Question

It seems to be possible in Java to write something like this:

 private enum TrafficLight {
  RED,
  GREEN;

  public String toString() {
   return //what should I return here if I want to return
                               //"abc" when red and "def" when green?
  }
 }

Now, I’d like to know if it possible to returnin the toString method “abc” when the enum’s value is red and “def” when it’s green. Also, is it possible to do like in C#, where you can do this?:

 private enum TrafficLight {
  RED = 0,
  GREEN = 15
  ...
 }

I’ve tried this but it but I’m getting compiler errors with it.

Thanks

Answer 1

Ans 1:

enum TrafficLight {
  RED,
  GREEN;

  @Override
  public String toString() {
    switch(this) {
      case RED: return "abc";
      case GREEN: return "def";
      default: throw new IllegalArgumentException();
    }
  }
}

Ans 2:

enum TrafficLight {
  RED(0),
  GREEN(15);

  int value;
  TrafficLight(int value) { this.value = value; }
}