return type of method

Question

1.50/5 (2 votes)

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Java

public class A
{
  public static void main(String []args)
  {
    X(1);
  }
  public ????? X(int i)
  {
    if(i==0)
      return new B();
    else
      return new C();
  }
}
public class B
{
}
public class C
{
}

what should be the return type of method X in place of ?????

Posted 19-May-15 1:19am

Member 8192444

Updated 19-May-15 1:29am

Frankie-C

v2

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Tomas Takac 19-May-15 7:42am

Object. But this is bad design! B and C should have something common and this commonality should be expressed by an interface or a base class.

CPallini 19-May-15 8:00am

My virtual 5.

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 19-May-15 8:05am

Will you post it as the formal answer, perhaps with a bit of detail?
—SA

Tomas Takac 19-May-15 8:35am

Done. Thanks.

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Tomas Takac · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-19T02:34:00

Solution 1

To make the code compile you can declare X's return type as Object. This will work as everything is an object. However it is bad design!

You factory (method X) is creating objects of both types because they have something in common. If they are not related at all then why they need to be created in the same method?

In OOP you express this commonality by a base class or an interface and let the factory return then common type.

Java

public abstract class Account {}

public class SavingsAccount extends Account {}

public class TransactionAccount extends Account {}

public Account Create(int type)
{
    if(type == 0) 
        return new SavingsAccount();
    else
        return new TransactionAccount(); 
}

Posted 19-May-15 2:34am

Tomas Takac

Updated 19-May-15 3:14am

v2

Comments

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 19-May-15 8:53am

I voted 4. Will you please fix the typo in first line, or better yet, check it all on a compiler?
Besides, it's good to show at least one member of Account, to demonstrate how the caller of the method Create could use it (but none of the members added by derived classes).

Also note that the method Create should be static. Such methods can be called "factory methods".

—SA

Tomas Takac 19-May-15 9:35am

Thank you, I fixed the typo. I'm a bit hesitant to add more details though because I don't think it will help to make it more clear.

I would disagree that the method should be static. What if I want to have it injected? And I avoided naming it "factory method" on purpose. When you say "factory method" the design pattern comes to my mind first. While this is a factory and it is a method it's not implementation of that pattern.

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 19-May-15 10:19am

About "static", the rule is quite simple: if you don't use "this" anywhere in its code, it should be static. Making a method non-static (instance) without a purpose is a violation of the good style and is a performance leak detected as such by some analysis tools.

"Factory method" is only my own hint to the inquirer; this is not something you would need to mention. Yes, essentially it is a factory method.

—SA