Re: Is this code "proper" use of extend?

From:

Lew <lew@lewscanon.com>

Newsgroups:

comp.lang.java.programmer

Date:

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 19:20:19 -0500

Message-ID:

<2KOdnXnUSPxZNc3anZ2dnUVZ_ournZ2d@comcast.com>

Curt Welch wrote:

I agree, it would be very silly to use a has-as relationship and duplicate
the entire vector contract. If you want it to act like a vector, you did
the right thing.

However, I'm not sure if you decision to create an object which acts like a
vector is the right choice. You would have to tell us more about your
application and what you were putting in that vector to allow us to suggest
a different way to fracture your code to solve the problem.

....

It's hard to tell whether the has-a relationship might work for you without
understanding more about your application.

In his superb /Effective Java/, Joshua Bloch has a chapter (Item 14) devoted
to the principle that one should "Favor composition over inheritance", with a
detailed explanation as to why, and when the choice of inheritance is indicated.

Note that when Bloch says, "favor", he doesn't mean, "make a religion out of
insisting on".

<http://www.amazon.com/Effective-Java-Programming-Language-Guide/dp/0321356683/>

--
Lew