How do I use composition with inheritance?

Question

I'm going to try to ask my question in the context of a simple example...

Let's say I have an abstract base class Car. Car has-a basic Engine object. I have a method StartEngine() in the abstract Car class that delegates the starting of the engine to the Engine object.

How do I allow subclasses of Car (like Ferrari) to declare the Engine object as a specific type of engine (e.g., TurboEngine)? Do I need another Car class (TurboCar)?

I'm inheriting a plain old Engine object and I cannot re-declare (or override) it as a TurboEngine in my Car subclasses.

EDIT: I understand that I can plug any subclass of Engine into myEngine reference within my Ferrari class...but how can I call methods that only the TurboEngine exposes? Because myEngine is inherited as a base Engine, none of the turbo stuff is included.

Thanks!

Answer 1

The Abstract Factory pattern is precisely for this problem. Google GoF Abstract Factory {your preferred language}

In the following, note how you can either use the concrete factories to produce "complete" objects (enzo, civic) or you can use them to produce "families" of related objects (CarbonFrame + TurboEngine, WeakFrame + WeakEngine). Ultimately, you always end up with a Car object that responds to accelerate() with type-specific behavior.

---

     using System;


    abstract class CarFactory
    {
        public static CarFactory FactoryFor(string manufacturer){
            switch(manufacturer){
                case "Ferrari" : return new FerrariFactory();
                case "Honda" : return new HondaFactory();
                default:
                    throw new ArgumentException("Unknown car manufacturer. Please bailout industry.");
            }
        }

        public abstract Car createCar();
        public abstract Engine createEngine();
        public abstract Frame createFrame();

    }

    class FerrariFactory : CarFactory
    {
        public override Car createCar()
        {
            return new Ferrari(createEngine(), createFrame());
        }

        public override Engine createEngine()
        {
            return new TurboEngine();
        }

        public override Frame createFrame()
        {
            return new CarbonFrame();
        }
    }

    class HondaFactory : CarFactory
    {
        public override Car createCar()
        {
            return new Honda(createEngine(), createFrame());
        }

        public override Engine createEngine()
        {
            return new WeakEngine();
        }

        public override Frame createFrame()
        {
            return new WeakFrame();
        }
    }

    abstract class Car
    {
        private Engine engine;
        private Frame frame;

        public Car(Engine engine, Frame frame)
        {
            this.engine = engine;
            this.frame = frame;
        }

        public void accelerate()
        {
            engine.setThrottle(1.0f);
            frame.respondToSpeed();
        }

    }

    class Ferrari : Car
    {
        public Ferrari(Engine engine, Frame frame) : base(engine, frame)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Setting sticker price to $250K");
        }
    }

    class Honda : Car
    {
        public Honda(Engine engine, Frame frame) : base(engine, frame)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Setting sticker price to $25K");
        }
    }

    class KitCar : Car
    {
        public KitCar(String name, Engine engine, Frame frame)
            : base(engine, frame)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Going out in the garage and building myself a " + name);
        }
    }

    abstract class Engine
    {
        public void setThrottle(float percent)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Stomping on accelerator!");
            typeSpecificAcceleration();
        }

        protected abstract void typeSpecificAcceleration();
    }

    class TurboEngine : Engine
    {
        protected override void typeSpecificAcceleration()
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Activating turbo");
            Console.WriteLine("Making noise like Barry White gargling wasps");
        }
    }

    class WeakEngine : Engine
    {
        protected override void typeSpecificAcceleration()
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Provoking hamster to run faster");
            Console.WriteLine("Whining like a dentist's drill");
        }
    }

    abstract class Frame
    {
        public abstract void respondToSpeed();
    }

    class CarbonFrame : Frame
    {
        public override void respondToSpeed()
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Activating active suspension and extending spoilers");
        }
    }

    class WeakFrame : Frame
    {
        public override void respondToSpeed()
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Loosening bolts and vibrating");
        }
    }

    class TestClass
    {
        public static void Main()
        {
            CarFactory ferrariFactory = CarFactory.FactoryFor("Ferrari");
            Car enzo = ferrariFactory.createCar();
            enzo.accelerate();

            Console.WriteLine("---");
            CarFactory hondaFactory = CarFactory.FactoryFor("Honda");
            Car civic = hondaFactory.createCar();
            civic.accelerate();

            Console.WriteLine("---");
            Frame frame = hondaFactory.createFrame();
            Engine engine = ferrariFactory.createEngine();
            Car kitCar = new KitCar("Shaker", engine, frame);
            kitCar.accelerate();

            Console.WriteLine("---");
            Car kitCar2 = new KitCar("LooksGreatGoesSlow", hondaFactory.createEngine(), ferrariFactory.createFrame());
            kitCar2.accelerate();
        }
    }