Scala Dependency Injection with Cake Pattern - scala

I've been following this article which describes how to achieve dependency injection in Scala via the Cake Pattern:
http://jonasboner.com/real-world-scala-dependency-injection-di/
I'm kind of new to Scala and I admit some of it went over my head, so far I've got the following working:
// Setup the component and interface
trait AccountRepositoryComponent {
val accountRepository: AccountRepositoryInterface
trait AccountRepositoryInterface {
def message: String
}
}
// An implementation
trait MyAccountRepositoryComponent extends AccountRepositoryComponent {
object AccountRepository extends AccountRepositoryInterface {
def message: String = "Hello"
}
}
// Object to configure which implementations to use and retrieve them
object ComponentRegistry extends MyAccountRepositoryComponent {
val accountRepository = AccountRepository
}
// Example service using the above
object AccountService {
val repo = ComponentRegistry.accountRepository
def say: String = repo.message
}
println(AccountService.say)
What I'm failing to understand is how I would now pass in a fake repository to Account Service, say to change the output to "Test" rather than "Hello"?

There are various ways this could be modified to achieve a workable result, depending on what counts as a workable result for your situation. I'll go through a simpler possibility here.
First, the ComponentRegistry needs to become a trait, so it can be mixed in to the AccountService:
// Trait to configure which component implementations to use and retrieve them
object ComponentRegistry extends MyAccountRepositoryComponent {
val accountRepository = AccountRepository
}
// Example service using the above
object AccountService extends ComponentRegistry {
def say: String = accountRepository.message
}
println(AccountService.say)
This should print "Hello" as before. To set up a test case, add the following:
// Test implementation
trait TestAccountRepositoryComponent extends AccountRepositoryComponent {
object AccountRepository extends AccountRepositoryInterface {
def message: String = "Test"
}
}
// trait to configure test component implementations
trait TestComponentRegistry extends TestAccountRepositoryComponent {
val accountRepository = AccountRepository
}
Now we can set up a service that uses the test components:
// Example service using the above
object AccountService extends TestComponentRegistry {
//val repo = ComponentRegistry.accountRepository
def say: String = accountRepository.message
}
println(AccountService.say)
This should print "Test".
Note that you would probably want your AccountService to define its functionality in terms of other mixins/traits, which would expect the appropriate components to be available (layered into the "cake"), but wouldn't know which implementation was in use. Eg:
trait CustomerApi {
self: AccountRepositoryComponent => // Expects an implementation of AccountRepositoryComponent to be mixed in
def say: String = accountRepository.message
}
Now the method say is implemented without knowing what version of AccountRepository it will interact with, but knowing one must be provided (checked at compile time). So we can write:
object AccountService extends CustomerApi with ComponentRegistry
object TestAccountService extends CustomerApi with TestComponentRegistry
Calling println(AccountService.say) will generate "Hello", while calling println(TestAccountService.say) will generate "Test".

This post provides a succinct example of that (followed by an interesting alternative).

Related

Scala traits exposing protected members?

Given a class like:
class MyClass {
protected object MyObj { ... }
}
is it possible to write a trait that will permit exposing MyObj. E.g. with inheritance I could do the following:
class TestMyClass extends MyClass {
val getMyObj = MyObj
}
but I want to do this via a trait, something like the following which doesn't typecheck:
trait ExposeMyObj {
val getMyObj = MyObj // super.MyObj/this.MyObj don't work
}
and use it like:
class TestMyClass extends ExposeMyObj
Is it possible to reproduce the functionality in TestMyClass into a trait to expose the protected object, and if so how?
If you know that your trait will always be mixed in to an instance of MyClass (or a subclass), you can enforce the expectation with a self-type, and then access the object:
trait ExposeMyObj {
self: MyClass =>
val getMyObj = MyObj
}
Edit: an example of using this trait:
class TestMyClass extends MyClass with ExposeMyObj
val test = new TestMyClass
test.getMyObj // accesses MyObj defined in MyClass.
Edit 2: attempting to address #jbrown's comment (re: testing queries within repos) - I would look at doing something like the following - first, in each repo's file, add a trait for each repo holding the queries for that repo:
trait UserQueries { // you could look at making this protected, if you like
protected def query1(param: String) = List(param) // very silly implementation, but hopefully enough to make the point
... // other queries
}
class UserRepo extends UserQueries // Has (internal) access to those queries
Then in the test class file for a given repo:
class UserQueriesTester extends UserQueries with ScalaTest { // or whatever test framework you are using
// (public) tests to run - eg:
def testQuery1 = query1("test") should be (List("test"))
}

Scala Slick Cake Pattern: over 9000 classes?

