Is instance property of Firebase a function? - firebase

https://pub.dev/documentation/firebase_messaging/latest/firebase_messaging/FirebaseMessaging/instance.html
static FirebaseMessaging get instance
{
return FirebaseMessaging._(app: Firebase.app());
}
instance word here does not have () after it, but it has {}.
Even while calling it we use: FirebaseMessaging.instance. No brackets.
Is this a function or something else?

There is 2 things to understand why you can call FirebaseMessaging.instance:
Getter
FirebaseMessaging get instance { /* ... */ }
First thing to understand is the concept of a getter defined by the keyword get. A getter is a method which does not take any arguments and which returns a value. In this case you have a getter named instance which returns an object of type FirebaseMessaging.
So a getter is technically a function which could also be written like this:
FirebaseMessaging getInstance() { /* ... */ }
But a getter is supposedly faster as it is dedicated to only retrieve values.
Static method
Now how can you have access to this getter/method without needing an instance of the FirebaseMessaging object ? Well, it is simply because of the static keyword used for the getter:
static FirebaseMessaging get instance { /* ... */ }
Any method or variable declared within a class with the static keyword is the same for every instance of this class. Basically a single copy of this method will be shared among all instances of the FirebaseMessaging class. It allocates memory only once at the class loading.
So by calling FirebaseMessaging.instance you are calling a static method.

Related

Should I declare GryoMapper as a static field?

Looked at the following code, it appears to be thread-safe.
https://github.com/apache/tinkerpop/blob/master/gremlin-core/src/main/java/org/apache/tinkerpop/gremlin/structure/io/gryo/GryoMapper.java
Hoping to use it like
class Foo {
private static final GryoMapper MAPPER = GryoMapper.build().create();
}
instead of
class Foo {
private final GryoMapper MAPPER = GryoMapper.build().create();
}
Gryo is based on Kryo which is not thread-safe. GryoMapper is basically just a builder for Kryo instances which means that you should be able to initialize it as a member variable without the static declaration. Just be sure that the Kryo instances that you spawn from GryoMapper are not accessed by multiple threads concurrently as described in the Kryo link provided.

Is there more neat design for requesting static fields in class successors?

I'm implementing network controller that sends requests to the server with integer command type id and binary serialized block of other command data. Prototype of all commands looks like:
class NetCommand {
public static var typeId; // type must be set in successors!
function new() {
}
public function typeGet():Int {
return Reflect.field(Type.getClass(this), "typeId");
}
}
All this mess in typeGet() function done just for access to the static variables with type ids of all successors. I can't simply write
return typeId;
because statics are not inheritable and this method will return 0 as a value of prototype's variable. Is there any neat solution? Is my solution cross-platform?
Update:
All command classes must be registered in controller class like this:
public function bindResponse(aClass:Class<NetCommand>) {
var typeId = Reflect.field(aClass, "typeId");
mBindResponse.set(typeId, aClass);
}
and then when new command arrives its data passes to the method that find necessary class by command id, creates instance of desired class and passes other data to it:
function onResponse(aTypeId:Int, aData:Dynamic) {
var cmdClass:Class<NetCommand> = mBindResponse.get(aTypeId);
var command:NetCommand = Type.createInstance(cmdClass, []);
command.response(aData); // this must be overriden in successor classes
}
Method typeGet() is used only for targeting outgoing instances and error handling with default behaviour of error command class without creating a heap of classes that differs only by typeId constant. So this method suppreses implementation of the real command id and may be overriden for example.
Why don't you simply make typeId an instance member (not static) ?

