The only thing with that is if you might need to change those constants while the application is running, you won't be able to this way. Of course, you could argue they aren't constants then, and i'd tend to agree! :)
For instance, in one application I wrote, I read in an application configuration file at startup, and store it all in a class with nothing but static members. However, some of the config values can be switched during the lifetime of the system. For instance, this application makes calls to another server as a proxy to a mainframe system. Sometimes we have to take that proxy server down, so we just point the application to another temporary one in real-time. No downing anything, it's instant. So, I can't have that information being static. In such a case, what Eddie says is still valid with regard to the static initializer, but now there's a tad bit more work: don't make the data members final, just make them private and expose them with getters, no setters, and expose a static readConfig() method (which is what gets called in the static initializer too). Then, if you need to change values, just modify the config file and have an administration function that calls readConfig(). Best of both worlds I figure :) -- Frank W. Zammetti Founder and Chief Software Architect Omnytex Technologies http://www.omnytex.com On Fri, January 28, 2005 10:31 am, Eddie Bush said: > I'll probably get called insane ... :-) > > Generally, when I have a class that contains constants, I do make them > final, but I set their value in a static initializer. Inside of this > static initializer, I will load the values from a properties file and > then assign them. This way, my values are easily changed, if need be, > cannot be set after initialization, and my class has no dependency > upon any other class knowning about how to initialize it. > > ... then, I poke tons of stuff into properties files and XML files and > load them in static initializers. ... it just seems like a really > easy way to add flexibility. > > Good Luck! > > -- > Eddie Bush > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >
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