Avoiding multiple If statements in Java

Question

I\'ve coded a method something like this. But I guess this should undergo refactoring. Can any one suggest the best approach to avoid using this multiple if statements?

Answer 1

Command pattern is the way to go. Here is one example using java 8:

1. Define the interface:

public interface ExtensionHandler {
  boolean isMatched(String fileName);
  String handle(String fileName);
}

2. Implement the interface with each of the extension:

public class PdfHandler implements ExtensionHandler {
  @Override
  public boolean isMatched(String fileName) {
    return fileName.endsWith(".pdf");
  }

  @Override
  public String handle(String fileName) {
    return "application/pdf";
  }
}

and

public class TxtHandler implements ExtensionHandler {
  @Override public boolean isMatched(String fileName) {
    return fileName.endsWith(".txt");
  }

  @Override public String handle(String fileName) {
    return "txt/plain";
  }
}

and so on .....

3. Define the Client:

public class MimeTypeGetter {
  private List extensionHandlers;
  private ExtensionHandler plainTextHandler;

  public MimeTypeGetter() {
    extensionHandlers = new ArrayList<>();

    extensionHandlers.add(new PdfHandler());
    extensionHandlers.add(new DocHandler());
    extensionHandlers.add(new XlsHandler());

    // and so on

    plainTextHandler = new PlainTextHandler();
    extensionHandlers.add(plainTextHandler);
  }

  public String getMimeType(String fileExtension) {
    return extensionHandlers.stream()
      .filter(handler -> handler.isMatched(fileExtension))
      .findFirst()
      .orElse(plainTextHandler)
      .handle(fileExtension);
  }
}

4. And this is the sample result:

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    MimeTypeGetter mimeTypeGetter = new MimeTypeGetter();

    System.out.println(mimeTypeGetter.getMimeType("test.pdf")); // application/pdf
    System.out.println(mimeTypeGetter.getMimeType("hello.txt")); // txt/plain
    System.out.println(mimeTypeGetter.getMimeType("my presentation.ppt")); // "application/vnd.ms-powerpoint"
  }