Class definition: is it necessary to define properties as struct?
10 views (last 30 days)
Show older comments
Hi all,
I'm new to OOP in MATLAB. When defining properties in a class, shall I define them as constants or as a struct? For example, explicitly:
classdef myClass < handle
properties
a
b
c
end
methods
function obj = myClass(a, b, c)
obj.a = a;
obj.b = b;
obj.c = c
end
end
or as struct
classdef myClass < handle
properties
prop
end
methods
function obj = myClass(a, b, c)
obj.prop.a = a;
obj.prop.b = b;
obj.prop.c = c;
end
end
The first way allows me to define attributes, such as private, public, etc. But if there are lots of properties, this way is too long.
The second way I will only be able to define attributes for the entire 'prop', I cannot only define prop.a as private but prop.b and prop.c as public, but the second way seems very neat.
What do you usually do and why?
Thank you!
0 Comments
Accepted Answer
Adam
on 13 Mar 2017
Edited: Adam
on 13 Mar 2017
The whole point of a class is that it is an extended and far better version of a struct (apart from performance-wise). Properties of a class are analagous to fields of a struct. Think of your class as a replacement for the struct, not something to combine with it.
With good OOP design you should never have a single class that has so many properties you have trouble typing them out anyway.
I have never yet used a struct inside a class as it defeats the purpose. The properties of a class are visible, the fields of a struct could be anything.
0 Comments
More Answers (0)
See Also
Categories
Find more on Structures in Help Center and File Exchange
Community Treasure Hunt
Find the treasures in MATLAB Central and discover how the community can help you!
Start Hunting!