Dart extension: don't access members with 'this' unless avoiding shadowing - dart

I'm learning to use the new Dart extension methods.
I'm doing this:
extension StringInsersion on StringBuffer {
void insertCharCodeAtStart(int codeUnit) {
final end = this.toString();
this.clear();
this.writeCharCode(codeUnit);
this.write(end);
}
int codeUnitAt(int index) {
return this.toString().codeUnitAt(index);
}
}
So that I can do something like this:
myStringBuffer.insertCharCodeAtStart(0x0020);
int value = myStringBuffer.codeUnitAt(2);
However, I get the following lint warning:
Don't access members with this unless avoiding shadowing.
Should I be doing something different?

The warning you received means the following:
There is no need to reference the current instance using keyword this. Everything will work without reference to the current instance because the static extension method itself acts as an instance method of extensible type.
Simply put, just remove the reference to the current instance from your code.
From this:
final end = this.toString();
To this:
final end = toString();

It's a style thing, based on Dart's guide. There are examples in https://dart-lang.github.io/linter/lints/unnecessary_this.html.
You can find more about style in https://dart.dev/guides/language/effective-dart/style.

I turn off this rule globally by changing "analysis_options.yaml"
include: package:flutter_lints/flutter.yaml
linter:
rules:
unnecessary_this: false

Related

Should subclasses inherit private mixin variables in Dart?

Should I get the following error:
class.dart:11:11: Error: The getter '_privateID' isn't defined for the class 'Y'.
- 'Y' is from 'class.dart'.
Try correcting the name to the name of an existing getter, or defining a getter or field named '_privateID'.
From the following code?
mixin.dart:
class Mixin {
static int _nextID = 0;
int publicID = _nextID++; // I only need one of these lines
int _privateID = _nextID++; // but this variable is inaccessible
}
class.dart:
import 'mixin.dart';
class X with Mixin {
void run() {
print(publicID); // no error here
}
}
class Y with Mixin {
void run() {
print(_privateID); // Error: _privateID not defined
}
}
void main() {
Y().run();
}
Or is this a bug? If it's not a bug, I'd like to understand why this behavior is reasonable.
When I instead define the mixin in the same file as the above classes, I get no error.
(Dart SDK 2.4.1.)
It is not a bug.
The private field is inherited, but you cannot access it because its name is private to a different library.
Dart's notion of "privacy" is library private names.
The name _privateID in the mixin.dart library introduces a library private name. This name is special in that it can only be written inside the same library.
If someone writes _privateID in a different library, it is a different name, one unique to that library instead.
It is as if private names includes the library URI of the library it is written in, so what you really declare is a name _privateID#mixin.dart.
When you try to read that field in class.dart, you write ._privateID, but because it is in a different library, what you really write is ._privateID#class.dart, a completely different name, and the classs does not have any declarations with that name.
So, if one class needs to access a private member of another class (or mixin, or anything), then the two needs to be declared in the same library, because otherwise they cannot even write the name of that variable.
That is why the code works if you write the mixin in the same library.
If you want to move the mixin to a separate file, but not necessarily a separate library, you can use a part file.

Understanding dart syntax

Coming from the java world I have difficulties to understand this code-fragment from the AngularDart pirate badge code lab:
Future _loadData() {
return _http.get('piratenames.json').then((HttpResponse response) {
PirateName.names = response.data['names'];
PirateName.appellations = response.data['appellations'];
});
}
}
From my understanding PirateName is a class and how can the line
PirateName.names = response.data['names'];
write a field of a class without referring to an actual instance?
Dart syntax allows static variables as does Java.
That is a static variable as defined in the source you provided Edit piratebadge.dart and you'll see where it is defined as static.

in Dart, problems when attempting to "register" sub-class with super-class

I wish to have the sub-classes of a super-class "registered" by an arbitrary name - whenever I declare a sub-class I wish to also have it entered into the super-class.sub Map.
Is there any way to accomplish this outside of main()?
// base class
class Mineral{
final String formula;
static Map<String,Mineral> sub = {}
Mineral( this.formula );
}
// sub class - declare and register
class Mica extends Mineral{
Mica( String formula ) : super( formula );
}
Mineral.sub['mica'] = Mica; // oops!
when I run this, I get
Error: line 10 pos 1: unexpected token 'Mineral' Mineral.sub['mica'] = Mica;
assuming that executable code is not allowed outside main().
cannot put within the super-class since other sub-classes may declared later, outside the library.
Dart has no way to run code as part of a library being loaded.
Executable code can only be put inside methods, or in field initializers, and static field initializers are lazy so they won't execute any code until you try to read them.
This is done to ensure quick startup - a Dart program doesn't have to execute any code before starting the main library's "main" method.
So, no, there is no way to initialize something that isn't constant before main is called.
Either
Mineral.sub['mica'] = new Mica();
or
static Map<String,Type> sub = {};
When you assign Mica you assign the Type Mica. new Mica() is an instance of Mica that is of the kind Mineral and can be assigned to the map you declared.
edit
Maybe you want to initialize the sub map:
static Map<String,Mineral> sub = {'mica': new Mica()};
hint: the semicolon is missing in this line in your question.