PHPUnit test if class methods were called

I have model class that calls mailer class inside one of its methods:
class someModel{
public function sendEmail($data){
$mailer = new Mailer();
$mailer->setFrom($data['from']);
$mailer->setTo($data['to']);
$mailer->setSubject($data['subject']);
return $mailer->send();
}
}
How can I test sendEmail method? Maybe I should mock mailer class and check if all these mailer methods were called in sendMail method?
Your help would be appreciated.
IMO wrapping the Mailer class does not solve the problem you're facing, which is you don't have control over the Mail instance being used.
The problem comes from creating the dependencies inside the object that needs them instead of injecting them externally like this:
class someModel{
private $mailer;
public function __construct(Mailer $mailer) {
$this->mailer = $mailer;
}
public function sendEmail($data){
$this->mailer->setFrom($data['from']);
$this->mailer->setTo($data['to']);
$this->mailer->setSubject($data['subject']);
return $this->mailer->send();
}
}
When creating the someModel instance, you must pass a Mail instance (which is an external dependency). And in the test you can pass a Mail mock that will check that the correct calls are being made.
Alternative:
If you feel that injecting a Mail instance is bad (maybe because there are lots of someModel instances), or you just can't change your code this way, then you could use a Services repository, that will keep a single Mail instance and that allows you to set it externally (again, in the test you would set a mock).
Try a simple one like Pimple.
I would (and have in my own code with Mailer!) wrap your instance of Mailer inside a class that you write. In other words, make your own Email class that uses Mailer under the hood. That allows you to simplify the interface of Mailer down to just what you need and more easily mock it. It also gives you the ability to replace Mailer seamlessly at a later date.
The most important thing to keep in mind when you wrap classes to hide external dependencies is keep the wrapper class simple. It's only purpose is to let you swap out the Email libraries class, not provide any complicated logic.
Example:
class Emailer {
private $mailer = new Mailer();
public function send($to, $from, $subject, $data) {
$this->mailer->setFrom($from);
$this->mailer->setTo($to);
...
return $mailer->send();
}
}
class EmailerMock extends Emailer {
public function send($to, $from, $subject, $data) {
... Store whatever test data you want to verify ...
}
//Accessors for testing the right data was sent in your unit test
public function getTo() { ... }
...
}
I follow the same pattern for all classes/libraries that want to touch things external to my software. Other good candidates are database connections, web services connections, cache connections, etc.
EDIT:
gontrollez raised a good point in his answer about dependency injection. I failed to explicitly mention it, but after creating the wrapper the way you would want to use some form of dependency injection to get it into the code where you want to use it. Passing in the instance makes it possible to setup the test case with a Mocked instance.
One method of doing this is passing in the instance to the constructor as gontrollez recommends. There are a lot of cases where that is the best way to do it. However, for "external services" that I am mocking I found that method became tedious because so many classes ended up needing the instance passed in. Consider for example a database driver that you want to Mock for your tests, but you use in many many different classes. So instead what I do is create a singleton class with a method that lets me mock the whole thing at once. Any client code can then just use the singleton to get access to a service without knowing that it was mocked. It looked something like this:
class Externals {
static private $instance = null;
private $db = null;
private $email = null;
...
private function __construct() {
$this->db = new RealDB();
$this->mail = new RealMail();
}
static function initTest() {
self::get(); //Ensure instance created
$db = new MockDB();
$email = new MockEmail();
}
static function get() {
if(!self::$instance)
self::$instance = new Externals();
return self::$instance;
}
function getDB() { return $this->db; }
function getMail() { return $this->mail; }
....
}
Then you can use phpunit's bootstrap file feature to call Externals::initTest() and all your tests will be setup with the mocked externals!
First, as RyanW says, you should write your own wrapper for Mailer.
Second, to test it, use a mock:
<?php
class someModelTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
{
public function testSendEmail()
{
// Mock the class so we can verify that the methods are called
$model = $this->getMock('someModel', array('setFrom', 'setTo', 'setSubject', 'send'));
$controller->expects($this->once())
->method('setFrom');
$controller->expects($this->once())
->method('setTo');
$controller->expects($this->once())
->method('setSubject');
$controller->expects($this->once())
->method('send');
$model->sendEmail();
}
}
The above code is untested, but it basically mocks the someModel class, creating dummy functions for each each function called within sendEmail. It then tests to make sure each of the functions called by sendEmail is called exactly once when sendEmail is called.
See the PHPUnit docs for more info on mocking.

