When to use get/set Methods in java [duplicate]

Answer 1

Getters and Setters allow you to change the implementation later (e.g. do something more complex), allow you to implement validation rules (e.g. setName throws an exception if the name is not more than 5 characters, whatever.)

You could also choose to add a getter but not a setter so that the variable is like 'read-only'.

That's the theory, however in many cases (e.g. Hibernate using setters) you cannot throw exceptions in setters so you can't do any validation. Normally the value will just be assigned/returned. In some companies I've worked at, it's been mandatory to write getters and setters for all attributes.

In that case, if you want to access an attribute from outside an object, and you want it to be readable/writable, I just use a public attribute. It's less code, and it means you can write things like obj.var += 5 which is easier to read than obj.setVar(obj.getVar() + 5).

Answer 2

In Java, using a getter and setter is usually considered best practice.

This is because if you ever need to change your code to do something else when a property is accessed or modified, you can just change it in the existing getter or setter.

I tend to think it causes a bit of clutter for simple objects, but if you have ever had to refactor a public property to a getter and setter to add additional functionality you will see that it can be a pain.

Answer 3

Its a matter of taste, but generally speaking you always should use get/set methods for all properties that are public. But for things like Value Objects (VOs) that you probably are not going to be bothered with for some time you can use public variables without getting too much criticism I think.