CODEWITHSUNDEEP
go
Ali-Akber Saifee
Ali-Akber Saifee

Reputation: 4596

How can I store types in go maps for initialisation at a later stage

I'm trying to implement a factory function that will return an instance of one of many structs that fulfil the contract of an interface X.

m := make(map[string] ?)
func init () {
    m["a"] = ?
    m["b"] = ?
}

type X interface { 
    y()
}

type A struct {}
func (a * A) y () {}

type B struct {}
func (b * B) y () {}


function factory(name string) X {
    return &m[name]{}
}

The code above is just a simplified demonstration of what I'm trying to achieve - looking for pointers for whether this is possible, or if there is a different go idiom to solve this kind of requirement that I'm missing.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 96

Answers (2)

Dave C
Dave C

Reputation: 7878

If you have a simple value type then as @VonC said, you can just use map[string]X and return a copy of the exemplar value.

For anything else, instead of using reflection, I'd just use a map of creation functions. Like what the image package does with image.RegisterFormat.

E.g. (playground):

package main

import "fmt"

type X interface {
        y()
}

type newXFunc func() X

// Here just a map variable and two functions, but
// this could be a type with two methods instead.

var m = map[string]newXFunc{}

func register(name string, fn newXFunc) {
        m[name] = fn
}

func factory(name string) X {
        return m[name]()
}

func init() {
        // If register is exported than these
        // calls can be in other packages that
        // implement A and B.
        register("a", NewA)
        // For simple things that don't have/need
        // their own stand-alone "new" function.
        register("b", func() X { return B{} })
}

type A struct{}

func (a *A) y() {}
func NewA() X   { return &A{} }

type B struct{}

func (b B) y() {}

func main() {
        a1 := factory("a")
        b1 := factory("b")
        fmt.Printf("%T\n", a1)
        fmt.Printf("%T\n", b1)
}

Upvotes: 1

VonC
VonC

Reputation: 1324537

You can use map[string]X, with X the interface (which can reference a value or a pointer of any object respecting X contract)

or if there is a different go idiom to solve this kind of requirement that I'm missing?

You can also use reflection (as in "Instance new Type") to implement your factory.

reflect.New(yourtype).Elem().Interface()

You can see a factory example in "is there a way to create an instance of a struct from a string?".

The quicker approach for a factory method (returning a new instance each time) is using a switch (like in this example):

// Create a new Widget interface based on WidgetType and set WidgetInfo
func New(wt WidgetType, wi WidgetInfo) Widget_iface {
    switch wt {
    case Widget_A:
        return newWidgetA(wi)
    case Widget_B:
        return newWidgetB(wi)
    }
    return nil
}

Upvotes: 1

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