Question

I would like to be able to apply the pimp-my-library pattern to state, rather than behavior. Specifically, if you define a var in an implicit def, set it, and then try to read it, the state is lost. I’ve thrown together a contrived example:

class Planet(val name: String)

object SolarSystem {
  val Mercury = new Planet("Mercury")
  val Venus = new Planet("Venus")
  val Earth = new Planet("Earth")
  val Mars = new Planet("Mars")
  val Jupiter = new Planet("Jupiter")
  val Saturn = new Planet("Saturn")
  val Uranus = new Planet("Uranus")
  val Neptune = new Planet("Neptune")
  val Pluto = new Planet("Pluto")
}

object Pimper {
  implicit def pimpPlanet(planet: Planet) = {
    new {
      var distanceFromSun: Int = 0
    }
  }

  import SolarSystem._

  Jupiter.distanceFromSun = 5 // AU
}

object Main {
  def main(args: Array[String]) {
    import SolarSystem._
    import Pimper._

    println(Jupiter.distanceFromSun)
  }
}

Naturally, this will print 0, but I’d like it to print 5. I’ve considered a handful of solutions, including extending SolarSystem and overriding what Jupiter is, or having a map outside that’s populated/read by a getter & setter.

I’m pretty new to Scala, and I was hoping there was a more elegant way to go about doing something like this. Also yes, Pluto is a planet 🙂

Answer 1

object Pimper { 

  var planets = Map.empty[Planet, EnhancedPlanet]
  class EnhancedPlanet(var distance: Int)

  implicit def pimpPlanet(planet: Planet) = planets.get(planet).getOrElse {
    planets += planet -> new EnhancedPlanet(0)
    planets(planet)
  }

}

object Main {
  def main(args: Array[String]) {
    import SolarSystem._
    import Pimper._

    println(Jupiter.distance) //0
    Jupiter.distance = 5
    println(Jupiter.distance) //5
  }
}