Function in a variable

[beserie]

Here is my problem :

I am trying to model a growing city having different types of buildings.
The only deference between the buildings is the formula to calculate the cost necessary to go up one level.

in extremely simple it makes something like this :
class Building {
private int initialCost;
private << fucntion to calculate next level's cost>>;
private currentLevel;
public Building( int initialCost, ...
...
public int grow() // sould return the cost of the new constructiion and increment the level.

I would like to use the same class to model all the buildings. using the constructor to passe the growing function to the object

the growing function could be somthing like :
cost = initialCost * (level+2)
--or--
cost = initialCost ^level
--or--
anything like that. involving initialCost, the level, and possibly a few constants.


how whoul I define that variable ? how do I use it ? is this possible? how else could I do ?

[tim]

Hello beserie.

If I understand your problem correctly, you want to create a class to represent a building where buildings only differ by their formula. I would create another class to represent formulas. One that can create and solve them. The problem is that this could be difficult and time consuming.

In one of the languages I used, it was possible to create a delegate object from an existing method. That delegate object can call a method no matter what it is, as long as it has the correct signature. That means that you can program the formulas you need yourself and "pass" them to the constructor of your building class. That constructor can then use these methods as the formulas that it needs and do calculations. I know this sounds funny, but C# supported this.

If this is possible in java and someone on Java Forums would like to help, then your problem could be very easy to solve. Unfortunatly, I'm new to java and I can't do this type of programmng using java.

[roots]

It ain't ruby !!
You can achieve this using call back, mess of codes ..

Code:

public class Main {
	double initialCost ;
	CostCalculator cost1 ;
	CostCalculator cost2 ;
	
	Main(){
		cost1 = new CostCalculator(){
			@Override
			public double Calculate(double initialCost) {
				return initialCost * 2 ;
			}
			
		};
		
		cost2 = new CostCalculator(){
			@Override
			public double Calculate(double initialCost) {
				return initialCost * 3 ; // What ever
			}			
		};	
	}
	
	public double calculate(){
		return cost1.Calculate(initialCost); // Plus extra stuffs if you have
	}
}

If i have understood your problem correctly, this is one of the option you have got.

[tim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by roots

It ain't ruby !!

I looked into this. Looks like delegates are not supported by Java. I found a web page with a delegate class that can be used in Java. It's a bit complicated for me, but here is the link:
Alex Winston's Blog: Strongly Typed Java Delegates
Thank you for answering me roots.

[roots]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tim

Looks like delegates are not supported by Java.

If you are talking about Delegation pattern - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia it is object oriented design pattern rather than a language feature. Ruby and Java script supports passing variables directly unlike java.