July 2004 Technical Tip – Using Objects in Place of Primitives in Java

July 2004 Technical Tip – Using Objects in Place of Primitives in Java

If one were to create a Java class to store information about a person, one would probably use a char to indicate the gender, as in 'M' or 'F'. But there are problems with this approach. For example, there may be nothing to keep the user of this class from passing an 'X' as the gender. There is a better way. One can create a class Gender, with static instances MALE and FEMALE, and use an instance of that class (rather than a char) within the person class.

First, let's illustrate the problem...here's a typical approach to the problem of storing a gender:

public class Person1
{
    private String name;
    private char gender;

    public Person1(String name, char gender)
    {
        this.name = name;
        this.gender = gender;
    }

    public String toString()
    {
        return name + " is a " +
            (gender == 'M'? "male": "female") + ".";
    }
}

Download source code here.

And this simple test application shows what's wrong with that approach. There's nothing to prevent the user of this class from specifying an invalid gender:

public class Person1Test
{
    public static void main(String[ ] args)
    {
        Person1 son1 = new Person1("Bill", 'M');
        Person1 daughter = new Person1("Ida", 'F');
        Person1 son2 = new Person1("Jerry", 'X');  // oops!
        System.out.println(son1);
        System.out.println(daughter);
        System.out.println(son2);
    }
}

Download source code here.

Here is the recommended alternative to stated problem. First, create a class Gender as follows:

public class Gender
{
    private String description = null;

    private Gender(String description)
    {
        super();
        this.description = description;
    }

    public String toString()
    {
        return description;
    }

    public static final Gender MALE = new Gender("male");

    public static final Gender FEMALE = new Gender("female");
}

Download source code here.

Note that the constructor is private. Further, note that MALE and FEMALE are static instances of this class, therefore there will only ever be one of each. These instantiations take place within the Gender class itself, therefore they have access to the private constructor. This class is then used to indicate the gender in the Person2 class (rather than use a char) as follows:

public class Person2
{
    private String name;
    private Gender gender;  // no longer char

    public Person2(String name, Gender gender)
    {
        this.name = name;
        this.gender = gender;
    }

    public String toString()
    {
        return name + " is a " +
        (gender == Gender.MALE? "male": "female") + ".";
    }
}

Download source code here.

A Person2 is instantiated by passing a String name and a Gender as shown in the following test application:

public class Person2Test
{
    public static void main(String[ ] args)
    {
        Person2 son1 = new Person2("Bill", Gender.MALE);
        Person2 daughter = new Person2("Ida", Gender.FEMALE);
        Person2 son2 = new Person2("Jerry", Gender.MALE);
        System.out.println(son1);
        System.out.println(daughter);
        System.out.println(son2);
    }
}

Download source code here.

Other examples can be found at http://www.caliberdt.com/tips/Face.java, http://www.caliberdt.com/tips/Coin.java, and http://www.caliberdt.com/tips/CoinTest.java.

If you or your staff are in need of Java training, we hope you’ll consider Caliber Data Training when you are looking for a training provider.