Collection of strings - two different ways

[Peppy]

Hi,

I was looking at creating a collection of strings and I've seen two
different means of doing this

List <String> list = new ArrayList <String> ( );
ArrayList <String> list = new ArrayList <String> ( );

which one should I use?

 

[Hendrik Maryns]

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Peppy schreef:

Hi,

I was looking at creating a collection of strings and I've seen two
different means of doing this

List <String> list = new ArrayList <String> ( );
ArrayList <String> list = new ArrayList <String> ( );

which one should I use?

The first. Google for ‘prefer interface over implementation’ or some
rule in that line.

H.
- --
Hendrik Maryns
http://tcl.sfs.uni-tuebingen.de/~hendrik/
==================
http://aouw.org
Ask smart questions, get good answers:
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[Robert Klemme]

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Peppy schreef:

The first. Google for ‘prefer interface over implementation’ or some
rule in that line.

Exception: you need some methods specific to the class (for example
LinkedLists's removeFirst()).

robert

 

[Lew]

Peppy schreef:
"Use the most general type appropriate to your algorithm."

If List is too general, use the second, otherwise prefer the first as Robert said.

One advantage of the first is that you can very easily refactor the
declaration, e.g.,
List <String> stuff = new TreeList <String> ();

Side note: "list" is a terrible name for a variable, especially if its type is
not "List", as in the second case. Either way it says little to nothing about
the interpretation of the variable.

 

[Hendrik Maryns]

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Robert Klemme schreef:

Exception: you need some methods specific to the class (for example
LinkedLists's removeFirst()).

Well, no, then you probably want to declare the variable of the type
Deque. LinkedList implements a lot of interfaces. I have used it as a
Queue as well.

H.
- --
Hendrik Maryns
http://tcl.sfs.uni-tuebingen.de/~hendrik/
==================
http://aouw.org
Ask smart questions, get good answers:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
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