Question

def antBuilder = new AntBuilder()
antBuilder.tar(basedir: getOutputDirectory(),  destfile: getTarFile())
antBuilder.gzip(src: getTarFile(), destfile: getTarGzipFile())
antBuilder.delete(file: getTarFile())
antBuilder.delete(dir: getOutputDirectory(), includes:"*.xml")

I have a method which does the above. As you can see the getTarFile() method is called thrice overall. What is the preferred way of coding it, using getTarFile() thrice OR defining a local variable to hold the value of getTarFile() and using that instead?

Answer 1

You can get as Groovy as you want really…

You could do (for example) wrap it in a closure:

def doStuff = { tar, out, gzip ->
  new AntBuilder().with {
    tar( basedir: out,  destfile: tar )
    gzip( src: tar, destfile: gzip )
    delete( file: tar )
    delete( dir: out, includes:"*.xml" )
  }
}

And call that with:

doStuff( getTarFile(), getOutputDirectory(), getTarGzipFile() )

Whatever way you’re doing it, unless getTarFile is doing loads of work (which seems unlikely), you’re not going to gain much more than readability…

Though that can be a win in itself 😉