Builder Pattern

Builder Pattern

Instead of having many constructor parameters like this:

// Telescoping constructor pattern - does not scale well!
public class NutritionFacts {
    private final int servingSize;  // (mL)            required
    private final int servings;     // (per container) required
    private final int calories;     //                 optional
    private final int fat;          // (g)             optional
    private final int sodium;       // (mg)            optional
    private final int carbohydrate; // (g)             optional
 
    public NutritionFacts(int servingSize, int servings) {
        this(servingSize, servings, 0);
    }
 
    public NutritionFacts(int servingSize, int servings,
            int calories) {
        this(servingSize, servings, calories, 0);
    }
 
    public NutritionFacts(int servingSize, int servings,
            int calories, int fat) {
        this(servingSize, servings, calories, fat, 0);
    }
 
    public NutritionFacts(int servingSize, int servings,
            int calories, int fat, int sodium) {
        this(servingSize, servings, calories, fat, sodium, 0);
    }
 
    public NutritionFacts(int servingSize, int servings,
           int calories, int fat, int sodium, int carbohydrate) {
        this.servingSize  = servingSize;
        this.servings     = servings;
        this.calories     = calories;
        this.fat          = fat;
        this.sodium       = sodium;
        this.carbohydrate = carbohydrate;
    }
}
 
NutritionFacts cocaCola =
    new NutritionFacts(240, 8, 100, 0, 35, 27);

And instead of using Javabeans pattern:

// JavaBeans Pattern - allows inconsistency, mandates mutability
public class NutritionFacts {
    // Parameters initialized to default values (if any)
    private int servingSize  = -1; // Required; no default value
    private int servings     = -1;  //     "     "      "      "
    private int calories     = 0;
    private int fat          = 0;
    private int sodium       = 0;
    private int carbohydrate = 0;
 
    public NutritionFacts() { }
    // Setters
    public void setServingSize(int val)  { servingSize = val; }
    public void setServings(int val)     { servings = val; }
    public void setCalories(int val)     { calories = val; }
    public void setFat(int val)          { fat = val; }
    public void setSodium(int val)       { sodium = val; }
    public void setCarbohydrate(int val) { carbohydrate = val; }
}
 
NutritionFacts cocaCola = new NutritionFacts();
cocaCola.setServingSize(240);
cocaCola.setServings(8);
cocaCola.setCalories(100);
cocaCola.setSodium(35);
cocaCola.setCarbohydrate(27);

You could use a Builder Pattern:

// Builder Pattern
public class NutritionFacts {
    private final int servingSize;
    private final int servings;
    private final int calories;
    private final int fat;
    private final int sodium;
    private final int carbohydrate;
 
    public static class Builder {
        // Required parameters
        private final int servingSize;
        private final int servings;
 
        // Optional parameters - initialized to default values
        private int calories      = 0;
        private int fat           = 0;
        private int carbohydrate  = 0;
        private int sodium        = 0;
 
        public Builder(int servingSize, int servings) {
            this.servingSize = servingSize;
            this.servings    = servings;
        }
 
        public Builder calories(int val)
            { calories = val;      return this; }
        public Builder fat(int val)
            { fat = val;           return this; }
        public Builder carbohydrate(int val)
            { carbohydrate = val;  return this; }
        public Builder sodium(int val)
            { sodium = val;        return this; }
 
        public NutritionFacts build() {
            return new NutritionFacts(this);
        }
    }
 
    private NutritionFacts(Builder builder) {
        servingSize  = builder.servingSize;
        servings     = builder.servings;
        calories     = builder.calories;
        fat          = builder.fat;
        sodium       = builder.sodium;
        carbohydrate = builder.carbohydrate;
    }
}
 
NutritionFacts cocaCola = new NutritionFacts.Builder(240, 8).
  calories(100).sodium(35).carbohydrate(27).build();

Extracted from: http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1216151&seqNum=2