I'm developing a Play! 2.2 application in Scala with Slick 2.0 and I'm now tackling the data access aspect, trying to use the Cake Pattern.
It seems promising but I really feel like I need to write a huge bunch of classes/traits/objects just to achieve something really simple. So I could use some light on this.
Taking a very simple example with a User concept, the way I understand it is we should have:
case class User(...) //model
class Users extends Table[User]... //Slick Table
object users extends TableQuery[Users] { //Slick Query
//custom queries
}
So far it's totally reasonable. Now we add a "Cake Patternable" UserRepository:
trait UserRepository {
val userRepo: UserRepository
class UserRepositoryImpl {
//Here I can do some stuff with slick
def findByName(name: String) = {
users.withFilter(_.name === name).list
}
}
}
Then we have a UserService:
trait UserService {
this: UserRepository =>
val userService: UserService
class UserServiceImpl { //
def findByName(name: String) = {
userRepo.findByName(name)
}
}
}
Now we mix all of this in an object :
object UserModule extends UserService with UserRepository {
val userRepo = new UserRepositoryImpl
val userService = new UserServiceImpl
}
Is UserRepository really useful? I could write findByName as a custom query in Users slick object.
Let's say I have another set of classes like this for Customer, and I need to use some UserService features in it.
Should I do:
CustomerService {
this: UserService =>
...
}
or
CustomerService {
val userService = UserModule.userService
...
}
OK, those sound like good goals:
Abstract over the database library (slick, ...)
Make the traits unit testable
You could do something like this:
trait UserRepository {
type User
def findByName(name: String): User
}
// Implementation using Slick
trait SlickUserRepository extends UserRepository {
case class User()
def findByName(name: String) = {
// Slick code
}
}
// Implementation using Rough
trait RoughUserRepository extends UserRepository {
case class User()
def findByName(name: String) = {
// Rough code
}
}
Then for CustomerRepository you could do:
trait CustomerRepository { this: UserRepository =>
}
trait SlickCustomerRepository extends CustomerRepository {
}
trait RoughCustomerRepository extends CustomerRepository {
}
And combine them based on your backend whims:
object UserModuleWithSlick
extends SlickUserRepository
with SlickCustomerRepository
object UserModuleWithRough
extends RoughUserRepository
with RoughCustomerRepository
You can make unit-testable objects like so:
object CustomerRepositoryTest extends CustomerRepository with UserRepository {
type User = // some mock type
def findByName(name: String) = {
// some mock code
}
}
You are correct to observe that there is a strong similarity between
trait CustomerRepository { this: UserRepository =>
}
object Module extends UserRepository with CustomerRepository
and
trait CustomerRepository {
val userRepository: UserRepository
import userRepository._
}
object UserModule extends UserRepository
object CustomerModule extends CustomerRepository {
val userRepository: UserModule.type = UserModule
}
This is the old inheritance/aggregation tradeoff, updated for the Scala world. Each approach has advantages and disadvantages. With mixing traits, you will create fewer concrete objects, which can be easier to keep track of (as in above, you only have a single Module object, rather than separate objects for users and customers). On the other hand, traits must be mixed at object creation time, so you couldn't for example take an existing UserRepository and make a CustomerRepository by mixing it in -- if you need to do that, you must use aggregation. Note also that aggregation often requires you to specify singleton-types like above (: UserModule.type) in order for Scala to accept that the path-dependent types are the same. Another power that mixing traits has is that it can handle recursive dependencies -- both the UserModule and the CustomerModule can provide something to and require something from each other. This is also possible with aggregation using lazy vals, but it is more syntactically convenient with mixing traits.
Check out my recently published Slick architecture cheat sheet. It does not abstract over the database driver, but it is trivial do change it that way. Just wrap it in
class Profile(profile: JdbcProfile){
import profile.simple._
lazy val db = ...
// <- cheat sheet code here
}
You do not need the cake pattern. Just put it all in one file and you get away without it. The cake pattern allows you to split the code into different files, if you are willing to pay the syntax overhead. People also use the cake pattern to create different configurations including different combinations of services, but I don't think this is relevant to you.
If the repeated syntax overhead per database table bothers you, generate the code. The Slick code-generator is customizable exactly for that purpose:
If you want to blend hand-written and generated code, either feed the hand-written code into the code-generator or use a scheme, where the generated code inherits from hand-written cor vise-versa.
For replacing Slick by something else, replace the DAO methods with queries using another library.

