Software architecture for two similar classes which require different input parameters for the same method
- by I Like to Code
I am writing code to simulate a supply chain.
The supply chain can be simulated in either
an intermediate stocking or a cross-docking configuration.
So, I wrote two simulator objects IstockSimulator and XdockSimulator.
Since the two objects share certain behaviors
(e.g. making shipments, demand arriving),
I wrote an abstract simulator object AbstractSimulator
which is a parent class of the two simulator objects.
The abstract simulator object has a method runSimulation()
which takes an input parameter of class SimulationParameters.
Up till now, the simulation parameters only contains fields
that are common to both simulator objects,
such as randomSeed, simulationStartPeriod and simulationEndPeriod.
However, I now want to include fields that are specific to the type of simulation that is being run,
i.e. an IstockSimulationParameters class for an intermediate stocking simulation,
and a XdockSimulationParameters class for a cross-docking simulation.
My current idea is take the method runSimulation()
out of the AbstractSimulator class,
but to put a runSimulation(IstockSimulationParameters) method
in the IstockSimulator class,
and a runSimulation(XdockSimulationParameters) method
in the IstockSimulator class.
I am worried however, that this approach will lead to code duplication.
What should I do?
