Re: Enums: Properties vs. Methods

From:
Robert Klemme <shortcutter@googlemail.com>
Newsgroups:
comp.lang.java.programmer
Date:
Wed, 30 Mar 2011 20:06:13 +0200
Message-ID:
<8vh9p1FikeU1@mid.individual.net>
On 29.03.2011 18:26, markspace wrote:

On 3/29/2011 8:18 AM, Robert Klemme wrote:

/** We use custom methods. */
public enum Meth {


I agree with Lew that this second example was pretty confusing and hard
to follow. I also think that it's difficult to predict memory usage
without careful analysis.

I'd like to see a "motivating" example. What do you actually intend to
use this for? I can't see that a general case is too interesting, except
to disqualify the method pattern.


See https://gist.github.com/892503#file_valve.java

Then different
enums can have differing implementations of the method and we have an
instance of Strategy / State pattern.


I don't think State works this way. Strategy ... maybe, but the use of
enums for Strategy seems confining. I'd just use regular inheritance and
classes. The "method pattern" for Strategy would be fine I think if it
weren't shoe-horned into an enum.


Actually I always have a hard time distinguishing those two patterns:
IMHO they are pretty much identical at the core, the main feature is
that I delegate functionality to another instance which might be from
different classes related via inheritance (at least implementing the
same interface). The only real difference that I can spot is the point
in time when the delegate is changed: in one case it might be never
changed during the lifetime of an instance (strateg) and in the other
case it is changed whenever a state change occurs (state). I find that
only a marginal difference between the two compared to the crucial point
that those patterns both use an exchangeable delegate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_pattern
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategy_pattern

Full toy class https://gist.github.com/892503#file_prop_vs_meth.java


I'll check it out.


Thanks.

Kind regards

    robert

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