Setting a generic delegate to a class-level variable

I bumped into an additional question that I needed in regards to this: Using an IEnumerable<T> as a delegate return type
From the above solution, the following was suggested:
class Example
{
//the delegate declaration
public delegate IEnumerable<T> GetGridDataSource<T>();
//the generic method used to call the method
public void someMethod<T>(GetGridDataSource<T> method)
{
method();
}
//a method to pass to "someMethod<T>"
private IEnumerable<string> methodBeingCalled()
{
return Enumerable.Empty<string>();
}
//our main program look
static void Main(string[] args)
{
//create a new instance of our example
var myObject = new Example();
//invoke the method passing the method
myObject.someMethod<string>(myObject.methodBeingCalled);
}
}
Notice that in someMethod, the delegate "method()" is called. Is there anyway to set a class-level delegate that is called later on?
I.e:
class Example {
//the delegate declaration
public delegate IEnumerable<T> GetGridDataSource<T>();
//this fails because T is never provided
private GetGridDataSource<T> getDS;
//the generic method used to call the method
public void someMethod<T>(GetGridDataSource<T> method)
{
getDS = method;
}
public void anotherMethod() {
getDS();
}
}
Depending on what you are trying to achieve and where you have flexibility in your design, there are a number of options. I've tried to cover the ones that I feel most probably relate to what you want to do.
Multiple values of T in a single instance of a non-generic class
This is basically what you seem to want. However, because of the generic nature of the method call, you'll need a class level variable that can support any possible value of T, and you will need to know T when you store a value for the delegate.
Therefore, you can either use a Dictionary<Type, object> or you could use a nested type that encapsulates the class-level variable and the method, and then use a List<WrapperType<T>> instead.
You would then need to look up the appropriate delegate based on the required type.
class Example {
//the delegate declaration
public delegate IEnumerable<T> GetGridDataSource<T>();
//this works because T is provided
private Dictionary<Type, object> getDSMap;
//the generic method used to call the method
public void someMethod<T>(GetGridDataSource<T> method)
{
getDSMap[typeof(T)] = method;
}
//note, this call needs to know the type of T
public void anotherMethod<T>() {
object getDSObj = null;
if (this.getDSMap.TryGetValue(typeof(T), out getDSObj))
{
GetGridDataSource<T> getDS = getDSObj as GetGridDataSource<T>;
if (getDS != null)
getDS();
}
}
Single value of T in a single instance of a non-generic class
In this case, you could store the delegate instance in a non-typed delegate and then cast it to the appropriate type when you need it and you know the value of T. Of course, you'd need to know T when you first create the delegate, which negates the need for a generic method or delegate in the first place.
Multiple values of T in multiple instances of a generic class
Here you can make your parent class generic and supply T up front. This then makes the example you have work correctly as the type of T is known from the start.
class Example<T> {
//the delegate declaration
public delegate IEnumerable<T> GetGridDataSource<T>();
//this works because T is provided
private GetGridDataSource<T> getDS;
//the generic method used to call the method
public void someMethod<T>(GetGridDataSource<T> method)
{
getDS = method;
}
public void anotherMethod() {
if (getDS != null)
getDS();
}
}
You either need to make the type generic as well, or use plain Delegate and cast back to the right type when you need to invoke it. You can't just use T outside a generic context - the compiler will think you're trying to refer to a normal type called T.
To put it another way - if you're going to try to use the same type T in two different places, you're going to need to know what T is somewhere in the type... and if the type isn't generic, where is that information going to live?

To mock an object, does it have to be either implementing an interface or marked virtual?

or can the class be implementing an abstract class also?
To mock a type, it must either be an interface (this is also called being pure virtual) or have virtual members (abstract members are also virtual).
By this definition, you can mock everything which is virtual.
Essentially, dynamic mocks don't do anything you couldn't do by hand.
Let's say you are programming against an interface such as this one:
public interface IMyInterface
{
string Foo(string s);
}
You could manually create a test-specific implementation of IMyInterface that ignores the input parameter and always returns the same output:
public class MyClass : IMyInterface
{
public string Foo(string s)
{
return "Bar";
}
}
However, that becomes repetitive really fast if you want to test how the consumer responds to different return values, so instead of coding up your Test Doubles by hand, you can have a framework dynamically create them for you.
Imagine that dynamic mocks really write code similar to the MyClass implementation above (they don't actually write the code, they dynamically emit the types, but it's an accurate enough analogy).
Here's how you could define the same behavior as MyClass with Moq:
var mock = new Mock<IMyInterface>();
mock.Setup(x => x.Foo(It.IsAny<string>())).Returns("Bar");
In both cases, the construcor of the created class will be called when the object is created. As an interface has no constructor, this will normally be the default constructor (of MyClass and the dynamically emitted class, respectively).
You can do the same with concrete types such as this one:
public class MyBase
{
public virtual string Ploeh()
{
return "Fnaah";
}
}
By hand, you would be able to derive from MyBase and override the Ploeh method because it's virtual:
public class TestSpecificChild : MyBase
{
public override string Ploeh()
{
return "Ndøh";
}
}
A dynamic mock library can do the same, and the same is true for abstract methods.
However, you can't write code that overrides a non-virtual or internal member, and neither can dynamic mocks. They can only do what you can do by hand.
Caveat: The above description is true for most dynamic mocks with the exception of TypeMock, which is different and... scary.
From Stephen Walther's blog:
You can use Moq to create mocks from both interfaces and existing classes. There are some requirements on the classes. The class can’t be sealed. Furthermore, the method being mocked must be marked as virtual. You cannot mock static methods (use the adaptor pattern to mock a static method).

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