Can Scala Companion Object Traits call a constructor of the class? - scala

Question

I'm trying to solve a problem that may not be possible in Scala.
I want to have a Trait to solve default constructors
trait Builder[T <: Buildable] {
def build(code: String): T = new T(code)
def build: T = new T("bar")
}
So extending the Trait on the companion object automatically has access to functions that creates the class with specific constructors and parameters
class A(code: String) extends Buildable
object A extends Builder[A]
Extending the Trait, the companion object has the constructors
A.build("foo")
A.build
Is this possible in Scala?
Also tried abstract classes, but hadn't had any success
trait Builder[T <: BuildableClass] {
def build(code: String): T = new T(code)
def build: T = new T("bar")
}
abstract class BuildableClass(code: String)
class A(code: String) extends BuildableClass(code)
object A extends Builder[A]
Thanks in advance
Edit: currently locked on Scala 2.12

Answer 1

Because of the type erasure, in ordinary code new T is allowed only for class type T, not an abstract type/type parameter.
In Scala, is it possible to instantiate an object of generic type T?
How to create an instance of type T at runtime with TypeTags
Class type required but T found
An alternative to runtime reflection (see #StanislavKovalenko's answer) is macros. new T is possible there because during macro expansion T is not erased yet.
import scala.language.experimental.macros
import scala.reflect.macros.blackbox // libraryDependencies += scalaOrganization.value % "scala-reflect" % scalaVersion.value
abstract class BuildableClass(code: String)
trait Builder[T <: BuildableClass] {
def build(code: String): T = macro BuilderMacros.buildImpl[T]
def build: T = macro BuilderMacros.buildDefaultImpl[T]
}
class BuilderMacros(val c: blackbox.Context) {
import c.universe._
def buildImpl[T: WeakTypeTag](code: Tree): Tree = q"new ${weakTypeOf[T]}($code)"
def buildDefaultImpl[T: WeakTypeTag]: Tree = q"""new ${weakTypeOf[T]}("bar")"""
}
// in a different subproject
class A(code:String) extends BuildableClass(code)
object A extends Builder[A]
A.build("foo") // scalac: new A("foo")
A.build // scalac: new A("bar")
Alternative implementations:
trait Builder[T <: BuildableClass] {
def build(code: String): T = macro BuilderMacros.buildImpl
def build: T = macro BuilderMacros.buildDefaultImpl
}
class BuilderMacros(val c: blackbox.Context) {
import c.universe._
val tpe = c.prefix.tree.tpe.baseType(symbolOf[Builder[_]]).typeArgs.head
def buildImpl(code: Tree): Tree = q"new $tpe($code)"
def buildDefaultImpl: Tree = q"""new $tpe("bar")"""
}
class BuilderMacros(val c: blackbox.Context) {
import c.universe._
val symb = c.prefix.tree.symbol.companion
def buildImpl(code: Tree): Tree = q"new $symb($code)"
def buildDefaultImpl: Tree = q"""new $symb("bar")"""
}
class BuilderMacros(val c: blackbox.Context) {
import c.universe._
val tpe = c.prefix.tree.tpe.companion
def buildImpl(code: Tree): Tree = q"new $tpe($code)"
def buildDefaultImpl: Tree = q"""new $tpe("bar")"""
}
class BuilderMacros(val c: blackbox.Context) {
import c.universe._
val tpe = symbolOf[Builder[_]].typeParams.head.asType.toType
.asSeenFrom(c.prefix.tree.tpe, symbolOf[Builder[_]])
def buildImpl(code: Tree): Tree = q"new $tpe($code)"
def buildDefaultImpl: Tree = q"""new $tpe("bar")"""
}

Answer 2

One of the potential solution that uses a reflection looks a bit ugly, but it works.
import scala.reflect._
trait Builder[T <: Buildable] {
def build(code: String)(implicit ct: ClassTag[T]): T =
ct.runtimeClass.getConstructors()(0).newInstance(code).asInstanceOf[T]
def build(implicit ct: ClassTag[T]): T =
ct.runtimeClass.getConstructors()(0).newInstance("bar").asInstanceOf[T]
}
trait Buildable
class A(code: String) extends Buildable {
def getCode = code
}
object A extends Builder[A]
val a: A = A.build
println(a.getCode)
The problem is that your Builder trait doesn't know anything about how to construct your instances. You can get this info from runtime with reflection or from compile time with macros.

Answer 3

Found a much cleaner solution to this problem without using macros / reflection / implicits
trait Buildable
trait Builder[T <: Buildable] {
self =>
def apply(code: String): T
def build: T = self.apply("foo")
def build(code: String): T = self.apply(code)
}
case class A(code: String) extends Buildable {
def getCode: String = code
}
object A extends Builder[A]
A.build("bar").getCode
A.build.getCode