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Multiple dispatching

The above design is certainly satisfactory. Adding new types to the system consists of adding or modifying distinct classes without causing code changes to be propagated throughout the system. In addition, RTTI is not “misused” as it was in RecycleA.java. However, it’s possible to go one step further and take a purist viewpoint about RTTI and say that it should be eliminated altogether from the operation of sorting the trash into bins.

To accomplish this, you must first take the perspective that all type-dependent activities – such as detecting the type of a piece of trash and putting it into the appropriate bin – should be controlled through polymorphism and dynamic binding.

The previous examples first sorted by type, then acted on sequences of elements that were all of a particular type. But whenever you find yourself picking out particular types, stop and think. The whole idea of polymorphism (dynamically-bound method calls) is to handle type-specific information for you. So why are you hunting for types?

The answer is something you probably don’t think about: Java performs only single dispatching. That is, if you are performing an operation on more than one object whose type is unknown, Java will invoke the dynamic binding mechanism on only one of those types. This doesn’t solve the problem, so you end up detecting some types manually and effectively producing your own dynamic binding behavior.

The solution is called multiple dispatching , which means setting up a configuration such that a single method call produces more than one dynamic method call and thus determines more than one type in the process. To get this effect, you need to work with more than one type hierarchy: you’ll need a type hierarchy for each dispatch. The following example works with two hierarchies: the existing Trash family and a hierarchy of the types of trash bins that the trash will be placed into. This second hierarchy isn’t always obvious and in this case it needed to be created in order to produce multiple dispatching (in this case there will be only two dispatches, which is referred to as double dispatching ).

Implementing the double dispatch

Remember that polymorphism can occur only via method calls, so if you want double dispatching to occur, there must be two method calls: one used to determine the type within each hierarchy. In the Trash hierarchy there will be a new method called addToBin( ), which takes an argument of an array of TypedBin. It uses this array to step through and try to add itself to the appropriate bin, and this is where you’ll see the double dispatch.

The new hierarchy is TypedBin, and it contains its own method called add( ) that is also used polymorphically. But here’s an additional twist: add( ) is overloaded to take arguments of the different types of trash. So an essential part of the double dispatching scheme also involves overloading.

Redesigning the program produces a dilemma: it’s now necessary for the base class Trash to contain an addToBin( ) method. One approach is to copy all of the code and change the base class. Another approach, which you can take when you don’t have control of the source code, is to put the addToBin( ) method into an interface, leave Trash alone, and inherit new specific types of Aluminum, Paper, Glass, and Cardboard. This is the approach that will be taken here.

Most of the classes in this design must be public, so they are placed in their own files. Here’s the interface: 

//: TypedBinMember.java
// An interface for adding the double dispatching
// method to the trash hierarchy without 
// modifying the original hierarchy.
package c16.doubledispatch;

interface TypedBinMember {
  // The new method:
  boolean addToBin(TypedBin[] tb);
} ///:~

In each particular subtype of Aluminum, Paper, Glass, and Cardboard, the addToBin( ) method in the interface TypedBinMember is implemented,, but it looks like the code is exactly the same in each case: 

//: DDAluminum.java
// Aluminum for double dispatching
package c16.doubledispatch;
import c16.trash.*;

public class DDAluminum extends Aluminum 
    implements TypedBinMember {
  public DDAluminum(double wt) { super(wt); }
  public boolean addToBin(TypedBin[] tb) {
    for(int i = 0; i < tb.length; i++)
      if(tb[i].add(this))
        return true;
    return false;
  }
} ///:~ 

//: DDPaper.java
// Paper for double dispatching
package c16.doubledispatch;
import c16.trash.*;

public class DDPaper extends Paper 
    implements TypedBinMember {
  public DDPaper(double wt) { super(wt); }
  public boolean addToBin(TypedBin[] tb) {
    for(int i = 0; i < tb.length; i++)
      if(tb[i].add(this))
        return true;
    return false;
  }
} ///:~ 

//: DDGlass.java
// Glass for double dispatching
package c16.doubledispatch;
import c16.trash.*;

public class DDGlass extends Glass 
    implements TypedBinMember {
  public DDGlass(double wt) { super(wt); }
  public boolean addToBin(TypedBin[] tb) {
    for(int i = 0; i < tb.length; i++)
      if(tb[i].add(this))
        return true;
    return false;
  }
} ///:~ 

//: DDCardboard.java
// Cardboard for double dispatching
package c16.doubledispatch;
import c16.trash.*;

public class DDCardboard extends Cardboard 
    implements TypedBinMember {
  public DDCardboard(double wt) { super(wt); }
  public boolean addToBin(TypedBin[] tb) {
    for(int i = 0; i < tb.length; i++)
      if(tb[i].add(this))
        return true;
    return false;
  }
} ///:~

The code in each addToBin( ) calls add( ) for each TypedBin object in the array. But notice the argument: this. The type of this is different for each subclass of Trash, so the code is different. (Although this code will benefit if a parameterized type mechanism is ever added to Java.) So this is the first part of the double dispatch, because once you’re inside this method you know you’re Aluminum, or Paper, etc. During the call to add( ), this information is passed via the type of this. The compiler resolves the call to the proper overloaded version of add( ). But since tb[i] produces a handle to the base type TypedBin, this call will end up calling a different method depending on the type of TypedBin that’s currently selected. That is the second dispatch.

