Overriding common Java methods

Question

I wanted to create an interface for copying an object to a target object of the same class. A simple way is to use casting:

import org.junit.Test;
import org.junit.internal.runners.JUnit4ClassRunner;
import org.junit.runner.RunWith;

@RunWith(JUnit4ClassRunner.class)
public class TestGenerics {
public static interface Copyable {
    public void copy(Copyable c);
}

public static class A implements Copyable {
    private String aField = "--A--";
    protected void innerCopy(Copyable c) {
        A a = (A)c;
        System.out.println(a.aField);
    }
    public void copy(Copyable c) {
        innerCopy(c);
    }
}

public static class B extends A {
    private String bField = "--B--";
    protected void innerCopy(Copyable c) {
        B b = (B)c;
        super.innerCopy(b);
        System.out.println(b.bField);
    }
}

@Test
public void testCopy() {
    Copyable b1 = new B();
    Copyable b2 = new B();
    b1.copy(b2);
}
}

But also I found a way that this can be done using generics:

import org.junit.Test;
import org.junit.internal.runners.JUnit4ClassRunner;
import org.junit.runner.RunWith;

@RunWith(JUnit4ClassRunner.class)
public class TestGenerics {
    public static interface Copyable<T> {
        public void copy(T t);
    }

    public static class A<T extends A<?>> implements Copyable<T> {
        private String a = "--A--";
        public void copy(T t) {
            System.out.println(t.a);
        }
    }

    public static class B<T extends B<?>> extends A<T> {
        private String b = "--B--";
        public void copy(T t) {
            super.copy(t);
            System.out.println(t.b);
        }
    }

    @Test
    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
    public void testCopy() {
        Copyable b1 = new B();
        Copyable b2 = new B();
        b1.copy(b2);
    }
}

Although the only way to get rid of warnings is through annotation. And it seems that something is wrong. So what? I can admit that something is wrong at the root of the problem. Therefore, any clarification is welcome.

Answer 1

I recognized Scala, and now I know that the thing I wanted 2 years ago could be achieved using a contravariant type system and Scala:

trait CopyableTo[-T] {
  def copyTo(t: T)
}

class A(private var a: Int) extends CopyableTo[A] {
  override def copyTo(t: A) {
    println("A:copy")
    t.a = this.a
  }
}

class B(private var a: Int, private var b: Int) extends A(a) with CopyableTo[B] {
  def copyTo(t: B) {
    println("B:copy")
    super.copyTo(t)
    t.b = this.b
  }
}

@Test
def zzz {
  val b1 = new B(1, 2)
  val a1 = new A(3)
  val b2 = new B(4, 5)
  b1.copyTo(a1)
  a1.copyTo(b1)
  b1.copyTo(b2)
}

Java .

Answer 2

:

public interface Copyable<T extends Copyable<T>> {
    void copy(T copyFrom);
}

:

public class Example implements Copyable<Example> {
    private Object data;
    void copy(Example copyFrom) {
        data = copyFrom.data;
    }
    //nontrivial stuff
}

.

Answer 3

, , :

public static /*final*/ class AClass implements Copyable<AClass> {

"":

public static abstract class AClass<T extends AClass<T>> implements Copyable<T> {

Answer 4

testCopy - , " " "", - " <T> .". Copyable, Ts ( T). , :

public static class A<T extends A> implements Copyable<T>
public static class B<T extends B> extends A<T>

, Copyable <B> B ( Copyable). testCopy() . , , :

public void testExamples()
{
    // implementation of A that applies to A and subtypes
    Copyable<A> aCopier = new A<A>();

    // implementation of B that applies to B and subtypes
    Copyable<B> bCopier = new B<B>();

    // implementation of A that applies to B and subtypes
    Copyable<B> bCopier2 = new A<B>();
}

Answer 5

, , , . , , - . , , .

, Object.clone() Cloneable.

Answer 6

. - .

import static org.junit.Assert.fail;

import org.junit.Test;
import org.junit.internal.runners.JUnit4ClassRunner;
import org.junit.runner.RunWith;

@RunWith(JUnit4ClassRunner.class)
public class TestGenerics {
    public static interface Copyable<T> {
        public void copy(T t);
    }

    public static class A<T extends A<T>> implements Copyable<T> {
        private String a = "--A--";
        public void copy(T t) {
            System.out.println(t.a);
        }
        @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
        public static Copyable<Object> getInstance() {
            return new A();
        }

    }

    public static class B<T extends B<T>> extends A<T> {
        private String b = "--B--";
        public void copy(T t) {
            super.copy(t);
            System.out.println(t.b);
        }
        @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
        public static Copyable<Object> getInstance() {
            return new B();
        }
    }


    @Test
    public void testCopy() {
        Copyable<Object> b1 = B.getInstance();
        Copyable<Object> b2 = B.getInstance();
        Copyable<Object> a = A.getInstance();
        b1.copy(b2); // this works as intended
        try {
            b1.copy(a); // this throws ClassCastException
            fail();
        } catch (ClassCastException cce) {
        }
    }
}

, :

       for (Method method : A.class.getMethods()) {
               if (method.getName().equals("copy")) {
                       System.out.println(method.toString());
               }

       }
       for (Method method : B.class.getMethods()) {
               if (method.getName().equals("copy")) {
                       System.out.println(method.toString());
               }

       }

:

public void com.sbp.core.TestGenerics$A.copy(com.sbp.core.TestGenerics$A)
public void com.sbp.core.TestGenerics$A.copy(java.lang.Object)

public void com.sbp.core.TestGenerics$B.copy(com.sbp.core.TestGenerics$B)
public void com.sbp.core.TestGenerics$B.copy(com.sbp.core.TestGenerics$A)
public void com.sbp.core.TestGenerics$A.copy(java.lang.Object)

, :

• (...) B , "" - 2 , reifed (reified T from Copyable Object, reified "T extends A " A A), , - reified . ( ) , ( ). - ClassCastException , b1.copy(a).

• It seems that direct type casting is a cleaner and better tool for my problem, and generics are better used in their direct to provide compile-time type checking.