Software Component: Builder generator

This builder came forth from a need for a builder which would work the same as the one generated by a jaxb-module.

Yet another builder generator, but different

Below is a table with different builders and what support they have in comparison to this builder generator:

Builder	Fluent Prefix 'with'	Nested Builders	Builder inheritence	Remarks
lombok Builder	✔️			With the way lombok works implementing nested builders will not be supported
lombok SuperBuilder	✔️		✔️	With the way lombok works implementing nested builders will not be supported
Jilt				Does not follow javabean spec
Pojobuilder	✔️
Freebuilder		✔️		Requires interfaces instead of classes as the source for the builder.
Immutables			✔️	Requires interfaces instead of classes as the source for the builder.
RIGD-Loxia builder	✔️	✔️	✔️

Need a support for other styles, feel free to make an issue for this. If you want you can even make a PR for it.

Description

Generates Builder classes based on the @Builder annotation. The following are by default generated

• fluent api met with prefix.
• builder chaining
• builder inheritence
• builder copyOf method

There are currently no support for options, although with PR's being merged this will change.

See the Reference Guide for all supported features.

Usage example

Take for example the following structure of classes:

class Car {
    private String brand;
	private int numberOfDoors;
	private Engine engine;
	private List<Seat> seats;
}

class Engine {
	private String name;
	private int topSpeed;
}

class Seat {
	private String type;
}

If we would annotate all classes with the @Builder annotation we could use the following bit of code to create the Car class:

private Car createCar() {
	return new CarBuilder()
		.withBrand("Custom Made")
		.withNumberOfDoors(4)
		.withEngine()
			.withName("V7 refurbished")
			.withTopSpeed(250)
		.end()
		.addSeats()
			withType("driver seat")
		.end()
		.addSeats()
			withType("front passenger seat")
		.end()
		.addSeats()
			withType("large back seat")
		.end()
		.build();
}

Installation using maven

Adding the dependency on the annotations

<dependency>
    <groupId>nl.loxia.builder.generator</groupId>
    <artifactId>annotations</artifactId>
    <version>${buildergenerator.version}</version>
</dependency>

Configuring APT for generating classes

            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
                <configuration>
                    <annotationProcessorPaths>
                        <annotationProcessorPath>
                            <groupId>nl.loxia.builder.generator</groupId>
                            <artifactId>builderGenerator</artifactId>
                            <version>${buildergenerator.version}</version>
                        </annotationProcessorPath>
                    </annotationProcessorPaths>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>

Overview compiler arguments

Compiler argument	default value	behaviour
nl.loxia.BuilderGenerator.copyOfMethodGeneration	true	determines whether or not copyOf methods should be generated

Contributing

if you want to contribute to the development of this module, then please see the documentation here: Contribution documentation

Release Notes

0.2.0 (upcoming release)

• copyOf method can now be disabled, this allows for generation of builders without matching get methods for each field. (#15)
• support InnerClassBuilder when InnerClass is in a List (#16)
• determine the properties using setters and constructor arguments (#7)
• allow lists to be accessed using a getter and then add methods on the list (#18)

0.1.0

• Fixed SeeAlso ordering, first childs then parents instead of first parents then childs.
• copyOf method now supports the SeeAlso referencing.
• copyOf method now does an in-depth copy.
• Builder-collections for builder-chaining combined with collections will now be correctly instantiated.
• Builders for builder-chaining with direct field will only be instantiated once. Sequential actions take place on the same builder.
• Lists now have a add... method which accepts a varArgs instead of a single value.
• Compiler warning when parent is missing @Builder annotation.
• Added 'copyOf' method to all builders