optional/bean-collections/xdocs/index.xml - commons-beanutils - Git at Google

 <?xml version="1.0"?>
 <!--
    Copyright 2001-2004 The Apache Software Foundation

    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
    you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
    You may obtain a copy of the License at

        http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
    WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
    See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
    limitations under the License.
 -->

 <document>

  <properties>
   <title>Commons</title>
   <author email="commons-dev@jakarta.apache.org">Commons Documentation Team</author>
  </properties>

  <body>

 <section name="Commons BeanUtils Bean Collections">

 <p>
 Dealing with collections of beans is a common feature of development in Java.
 A lot of time is spent creating bean-specific implementations
 for standard collection manipulators such as functors and comparators.
 </p>

 <p>
 <code>BeanUtils Bean collections</code> is a library intended to
 improve developer productivity by using sophisticated bean introspection
 (from <code>BeanUtils</code>)
 to allow general library classes to be used (rather than creating bean specific
 implementation classes).
 </p>

 <p>
 But won't this be slower? Yes, reflection is slower than direct references
 but in real life applications, this is typically insignificant. So why not use
 these classes to speed development and then substitute faster implementations only
 where the profiler indicates there is a problem :)
 </p>
     <subsection name='Quick-Quick Guide To Functors'>
         <p>
 Many of the classes in <code>bean-collections</code> are functor implementations
 specialized for bean properties. This is a very quick guide (aimed to let java developer
 know why functors make for elegant code).
         </p>
         <p>
 The word <code>functor</code> is mathematical in origin but comes into object oriented
 development from functional and logic coding. In Java terms, a functor
 is a function that is encapsulated as an object (and so can be manipulated as an object).
 This allows elegant, concise and powerful techniques to be used. For example,
 <a href='http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/collections'>Commons Collections</a>
 contains utilities that allow functions (as functors) to be easily applied to
 Collections.
         </p>
         <p>
 This is actually pretty useful when it comes to collections of beans. It's a common
 problem to want to extract information from a collection of beans or to change all properties
 to a particular value. Functors can be a particularly elegant way to do this. So try them!
 You might just like them!
         </p>
         <p>
 For more information about functors, please read the introduction to the
 <a href='http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/sandbox/functor/'>Commons Functor component</a>.
         </p>
     </subsection>
 </section>
 <section name='Releases'>
         <p>
 BeanUtils Bean-Collections is distributed as an optional jar within the main
 beanutils distribution. For details, see the
 <a href='http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/beanutils/index.html'>main BeanUtils website</a>
         </p>
 </section>

 </body>
 </document>
	<?xml version="1.0"?>
	<!--
	Copyright 2001-2004 The Apache Software Foundation

	Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
	you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
	You may obtain a copy of the License at

	http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

	Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
	distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
	WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
	See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
	limitations under the License.
	-->

	<document>

	<properties>
	<title>Commons</title>
	<author email="commons-dev@jakarta.apache.org">Commons Documentation Team</author>
	</properties>

	<body>

	<section name="Commons BeanUtils Bean Collections">

	<p>
	Dealing with collections of beans is a common feature of development in Java.
	A lot of time is spent creating bean-specific implementations
	for standard collection manipulators such as functors and comparators.
	</p>

	<p>
	<code>BeanUtils Bean collections</code> is a library intended to
	improve developer productivity by using sophisticated bean introspection
	(from <code>BeanUtils</code>)
	to allow general library classes to be used (rather than creating bean specific
	implementation classes).
	</p>

	<p>
	But won't this be slower? Yes, reflection is slower than direct references
	but in real life applications, this is typically insignificant. So why not use
	these classes to speed development and then substitute faster implementations only
	where the profiler indicates there is a problem :)
	</p>
	<subsection name='Quick-Quick Guide To Functors'>
	<p>
	Many of the classes in <code>bean-collections</code> are functor implementations
	specialized for bean properties. This is a very quick guide (aimed to let java developer
	know why functors make for elegant code).
	</p>
	<p>
	The word <code>functor</code> is mathematical in origin but comes into object oriented
	development from functional and logic coding. In Java terms, a functor
	is a function that is encapsulated as an object (and so can be manipulated as an object).
	This allows elegant, concise and powerful techniques to be used. For example,
	<a href='http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/collections'>Commons Collections</a>
	contains utilities that allow functions (as functors) to be easily applied to
	Collections.
	</p>
	<p>
	This is actually pretty useful when it comes to collections of beans. It's a common
	problem to want to extract information from a collection of beans or to change all properties
	to a particular value. Functors can be a particularly elegant way to do this. So try them!
	You might just like them!
	</p>
	<p>
	For more information about functors, please read the introduction to the
	<a href='http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/sandbox/functor/'>Commons Functor component</a>.
	</p>
	</subsection>
	</section>
	<section name='Releases'>
	<p>
	BeanUtils Bean-Collections is distributed as an optional jar within the main
	beanutils distribution. For details, see the
	<a href='http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/beanutils/index.html'>main BeanUtils website</a>
	</p>
	</section>

	</body>
	</document>