Re: naive question
GG wrote:
I am writing a class that will be used across more than one applications.
how do I deal with set status on the applications? Can I pass the
appropriate setStatus(stringStatus) procedure to the class I am writing?
or is there a better way?
and how would it look like in code for passing and coding?
pardon my ignorance.
The question is general, so pardon the generality of the response. Much
depends on exactly how your new class is "used across more than one
application".
One kind of re-use is as an API; that is, the client module includes the API
class in its classpath, typically to create an instance of that class in its
own code.
public class Client
{
ApiFogger fogg = new ApiFogger();
public Client( Status status )
{
fogg.setStatus( status );
}
// etc.
}
As you see, one way to pass a status is as you suggested, through the set...()
and get...() of the API class that you write.
Another way a class gets "used across more than one application" is when it is
a server or part of some communications framework. For example, a single
message queue (as in Java Messaging Services, JMS) might hold data from
several senders on behalf of several receivers all at once. This is a shared
use, rather than the re-use of the preceding example. Once again, a status or
other information gets passed around often in the way you suggested, through
set...() (mutator) methods and get...() (accessor) methods.
Accessor and mutator methods are a fundamental part of the JavaBeans framework
/ design paradigm.
So how do you decide exactly what your class should do?
Step back from the coding part of the problem and think about the structure of
your overall system. Your class might be a short but highly important control
piece, like the controller servlet in a web application, or a lengthy,
subordinate logic class that "knows" a lot about business-domain processes,
or it might be a tiny but useful utility to parse Strings a certain way.
Depending on how the piece fits into the whole, think about how it should
communicate with other pieces. Each scenario calls for different ways of
doing things.
This is a big topic, but richly rewarding as you study it.
--
Lew