How to maintain a list of object references

Question

I need to maintain a list of object references so that every time the object is initialized its object reference is stored.

The design I'm considering for this is to create a static list which lives in a singleton object. Every time a new object is created the reference is passed to the singleton and the List is updated. When I need to get all references I just get the List from the singleton and iterate. Is this good design or is there a better method?

why does it have to be static, if it's already on a singleton ? — Cosmin Cosmin, Jun 14 '11 at 11:37
consider using an [enum](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/70689/efficient-way-to-implement-singleton-pattern-in-java) — mre, Jun 14 '11 at 11:50

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 14 '11 at 11:38

Make your class constructor a private one, and then expose a factory method to instantiate it. That way it will only be possible to instantiate your class through that method, allowing you to do whatever you want with it (add it to a list, or whatever) before returning the instance.

Amir Afghani · Answer 2 · 2011-06-14T12:04:20.197

1

This is a pretty common scenario. Consider using a Map to avoid traversing a List each time when you wish to look something up.

edited Jun 14 '11 at 12:04

answered Jun 14 '11 at 11:38

Amir Afghani

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How to maintain a list of object references

2 Answers2