Is it possible to use struct-like constructs in Java?

Question

I\'m considering using Java for a large project but I haven\'t been able to find anything that remotely represented structures in Java. I need to be able to convert network

Answer 1

No, you cannot do that. Java simply doesn't have the same concepts as C.

You can create a class that behaves much like a struct:

public class Structure {
    public int field1;
    public String field2;
}

and you can have a constructor that takes an array or bytes or a DataInput to read the bytes:

public class Structure {
    ...
    public Structure(byte[] data) {
        this(new DataInputStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(data)));
    }

    public Structure(DataInput in) {
        field1 = in.readInt();
        field2 = in.readUTF();
    }
}

then read bytes off the wire and pump them into Structures:

byte[] bytes = network.read();
DataInputStream stream = new DataInputStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(bytes));
Structure structure1 = new Structure(stream);
Structure structure2 = new Structure(stream);
...

It's not as concise as C but it's pretty close. Note that the DataInput interface cleanly removes any mucking around with endianness on your behalf, so that's definitely a benefit over C.