tuples : Java Glossary

Faking Tuples

• Create a class with several fields. Return an object of this class. The problem with this approach is you can have an explosion of tiny classes, each used by only one method. It is considered bad form to create result classes of scattered fields that are not logically related.
• Rethink your methods so that there are a small number of possible result classes that have physical meaning.
• Return an array of doubles or an array of Objects. The drawback is you lose typing and keyword identification of results.
• Create a class with a number of internal variables. To use it you call setXXX to set each of the inputs, then call calcXXX to calculate each of the possible calculations. Then call getXXX to get each of the results. This is the most Javaesque solution. Dozens of methods can share the same class. Java’s GregorianCalendar works this way.
• Have your method return a result, and if there is a problem throw an Exception, rather than returning a result and status as you would in C.
• The problem is made worse if you try to write C in Java, rather than thinking OO. See if you can rethink your interface so that your methods don’t return multiple values.