How to design an immutable object with complex initialization

Question

I\'m learning about DDD, and have come across the statement that \"value-objects\" should be immutable. I understand that this means that the objects state should not change aft

Answer 1

Use a builder:

public class Entity
{
   public class Builder
   {
     private int _field1;
     private int _field2;
     private int _field3;

     public Builder WithField1(int value) { _field1 = value; return this; }
     public Builder WithField2(int value) { _field2 = value; return this; }
     public Builder WithField3(int value) { _field3 = value; return this; }

     public Entity Build() { return new Entity(_field1, _field2, _field3); }
   }

   private int _field1;
   private int _field2;
   private int _field3;

   private Entity(int field1, int field2, int field3) 
   {
     // Set the fields.
   }

   public int Field1 { get { return _field1; } }
   public int Field2 { get { return _field2; } }
   public int Field3 { get { return _field3; } }

   public static Builder Build() { return new Builder(); }
}

Then create it like:

Entity myEntity = Entity.Build()
                   .WithField1(123)
                   .WithField2(456)
                   .WithField3(789)
                  .Build()

If some of the parameters are optional you won't need to call the WithXXX method and they can have default values.