Seriously Good Software

Chapter 9. Please recycle: Reusability

This chapter covers

• Generalizing a piece of software to a wider context
• Using generics to write reusable classes
• Using and customizing mutable collectors on data streams

In the previous chapters, you developed concrete classes that solved a specific problem. Now, assume you need to generalize your solution to a broader variety of problems. Ideally, you should discern the essential features of the problem, separate them from what’s merely incidental, and develop a solution for all the problems that share the same essential structure. Unfortunately, discerning the essential from the incidental is far from obvious. Roughly speaking, you should try to keep the key structure—that is, the part that may be useful ...