Scala Language Case Classes Generated Code Artifacts
Example
The case modifier causes the Scala compiler to automatically generate common boilerplate code for the class. Implementing this code manually is tedious and a source of errors. The following case class definition:
case class Person(name: String, age: Int)
... will have the following code automatically generated:
class Person(val name: String, val age: Int)
extends Product with Serializable
{
def copy(name: String = this.name, age: Int = this.age): Person =
new Person(name, age)
def productArity: Int = 2
def productElement(i: Int): Any = i match {
case 0 => name
case 1 => age
case _ => throw new IndexOutOfBoundsException(i.toString)
}
def productIterator: Iterator[Any] =
scala.runtime.ScalaRunTime.typedProductIterator(this)
def productPrefix: String = "Person"
def canEqual(obj: Any): Boolean = obj.isInstanceOf[Person]
override def hashCode(): Int = scala.runtime.ScalaRunTime._hashCode(this)
override def equals(obj: Any): Boolean = this.eq(obj) || obj match {
case that: Person => this.name == that.name && this.age == that.age
case _ => false
}
override def toString: String =
scala.runtime.ScalaRunTime._toString(this)
}
The case modifier also generates a companion object:
object Person extends AbstractFunction2[String, Int, Person] with Serializable {
def apply(name: String, age: Int): Person = new Person(name, age)
def unapply(p: Person): Option[(String, Int)] =
if(p == null) None else Some((p.name, p.age))
}
When applied to an object, the case modifier has similar (albeit less dramatic) effects. Here the primary gains are a toString implementation and a hashCode value that is consistent across processes. Note that case objects (correctly) use reference equality:
object Foo extends Product with Serializable {
def productArity: Int = 0
def productIterator: Iterator[Any] =
scala.runtime.ScalaRunTime.typedProductIterator(this)
def productElement(i: Int): Any =
throw new IndexOutOfBoundsException(i.toString)
def productPrefix: String = "Foo"
def canEqual(obj: Any): Boolean = obj.isInstanceOf[this.type]
override def hashCode(): Int = 70822 // "Foo".hashCode()
override def toString: String = "Foo"
}
It is still possible to manually implement methods that would otherwise be provided by the case modifier in both the class itself and its companion object.
