Java Pass Method as Parameter

Question

I am looking for a way to pass a parameter by reference. I understand that Java does not pass methods as parameters, however, I would like to get an alternative.

I've been told interfaces are the alternative to passing methods as parameters but I don't understand how an interface can act as a method by reference. If I understand correctly an interface is simply an abstract set of methods that are not defined. I don't want to send an interface that needs to be defined every time because several different methods could call the same method with the same parameters.

What I would like to accomplish is something similar to this:

public void setAllComponents(Component[] myComponentArray, Method myMethod) {
    for (Component leaf : myComponentArray) {
        if (leaf instanceof Container) { //recursive call if Container
            Container node = (Container) leaf;
            setAllComponents(node.getComponents(), myMethod);
        } //end if node
        myMethod(leaf);
    } //end looping through components
}

invoked such as:

setAllComponents(this.getComponents(), changeColor());
setAllComponents(this.getComponents(), changeSize());

Thanks in advance, Mac

Answer 1

Use the java.lang.reflect.Method object and call invoke

Answer 2

Take a look at the command pattern.

// NOTE: code not tested, but I believe this is valid java...
public class CommandExample 
{
    public interface Command 
    {
        public void execute(Object data);
    }

    public class PrintCommand implements Command 
    {
        public void execute(Object data) 
        {
            System.out.println(data.toString());
        }    
    }

    public static void callCommand(Command command, Object data) 
    {
        command.execute(data);
    }

    public static void main(String... args) 
    {
        callCommand(new PrintCommand(), "hello world");
    }
}

Edit: as Pete Kirkham points out, there's another way of doing this using a Visitor. The visitor approach is a little more involved - your nodes all need to be visitor-aware with an acceptVisitor() method - but if you need to traverse a more complex object graph then it's worth examining.

Answer 3

Use the Observer pattern (sometimes also called Listener pattern):

interface ComponentDelegate {
    void doSomething(Component component);
}

public void setAllComponents(Component[] myComponentArray, ComponentDelegate delegate) {
    // ...
    delegate.doSomething(leaf);
}

setAllComponents(this.getComponents(), new ComponentDelegate() {
                                            void doSomething(Component component) {
                                                changeColor(component); // or do directly what you want
                                            }
                                       });

new ComponentDelegate()... declares an anonymous type implementing the interface.

Answer 4

First define an Interface with the method you want to pass as a parameter

public interface Callable {
  public void call(int param);
}

Implement a class with the method

class Test implements Callable {
  public void call(int param) {
    System.out.println( param );
  }
}

// Invoke like that

Callable cmd = new Test();

This allows you to pass cmd as parameter and invoke the method call defined in the interface

public invoke( Callable callable ) { callable.call( 5 ); }

Answer 5

Last time I checked, Java is not capable of natively doing what you want; you have to use 'work-arounds' to get around such limitations. As far as I see it, interfaces ARE an alternative, but not a good alternative. Perhaps whoever told you that was meaning something like this:

public interface ComponentMethod {
  public abstract void PerfromMethod(Container c);
}

public class ChangeColor implements ComponentMethod {
  @Override
  public void PerfromMethod(Container c) {
    // do color change stuff
  }
}

public class ChangeSize implements ComponentMethod {
  @Override
  public void PerfromMethod(Container c) {
    // do color change stuff
  }
}

public void setAllComponents(Component[] myComponentArray, ComponentMethod myMethod) {
    for (Component leaf : myComponentArray) {
        if (leaf instanceof Container) { //recursive call if Container
            Container node = (Container) leaf;
            setAllComponents(node.getComponents(), myMethod);
        } //end if node
        myMethod.PerfromMethod(leaf);
    } //end looping through components
}

Which you'd then invoke with:

setAllComponents(this.getComponents(), new ChangeColor());
setAllComponents(this.getComponents(), new ChangeSize());

Answer 6

Java do have a mechanism to pass name and call it. It is part of the reflection mechanism. Your function should take additional parameter of class Method.

public void YouMethod(..... Method methodToCall, Object objWithAllMethodsToBeCalled)
{
...
Object retobj = methodToCall.invoke(objWithAllMethodsToBeCalled, arglist);
...
}

Answer 7

You could see some functional libraries for Java, like http://code.google.com/p/functionaljava/