Question

So, I have willfully kept myself a Java n00b until recently, and my first real exposure brought about a minor shock: Java does not have C# style properties!

Ok, I can live with that. However, I can also swear that I have seen property getter/setter code in Java in one codebase, but I cannot remember where. How was that achieved? Is there a language extension for that? Is it related to NetBeans or something?

Answer 1

There is a "standard" pattern for getters and setters in Java, called Bean properties. Basically any method starting with get, taking no arguments and returning a value, is a property getter for a property named as the rest of the method name (with a lowercased start letter). Likewise set creates a setter of a void method with a single argument.

For example:

// Getter for "awesomeString" public String getAwesomeString() {   return awesomeString; }  // Setter for "awesomeString" public void setAwesomeString( String awesomeString ) {   this.awesomeString = awesomeString; } 

Most Java IDEs will generate these methods for you if you ask them (in Eclipse it’s as simple as moving the cursor to a field and hitting Ctrl–1, then selecting the option from the list).

For what it’s worth, for readability you can actually use is and has in place of get for boolean-type properties too, as in:

public boolean isAwesome();  public boolean hasAwesomeStuff();