I have the following:
type Base struct {
}
func(base *Base) Get() string {
return "base"
}
func(base *Base) GetName() string {
return base.Get()
}
I want to define a new type with a new implementation of Get() so that I can use the new type in place of Base
and where GetName() is called it calls the new Get() implementation . If I were using Java I would inherit Base and override Get(). How should I achieve this in Go? I want to avoid breaking changes if possible, so existing consumers of Base do not need to be changed.
My first stab at this looks like..
type Sub struct {
Base
}
func(sub *Sub) Get() string {
return "Sub"
}
..which doesn't work. My brain isn't wired for Go yet clearly.
Go is not a "classic" OO language: it doesn't know the concept of classes and inheritance.
However it does contain the very flexible concept of interfaces, with which a lot of aspects of object-orientation can be made available. Interfaces in Go provide a way to specify the behavior of an object: if something can do this, then it can be used here.
An interface defines a set of methods, but these methods do not contain code: they are not implemented (this means they are abstract).
So the way you can achieve to use different type inside the same method is to use interfaces.
Here is simple example to prove it:
package main
import (
"fmt"
)
type Base struct{}
type Baser interface {
Get() float32
}
type TypeOne struct {
value float32
Base
}
type TypeTwo struct {
value float32
Base
}
type TypeThree struct {
value float32
Base
}
func (t *TypeOne) Get() float32 {
return t.value
}
func (t *TypeTwo) Get() float32 {
return t.value * t.value
}
func (t *TypeThree) Get() float32 {
return t.value + t.value
}
func main() {
base := Base{}
t1 := &TypeOne{1, base}
t2 := &TypeTwo{2, base}
t3 := &TypeThree{4, base}
bases := []Baser{Baser(t1), Baser(t2), Baser(t3)}
for s, _ := range bases {
switch bases[s].(type) {
case *TypeOne:
fmt.Println("TypeOne")
case *TypeTwo:
fmt.Println("TypeTwo")
case *TypeThree:
fmt.Println("TypeThree")
}
fmt.Printf("The value is: %f
", bases[s].Get())
}
}
Interfaces are named collections of method signatures:
see: https://gobyexample.com/interfaces
and: http://www.golangbootcamp.com/book/interfaces
so it is better not to use in such OOP way.
what you asking is not Golang idiomatic but possible (2 ways):
this is what you need (working sample code):
package main
import "fmt"
type Base struct {
}
func (base *Base) Get() string {
return "base"
}
type Getter interface {
Get() string
}
func (base *Base) GetName(getter Getter) string {
if g, ok := getter.(Getter); ok {
return g.Get()
} else {
return base.Get()
}
}
// user code :
type Sub struct {
Base
}
func (t *Sub) Get() string {
return "Sub"
}
func (t *Sub) GetName() string {
return t.Base.GetName(t)
}
func main() {
userType := Sub{}
fmt.Println(userType.GetName()) // user string
}
output:
Sub
as you see one initialization code must be done in user code:
func (t *Sub) GetName() string {
return t.Base.GetName(t)
}
also this works:
package main
import "fmt"
type Getter interface {
Get() string
}
type Base struct {
Getter
}
func (base *Base) Get() string {
return "base"
}
func (base *Base) GetName() string {
return base.Getter.Get()
}
// user code :
type Sub struct {
Base
}
func (t *Sub) Get() string {
return "Sub"
}
func New() *Sub {
userType := &Sub{}
userType.Getter = interface{}(userType).(Getter)
return userType
}
func main() {
userType := New()
fmt.Println(userType.GetName()) // user string
}
output:
Sub
as you see one initialization code must be done in user code:
userType.Getter = interface{}(userType).(Getter)