke version of method from superclass via syntax like
referenceVariable.super.methodName(arguments)
If we have classes like
class ItemBox{ //can sore all kind of Items
public void put(Item item){
//(1) code responsible for organizing items in box
}
//.. rest of code, like container for Items, etc.
}
class RedItemsBox extends ItemBox {//to store only RED items
#Override
public void put(Item item){ //store only RED items
if (item.getColor()==Color.RED){
//(2) code responsible for organizing items in box
}
}
}
As you see RedItemsBox should only store RED items.
Regardless which of the below we use
ItemBox box = new RedItemsBox();
RedItemsBox box = new RedItemsBox();
calling
box.put(new BlueItem());
will invoke put method from RedItemsBox (because of polymorphism). So it will correctly prevent BlueItem object from being placed in RedItemBox.
But what would happen if we could use syntax like box.super.put(new BlueItem())?
Here (assuming it would be legal) we would execute version of put method from ItemBox class.
BUT that version doesn't have step responsible for validating Item color. This means that we could put any Item into a RedItemBox.
Existence of such syntax would mean that validation steps added in subclasses could be ignored at any time, making them pointless.
There IS a case where executing code of "original" method would make sense.
And that palce is inside overriding method.
Notice that comments //(1) .. and //(2).. from put method of ItemBox and RedItemBox are quite similar. Actually they represent same action...
So it makes sense to reuse code from "original" method inside overriding method.
And that is possible via super.methodName(arguments) call (like from inside put of RedItemBox):
#Override
public void put(Item item){ //store only RED items
if (item.getColor()==Color.RED){
super.put(item); // <<<--- invoking code of `put` method
// from ItemBox (supertype)
}
}
beta obj = new beta();
Since you have created beta object , you cant refer directly to alphamethod1 of alpha object.
It can be modified as
class Beta extends Alpha
{
public void alphaMethod1()
{
super.alphaMethod1();
}
}
If I have a program that does the following:
if(input=='abc'){do x}
if(input=='def'){do y}
In the future, I may want to add another piece of code like so:
if(input=='ghy'){do x}
As you can see, I am adding a new 'if' statement for a different conditional BUT using the SAME function X.
The code in future has potential to have lots of different IF statements (or switches) all of which are comparing a string vs a string and then performing a function. Considering the future expansion, I was wondering if there is a possible 'neater', 'modular' way of achieving the same results.
It's a shame I can't combine the String with a Method call in a hashtable (String, method) in Java. That way I could just store any new procedures inside a hashtable and grab the relevant method for that String.
Any ideas?
Thank you
EDIT: Thank you for everyone's solutions. I was surprised by the quantity and quality of replies I received in such a small amount of time.
Maybe you can use enum. Example:
public enum InputType
{
abc, def
{
#Override
public void x()
{
System.out.println("Another method");
}
},
ghy;
public void x()
{
System.out.println("One method");
}
}
And further:
InputType.valueOf("abc").x();
Cheers!
I guess you could always use a Map<String, Runnable> and map to anonymous Runnable implementations:
myMap.put("abc", new Runnable() { public void run() { do x } });
...
myMap.get(input).run();
You should take a look at the command pattern. There are several ways of implementing it, and frameworks such as Spring can help you do with in a clean way.
But in a simple manner here's what you could do:
1-Create a Command interface with a method that your program will have to call to do the task, say doTask()
2-Create classes for command X and Y, implementing the Command interface.
3-Create a Map<String, Command> that will map your commands (X and Y) to logical names
4-Create a configuration file of your choice, say a .properties file that will map your input to your command names: abc=X, def=Y, ghi=X
5-Your program then does lookups on the config file to know which command to run according to the input.
A lot of ifs always tell us that we could do this better. In your case better option is to use design pattern e.g. Chain of responsibility. You will have good implementation which you can dynamic change and your code will be easier to maintenance than ifs implementation.
Take a look at this adaptation chain of responsibility to your case:
Main:
public static void main(String[] args) {
ClassA classA = new ClassA(Arrays.asList("abc", "ghi"));
ClassB classB = new ClassB(Arrays.asList("def"));
classA.setNextInChain(classB); // you can always write Builder to do this
String input = "def";
classA.execute(input);
}
BaseClass:
public abstract class BaseClass {
private Collection<String> patterns = Collections.EMPTY_LIST;
protected BaseClass nextInChain;
protected abstract void doMethod(); // your doA, doB methods
public void execute(String input) {
// this replace many ifs in your previous implementation
if (patterns.contains(input)) {
doMethod();
} else {
nextInChain.execute(input);
}
}
public void setPatterns(Collection<String> patterns) {
this.patterns = patterns;
}
public void setNextInChain(BaseClass nextInChain) {
this.nextInChain = nextInChain;
}
}
Class in chain:
public class ClassA extends BaseClass {
ClassA(Collection<String> patterns) {
setPatterns(patterns);
}
#Override
protected void doMethod() {
// do A
}
}
public class ClassB extends BaseClass {...}