How do I use composition with inheritance?

Question

I\'m going to try to ask my question in the context of a simple example...

Let\'s say I have an abstract base class Car. Car has-a basic Engine object. I have a method

Answer 1

You can use C# generics to get what you're looking for, here.

The distinction of using generics is that your Ferrari "knows" that its Engine is-a TurboEngine, while the Car class doesn't have to know anything new—only that EngineType is-an Engine.

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Ferrari ferarri = new Ferrari();
        ferarri.Start();
        ferarri.Boost();
    }
}
public class Car<EngineType> where EngineType : Engine, new()
{
    protected EngineType engine;

    public Car()
    {
        this.CreateEngine();
    }
    protected void CreateEngine()
    {
        this.engine = new EngineType();
    }
    public void Start()
    {
        engine.Start();
    }
}

public class Ferrari : Car<TurboEngine>
{
    public void Boost()
    {
        engine.Boost();
    }
}

public class Engine
{
    public virtual void Start()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Vroom!");
    }
}
public class TurboEngine : Engine
{
    public void Boost()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Hang on to your teeth...");
    }
    public override void Start()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("VROOOOM! VROOOOM!");
    }
}

Answer 2

Depending on your particular language semantics, there are a few ways to do this. Off the cuff my initial thought would be to provide a protected constructor:

public class Car {
    private Engine engine;

    public Car() {
        this(new Engine());
    }

    protected Car(Engine engine) {
        this.engine = engine;
    }

    public void start() {
        this.engine.start();
    }
}

public class Ferrari {
    public Ferrari() {
        super(new TurboEngine());
    }
}

Answer 3

As I understand your (updated) question, you're going to have to cast the car's engine to the TurboEngine type if you want to call TurboEngine methods on it. That results in a lot of checking to see if the car you have has a TurboEngine before you call those methods, but that's what you get. Not knowing what this car is actually standing in for, I can't think of any reason you couldn't have the engine and the turbo engine share the same interface - are there really new methods that the turbo supports, or does it just do the same things differently - but I guess this metaphor was going to fall apart sooner or later.

Answer 4

The Abstract Factory pattern is precisely for this problem. Google GoF Abstract Factory {your preferred language}

In the following, note how you can either use the concrete factories to produce "complete" objects (enzo, civic) or you can use them to produce "families" of related objects (CarbonFrame + TurboEngine, WeakFrame + WeakEngine). Ultimately, you always end up with a Car object that responds to accelerate() with type-specific behavior.

---

     using System;


    abstract class CarFactory
    {
        public static CarFactory FactoryFor(string manufacturer){
            switch(manufacturer){
                case "Ferrari" : return new FerrariFactory();
                case "Honda" : return new HondaFactory();
                default:
                    throw new ArgumentException("Unknown car manufacturer. Please bailout industry.");
            }
        }

        public abstract Car createCar();
        public abstract Engine createEngine();
        public abstract Frame createFrame();

    }

    class FerrariFactory : CarFactory
    {
        public override Car createCar()
        {
            return new Ferrari(createEngine(), createFrame());
        }

        public override Engine createEngine()
        {
            return new TurboEngine();
        }

        public override Frame createFrame()
        {
            return new CarbonFrame();
        }
    }

    class HondaFactory : CarFactory
    {
        public override Car createCar()
        {
            return new Honda(createEngine(), createFrame());
        }

        public override Engine createEngine()
        {
            return new WeakEngine();
        }

        public override Frame createFrame()
        {
            return new WeakFrame();
        }
    }

    abstract class Car
    {
        private Engine engine;
        private Frame frame;

        public Car(Engine engine, Frame frame)
        {
            this.engine = engine;
            this.frame = frame;
        }

        public void accelerate()
        {
            engine.setThrottle(1.0f);
            frame.respondToSpeed();
        }

    }

    class Ferrari : Car
    {
        public Ferrari(Engine engine, Frame frame) : base(engine, frame)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Setting sticker price to $250K");
        }
    }

    class Honda : Car
    {
        public Honda(Engine engine, Frame frame) : base(engine, frame)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Setting sticker price to $25K");
        }
    }

    class KitCar : Car
    {
        public KitCar(String name, Engine engine, Frame frame)
            : base(engine, frame)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Going out in the garage and building myself a " + name);
        }
    }

    abstract class Engine
    {
        public void setThrottle(float percent)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Stomping on accelerator!");
            typeSpecificAcceleration();
        }

        protected abstract void typeSpecificAcceleration();
    }

    class TurboEngine : Engine
    {
        protected override void typeSpecificAcceleration()
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Activating turbo");
            Console.WriteLine("Making noise like Barry White gargling wasps");
        }
    }

    class WeakEngine : Engine
    {
        protected override void typeSpecificAcceleration()
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Provoking hamster to run faster");
            Console.WriteLine("Whining like a dentist's drill");
        }
    }

    abstract class Frame
    {
        public abstract void respondToSpeed();
    }

    class CarbonFrame : Frame
    {
        public override void respondToSpeed()
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Activating active suspension and extending spoilers");
        }
    }

    class WeakFrame : Frame
    {
        public override void respondToSpeed()
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Loosening bolts and vibrating");
        }
    }

    class TestClass
    {
        public static void Main()
        {
            CarFactory ferrariFactory = CarFactory.FactoryFor("Ferrari");
            Car enzo = ferrariFactory.createCar();
            enzo.accelerate();

            Console.WriteLine("---");
            CarFactory hondaFactory = CarFactory.FactoryFor("Honda");
            Car civic = hondaFactory.createCar();
            civic.accelerate();

            Console.WriteLine("---");
            Frame frame = hondaFactory.createFrame();
            Engine engine = ferrariFactory.createEngine();
            Car kitCar = new KitCar("Shaker", engine, frame);
            kitCar.accelerate();

            Console.WriteLine("---");
            Car kitCar2 = new KitCar("LooksGreatGoesSlow", hondaFactory.createEngine(), ferrariFactory.createFrame());
            kitCar2.accelerate();
        }
    }