Using mirrors, how can I get a reference to a class's method?

Say I have an instance of a class Foo, and I want to grab a list of all of its methods that are annotated a certain way. I want to have a reference to the method itself, so I'm not looking to use reflection to invoke the method each time, just to grab a reference to it the first time.
In other words, I want to do the reflection equivalent of this:
class Foo {
a() {print("a");}
}
void main() {
var f = new Foo();
var x = f.a; // Need reflective way of doing this
x(); // prints "a"
}
I have tried using InstanceMirror#getField, but methods are not considered fields so that didn't work. Any ideas?
As far as I understand reflection in Dart, there's no way to get the actual method as you wish to. (I'll very happily delete this answer if someone comes along and shows how to do that.)
The best I can come up with to ameliorate some of what you probably don't like about using reflection to invoke the method is this:
import 'dart:mirrors';
class Foo {
a() {print("a");}
}
void main() {
var f = new Foo();
final fMirror = reflect(f);
final aSym = new Symbol('a');
final x = () => fMirror.invoke(aSym, []);
x(); // prints "a"
}
Again, I know that's not quite what you're looking for, but I believe it's as close as you can get.
Side note: getField invokes the getter and returns the result -- it's actually fine if the getter is implemented as a method. It doesn't work for you here, but for a different reason than you thought.
What you're trying to get would be described as the "closurized" version of the method. That is, you want to get the method as a function, where the receiver is implicit in the function invocation. There isn't a way to get that from the mirror. You could get a methodMirror as
reflect(foo).type.methods[const Symbol("a")]
but you can't invoke the result.

How to check if two objects are of the same type in Actionscript?

I want to do this in Actionscript:
typeof(control1) != typeof(control2)
to test if two objects are of the same type. This would work just fine in C#, but in Actionscript it doesnt. In fact it returns 'object' for both typeof() expressions because thats the way Actionscript works.
I couldn't seem to find an alternative by looking in the debugger, or on pages that describe typeof() in Actionscript.
Is there a way to get the actual runtime type?
The best way is to use flash.utils.getQualifiedClassName(). Additionally, you can use flash.utils.describeType() to get an XML document the describes more about the class.
Actionscript 3 has an is operator which can be used to compare objects. Consider the following code:
var mySprite:Sprite = new Sprite();
var myMovie:MovieClip = new MovieClip();
trace(mySprite is Sprite);
trace(myMovie is MovieClip);
trace(mySprite is MovieClip);
trace(myMovie is Sprite);
Which will produce the following output:
true
true
false
false
This will work for built-in classes, and classes you create yourself. The actionscript 2 equivalent of the is operator is instanceof.
You'll want to use the Object.prototype.constructor.
From the documentation:
dynamic class A {}
trace(A.prototype.constructor); // [class A]
trace(A.prototype.constructor == A); // true
var myA:A = new A();
trace(myA.constructor == A); // true
(Conveniently, this is also how to check types in javascript, which is what originally led me to this in the docs)
So, to test this out before I posted here, I tried it in an app I have, in a class called Player. Since the prototype property is static, you can't call it using "this" but you can just skip the scope identifier and it works:
public function checkType():void {
trace(prototype.constructor, prototype.constructor == Player);
// shows [class Player] true
}
Is there a way to get the actual runtime type?
Yes.
var actualRuntimeType:Class = Object(yourInstance).constructor;
Some other answers already refer to .constructor, but you can't always directly access .constructor in ActionScript 3. It is only accessible on dynamic classes, which most classes are not. Attempting to use it on a regular class will cause a compile-time error under the default settings.
However, because every class inherits from Object, which is dynamic, we can look up their .constructor property just by casting an instance to Object.
Therefore if we are not interested in subclasses, we can confirm that two instances are of exactly the same class by simply evaluating this:
Object(instanceA).constructor === Object(instanceB).constructor;
I learned of this from the post "Get the class used to create an object instance in AS3" by Josh Tynjala.
A even simpler alternative that also works for me is just:
var actualRuntimeType:Class = yourInstance["constructor"];
The runtime is entirely capable of giving you the .constructor, it's just that the compiler complains if you use that syntax. Using ["constructor"] should produce the same bytecode, but the compiler isn't clever enough to stop you.
I included this second because it hasn't been tested anywhere except my current Flash environment, whereas several users have said that the method described above works for them.
If you want to account for inheritance, then you might want to try something like this:
if (objectA is objectB.constructor || objectB is objectA.constructor)
{
// ObjectA inherits from ObjectB or vice versa
}
More generally, if you want to test whether objectA is a subtype of objectB
import flash.utils.getDefinitionByName;
import flash.utils.getQualifiedClassName;
...
if (objectA is getDefinitionByName(getQualifiedClassName(objectB)))
{
...
}
Object obj = new Object();
Object o = new Object();
if(o.getClass().getName().endsWith(obj.getClass().getName())){
return true;
}else{
return false;
}

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