Difference between Decorator pattern and Delegation pattern

Question

What is the difference between Decorator pattern and Delegation pattern (if there is any) ? I don\'t want to know just about implementation details but also about use case d

Answer 1

Decorator uses Delegation, but in a very specific way.

Delegation (or composition) is not as much a pattern as a general way to build complex behavior by coordinating use of several other objects. It's often used in a set or static way. By "set or static" I mean something like this:

class Delegator {
  private final ClassA a = new ClassA();
  private final ClassB b = new ClassB();

  public void doWork() {
     a.setup();
     final ResFromA resa = a.getRes();
     b.setup();
     b.consume(resa);
  }

}

Note that Delegator does not share any type or interface with either ClassA or ClassB, and knows the exact type of both a and b.

Decorator is a dynamic way to use delegation to add behavior to a logical entity at runtime. In Decorator all entities share a common interface, and use delegation to concatenate their work.

public interface Item {
  public void drawAt(final int x, final int y);
}

public class CircleAround implements Item {
  private final Item wrapped;
  private final int radius;

  public CircleAround(public final Item wrapped, public final int radius) {
    this.wrapped = wrapped;
    this.radius = radius;
  }

  public void drawAt(final int x, final int y) {
    // First handle whatever we are wrapping
    wrapped.drawAt(x,y);
    // Then add our circle
    Graphics.drawCircle(x, y, radius);
  }

}

Note that unlike the first example, CircleAround does not know the exact type of the item that it wraps, and shares a common interface with it.