java-Encapsulation

[lenah]

AS far as encapsulation is concerned, private variables are declared to have set/get methods. but what about boolean variable.

if i declare a boolean variable as private,
it takes isVariableName?

can any one comment on this?

[Eranga]

The type of the variable is doesn't matter at all. You can use get/set method or any other custom name for a method.

[racerxadam]

It's a matter of preference, I personally would use getIsVariableName/setIsVariableName

[Eranga]

It's better what ever more descriptive name convention use.

[DarrylBurke]

It's a matter of preference, I personally would use getIsVariableName/setIsVariableName

By far the most common convention is to use set/is for booleans and set/get for all other types.

getIs/setIs appears horribly contrived.

db

edit

In addition, this is part of the Java Beans specification. Click the link on
API Specifications for JavaBeans
(Requires login to the Sun Java Developers Community)

Section 8.3.2 says:

8.3.2 Boolean properties

In addition, for boolean properties, we allow a getter method to match the pattern:
public boolean is<PropertyName>();

This “is<PropertyName>” method may be provided instead of a “get<PropertyName>” method,
or it may be provided in addition to a “get<PropertyName>” method.

In either case, if the “is<PropertyName>” method is present for a boolean property then we will
use the “is<PropertyName>” method to read the property value.

An example boolean property might be:
public boolean isMarsupial();
public void setMarsupial(boolean m);

Or see the JavaBean Example on
JavaBean - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Steve11235]

Darryl is correct in what he says. The big reason, which Darryl alludes to, is that you want to follow the Java Beans conventions. That enables many tools and even some built-in functionality (XML serialization) to work.