Here’s the base class for TypedBin:

//: TypedBin.java
// Vector that knows how to grab the right type
package c16.doubledispatch;
import c16.trash.*;
import java.util.*;

public abstract class TypedBin {
  Vector v = new Vector();
  protected boolean addIt(Trash t) {
    v.addElement(t);
    return true;
  }
  public Enumeration elements() {
    return v.elements();
  }
  public boolean add(DDAluminum a) {
    return false;
  }
  public boolean add(DDPaper a) {
    return false;
  }
  public boolean add(DDGlass a) {
    return false;
  }
  public boolean add(DDCardboard a) {
    return false;
  }
} ///:~

You can see that the overloaded add( ) methods all return false. If the method is not overloaded in a derived class, it will continue to return false, and the caller ( addToBin( ), in this case) will assume that the current Trash object has not been added successfully to a collection, and continue searching for the right collection.

In each of the subclasses of TypedBin, only one overloaded method is overridden, according to the type of bin that’s being created. For example, CardboardBin overrides add(DDCardboard). The overridden method adds the trash object to its collection and returns true, while all the rest of the add( ) methods in CardboardBin continue to return false, since they haven’t been overridden. This is another case in which a parameterized type mechanism in Java would allow automatic generation of code. (With C++ templates, you wouldn’t have to explicitly write the subclasses or place the addToBin( ) method in Trash.)

Since for this example the trash types have been customized and placed in a different directory, you’ll need a different trash data file to make it work. Here’s a possible DDTrash.dat:

c16.DoubleDispatch.DDGlass:54
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDPaper:22
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDPaper:11
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDGlass:17
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDAluminum:89
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDPaper:88
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDAluminum:76
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDCardboard:96
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDAluminum:25
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDAluminum:34
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDGlass:11
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDGlass:68
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDGlass:43
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDAluminum:27
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDCardboard:44
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDAluminum:18
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDPaper:91
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDGlass:63
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDGlass:50
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDGlass:80
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDAluminum:81
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDCardboard:12
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDGlass:12
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDGlass:54
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDAluminum:36
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDAluminum:93
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDGlass:93
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDPaper:80
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDGlass:36
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDGlass:12
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDGlass:60
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDPaper:66
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDAluminum:36
c16.DoubleDispatch.DDCardboard:22

Here’s the rest of the program: 

//: DoubleDispatch.java
// Using multiple dispatching to handle more
// than one unknown type during a method call.
package c16.doubledispatch;
import c16.trash.*;
import java.util.*;

class AluminumBin extends TypedBin {
  public boolean add(DDAluminum a) {
    return addIt(a);
  }
}

class PaperBin extends TypedBin {
  public boolean add(DDPaper a) {
    return addIt(a);
  }
}

class GlassBin extends TypedBin {
  public boolean add(DDGlass a) {
    return addIt(a);
  }
}

class CardboardBin extends TypedBin {
  public boolean add(DDCardboard a) {
    return addIt(a);
  }
}

class TrashBinSet {
  private TypedBin[] binSet = {
    new AluminumBin(),
    new PaperBin(),
    new GlassBin(),
    new CardboardBin()
  };
  public void sortIntoBins(Vector bin) {
    Enumeration e = bin.elements();
    while(e.hasMoreElements()) {
      TypedBinMember t = 
        (TypedBinMember)e.nextElement();
      if(!t.addToBin(binSet))
        System.err.println("Couldn't add " + t);
    }
  }
  public TypedBin[] binSet() { return binSet; }
}

public class DoubleDispatch {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    Vector bin = new Vector();
    TrashBinSet bins = new TrashBinSet();
    // ParseTrash still works, without changes:
    ParseTrash.fillBin("DDTrash.dat", bin);
    // Sort from the master bin into the 
    // individually-typed bins:
    bins.sortIntoBins(bin);
    TypedBin[] tb = bins.binSet();
    // Perform sumValue for each bin...
    for(int i = 0; i < tb.length; i++)
      Trash.sumValue(tb[i].v);
    // ... and for the master bin
    Trash.sumValue(bin);
  }
} ///:~

TrashBinSet encapsulates all of the different types of TypedBins, along with the sortIntoBins( ) method, which is where all the double dispatching takes place. You can see that once the structure is set up, sorting into the various TypedBins is remarkably easy. In addition, the efficiency of two dynamic method calls is probably better than any other way you could sort.

Notice the ease of use of this system in main( ), as well as the complete independence of any specific type information within main( ). All other methods that talk only to the Trash base-class interface will be equally invulnerable to changes in Trash types.

The changes necessary to add a new type are relatively isolated: you inherit the new type of Trash with its addToBin( ) method, then you inherit a new TypedBin (this is really just a copy and simple edit), and finally you add a new type into the aggregate initialization for TrashBinSet.

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