Path: csiph.com!x330-a1.tempe.blueboxinc.net!usenet.pasdenom.info!aioe.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Roedy Green Newsgroups: comp.lang.java.programmer Subject: Re: state design pattern: question: inner or outer class: which is better? Date: Fri, 02 Dec 2011 01:47:47 -0800 Organization: Canadian Mind Products Lines: 31 Message-ID: References: <4cb57cb9-f87c-4409-9e35-184bdc661f48@l24g2000yqm.googlegroups.com> Reply-To: Roedy Green NNTP-Posting-Host: Z2l1DcCELS0rATq8NqV4Sw.user.speranza.aioe.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Complaints-To: abuse@aioe.org X-Notice: Filtered by postfilter v. 0.8.2 X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 6.00/32.1186 Xref: x330-a1.tempe.blueboxinc.net comp.lang.java.programmer:10415 On Wed, 30 Nov 2011 09:22:01 -0800 (PST), John Goche wrote, quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said : > >Hello, > >I am implementing the state design pattern to manage a set of >sprites in a game. I wonder if anyone could tell me whether it >is better to implement the state classes as inner classes of the >object they are a state of, or as outer classes each being passed >a reference to the sprite object they are being a state for. There are two main reasons to use inner classes: 1. When the inner classes need to intimately access the fields of a particular mother object they are attached to. 2. When you want scope to partly shield the inner classes from the outside. They treated somewhat as if they were part of the mother class. -- Roedy Green Canadian Mind Products http://mindprod.com For me, the appeal of computer programming is that even though I am quite a klutz, I can still produce something, in a sense perfect, because the computer gives me as many chances as I please to get it right.