Multiple leaf methods problem in composite pattern
- by Ondrej Slinták
At work, we are developing an PHP application that would be later re-programmed into Java. With some basic knowledge of Java, we are trying to design everything to be easily re-written, without any headaches. Interesting problem came out when we tried to implement composite pattern with huge number of methods in leafs.
What are we trying to achieve (not using interfaces, it's just an example):
class Composite {
...
}
class LeafOne {
public function Foo( );
public function Moo( );
}
class LeafTwo {
public function Bar( );
public function Baz( );
}
$c = new Composite( Array( new LeafOne( ), new LeafTwo( ) ) );
// will call method Foo in all classes in composite that contain this method
$c->Foo( );
It seems like pretty much classic Composite pattern, but problem is that we will have quite many leaf classes and each of them might have ~5 methods (of which few might be different than others). One of our solutions, which seems to be the best one so far and might actually work, is using __call magic method to call methods in leafs.
Unfortunately, we don't know if there is an equivalent of it in Java.
So the actual question is: Is there a better solution for this, using code that would be eventually easily re-coded into Java? Or do you recommend any other solution? Perhaps there's some different, better pattern I could use here.
In case there's something unclear, just ask and I'll edit this post.
