TL;DR: Always favor composition over inheritance.
Problems
Coupling
Maintainability
Solutions
- Composition
Exceptions
- If the hierarchy follows the principle of "behaves like," then it is safe.
Sample Code
Wrong
open class Rectangle(
protected val length: Int,
protected val width: Int
) {
open fun area() = length * width
}
class Square(size: Int) : Rectangle(size, size) {
override fun area() = length * length
}
class Box(size: Int) : Rectangle(size, size)
Right
interface Shape {
fun area(): Int
}
class Rectangle(
private val length: Int,
private val width: Int
) : Shape {
override fun area() = length * width
}
class Square(private val size: Int) : Shape {
override fun area() = size * size
}
class Box(size: Int) {
private val shape: Square
init {
shape = Square(size)
}
fun area() = shape.area()
}
Conclusion
In legacy systems, it is common to have deep hierarchies and method overriding. However, it is important to refactor them and subclass them for essential reasons rather than implementation reasons.
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