Case objects vs Enumerations in Scala

Question

Are there any best-practice guidelines on when to use case classes (or case objects) vs extending Enumeration in Scala?

They seem to offer some of the same benefits.

Answer 1

I prefer case objects (it's a matter of personal preference). To cope with the problems inherent to that approach (parse string and iterate over all elements), I've added a few lines that are not perfect, but are effective.

I'm pasting you the code here expecting it could be useful, and also that others could improve it.

/**
 * Enum for Genre. It contains the type, objects, elements set and parse method.
 *
 * This approach supports:
 *
 * - Pattern matching
 * - Parse from name
 * - Get all elements
 */
object Genre {
  sealed trait Genre

  case object MALE extends Genre
  case object FEMALE extends Genre

  val elements = Set (MALE, FEMALE) // You have to take care this set matches all objects

  def apply (code: String) =
    if (MALE.toString == code) MALE
    else if (FEMALE.toString == code) FEMALE
    else throw new IllegalArgumentException
}

/**
 * Enum usage (and tests).
 */
object GenreTest extends App {
  import Genre._

  val m1 = MALE
  val m2 = Genre ("MALE")

  assert (m1 == m2)
  assert (m1.toString == "MALE")

  val f1 = FEMALE
  val f2 = Genre ("FEMALE")

  assert (f1 == f2)
  assert (f1.toString == "FEMALE")

  try {
    Genre (null)
    assert (false)
  }
  catch {
    case e: IllegalArgumentException => assert (true)
  }

  try {
    Genre ("male")
    assert (false)
  }
  catch {
    case e: IllegalArgumentException => assert (true)
  }

  Genre.elements.foreach { println }
}