Question

I’m creating a cell editor, but I’ve done (and seen) this in other code. I’m creating an object and then dropping it on the floor like this:
ButtonCellEditor buttonColumn = new ButtonCellEditor(table, 2);

This class takes the table and sets a TableColumnModel and custom cell renderers to it. Then, the method ends and I don’t reference the buttonColumn object anymore.

So, is there a difference between doing the above and doing this (which also works)?
new ButtonCellEditor(table, 2);

Anything really wrong with doing this?

Answer 1

You shouldn’t have unused variables in your code, that makes it less clear. Also, a constructor is (as its name states) a method for initialize the object, this in your case is not done.

I suggest you to have a static method instead:

ButtonCellEditor.niceNameHere(table, 2);

The only case I can think in which a constructor would be adequate is when it takes params to initialize itself and then perform some actions later, but not for doing the action inside and this is not like yours.