26

In c# you can setup properties like this:

public int CustomerId {get;set;}

Which sets up an automatic property called CustomerId, but I was wondering if there was anything similar in Java?

lomaxx
  • 113,627
  • 57
  • 144
  • 179
  • Java is what I describe as a "low-level high-level" language. It's a high-level language in that it has memory management, is object oriented, etc. But it's low-level in the sense that almost nothing "extra" is implemented by the compiler. even the simplest pattern, like properties, has to be done manually by the programmer (I'm sure there's an exception somewhere). (Maybe it's a "pure" OOP language?) This is a good thing and a bad thing. it's one reason why I suggest Java as a first language, since it would teach OOP basics without being overly complex. – Dave Cousineau Mar 28 '17 at 22:53

5 Answers5

29

No, Java has nothing similar at the moment. Heck, properties in Java are mostly just conventions of get/set methods, rather than being genuinely understood by the compiler as they are in C#. Tools and libraries recognise the get/set pattern, but the language doesn't know about them. (It's possible that in a future version of Java, there'll be more "formal" support.)

Some Java-like languages such as Groovy do have automatic property generation, however.

Jon Skeet
  • 1,421,763
  • 867
  • 9,128
  • 9,194
  • 10
    @Tom: Yes, in some ways. I'm not sure that that's relevant though... it certainly doesn't invalid what I wrote. – Jon Skeet Jan 24 '11 at 16:34
  • @JonSkeet: Can you clarify what you mean by "genuinely understood"? I thought the c# stuff was simply syntactic sugar for the same sort of thing, namely a field with a couple of functions to read/write? – Carlos Nov 09 '13 at 18:33
  • 2
    @Carlos: It's still a couple of methods tied together with metadata (with or without a field). But the point is that the C# compiler knows about properties - they're part of the language. In Java, they're just a convention - the compiler couldn't care whether you call them `getFoo` and `setFoo` or `fetchFoo` and `putFoo`. Other libraries (e.g. JavaBeans-aware ones) might, but that's a different matter. – Jon Skeet Nov 09 '13 at 18:41
  • I see what you mean. The c# compiler makes the methods with special codenames instead of leaving the user to create getMyProperty. – Carlos Nov 09 '13 at 18:43
  • 1
    @Carlos: Not just "special codenames" - but there's metadata to indicate that these are properties, and the very fact that properties *do* have their own syntax in C# is a difference. Properties are known about at the .NET framework level too, with `PropertyInfo` etc. – Jon Skeet Nov 09 '13 at 19:23
  • 1
    Aha, so a bit richer than just sugar. Thanks for the clarification. – Carlos Nov 09 '13 at 19:31
12

No, there isn't such a thing in Java.

In Eclipse, however, you can automatically implement getter/setter methods for fields with Source > Generate Getters/Setters.

Joey
  • 344,408
  • 85
  • 689
  • 683
6

Not in the Java language itself. However, there is at least one library that provides that. See: http://projectlombok.org/ (or more specific: http://projectlombok.org/features/GetterSetter.html)

David Baakman
  • 121
  • 3
4

You can also do this easily, using the annotations from Project Lombok

Jorn
  • 20,612
  • 18
  • 79
  • 126
1
  • The JavaFX properties might also be of interest:

http://docs.oracle.com/javafx/2/binding/jfxpub-binding.htm

    IntegerProperty num = new SimpleIntegerProperty(666);
    System.out.println(num.getValue());
  • Also see this related question on how to avoid get/set boiler plate code:

"Special attributes/properties" instead of getter/setter in Java to avoid boiler plate code

Community
  • 1
  • 1
Stefan
  • 10,010
  • 7
  • 61
  • 117