Abstracting the Database client in the cake pattern

I am trying to create an abstraction for a SearchService using the Cake pattern. This is what I have currently:
trait SearchServiceComponent{
val searchService:SearchService
trait SearchService{
def searchForSomething(..):List[String]
def updateIndex(..):Boolean
}
}
Lets say I have a DbSearchServiceComponent and LuceneSearchServiceComponent as follows:
trait DbSearchServiceComponent extends SearchServiceComponent{
class DbSearchService extends SearchService{
//Initialize the db client
//Implement all the trait methods
}
}
Similarly...
trait LuceneSearchServiceComponent extends SearchServiceComponent{
class LuceneSearchService extends SearchService{
//Initialize the lucene client
//Implement all the trait methods
}
}
The issue I have with the above snippet is that
I have initialized instances of lucene client and the db client in the Service implementations.
Ideally I would want to "mix-in" a "Client" base type that can be either a Db client or a Lucene client but I am pretty confused as to how to inject a polymorphic client type here.
Can somebody point out how I may be able to refactor the code so that I can inject different versions of the client to my implementations of the SearchService trait?
Not sure if I interpret your question correctly, but that's how you could use the cake pattern for this:
trait SearchServiceComponent {
val searchService: SearchService
trait SearchService {
def searchForSomething(...): List[String]
def updateIndex(...): Boolean
}
}
trait DbSearchServiceComponent extends SearchServiceComponent {
override val searchService = new SearchService {
// Initialize client, implement methods
}
}
trait trait LuceneSearchServiceComponent extends SearchServiceComponent {
override val searchService = new SearchService {
// Initialize client, implement methods
}
}
and upon instantiation:
val myLucenceApp = new Whatever with LuceneSearchServiceComponent
val myDbApp = new Whatever with DbSearchServiceComponent
where Whatever would typically be something along the lines of
class Whatever { this: SearchServiceComponent =>
// ... use `searchService` and do lots of other things
}

Abstract fields for dependency injection

In Scala, is there there anything wrong with using the below method of dependency injection.
// Define an interface
trait FileStorage {
def readFile(filename:String):OutputStream
}
// And an implementation
class S3FileStorage extends FileStorage {
def readFile(filename:String):OutputStream = ???
}
// Define our service as a trait with abstract fields that need to be
// injected in order to construct. All implementation details go here.
trait FileHTTPServer {
val fileStorage:FileStorage
def fetchFile( session:Session, filename:String ) = ???
}
Now we wire things up
// Wire up a concrete file service that we actually use in code
// No implementation details should go here, we're simply wiring up a FileHttpServerl
// An entire project could be wired up this way in a central location if desired.
object S3FileHttpServer extends FileHTTPServer {
val fileStorage = new S3FileStorage
}
// We could also do this anonymously
val myHttpServer = new FileHttpServer {
val fileStorage = new S3FileStorage
}
// Or create a mocked version for testing
val mockedHttpServer = new FileHttpServer {
val fileStorage = mock[FileStorage]
}
Obviously the Cake pattern provides more flexibility (particularly around self-types), however for simpler use cases this has much less boilerplate, while still providing compile time checking and a clean unambiguous interface.
Yes, this is absolutely fine approach. And yes, sometimes you can use constructor injection, nothing wrong with that too. But with constructor injection you have to propagate your dependencies manually, while with cake pattern your dependencies are propagated automatically via self-type annotations. So for big projects constructor injection actually lead to more boilerplate than cake pattern, especially at the construction site (where you create all your objects and set up dependencies between them).
However, what you have presented is not full-fledged cake pattern. In real cake pattern there is an additional layer around business logic classes, so-called components, and you do not wire up logic classes directly but components instead.
trait FileStorageComponent {
def fileStorage: FileStorage
trait FileStorage {
def readFile(filename: String): OutputStream
}
}
trait S3FileStorageComponent extends FileStorageComponent {
val fileStorage = new S3FileStorage
class S3FileStorage extends FileStorage {
def readFile(filename: String): OutputStream = ???
}
}
trait FileHttpServerComponent {
self: FileStorageComponent =>
val fileHttpServer = new FileHttpServer
class FileHttpServer {
def fetchFile(session: Session, filename: String) = ???
}
}
// Wiring
object S3FileHttpServer extends FileHttpServerComponent with S3FileStorageComponent
// Anonymous
val server = new FileHttpServerComponent with S3FileStorageComponent
// Mocking
object TestFileHttpServer extends FileHttpServerComponent with FileStorageComponent {
val fileStorage = mock[FileStorage]
}
In this approach there are more boilerplate in traits definitions, but in return you have greater flexibility and very clear dependency management on the use place. For example, here is how program entry point in one of my projects looks like:
object Main
extends MainUI
with DefaultActorsManagerComponent
with DefaultPreferencesAccessComponent
with DefaultModelComponent
with DefaultMainWindowViewComponent
with DefaultMainWindowControllerComponent
with MainWindowReporterComponent
with DefaultClientActorComponent
with DefaultResponseParserActorComponent
with DefaultArchiverActorComponent
with DefaultMainWindowAccessActorComponent
with DefaultUrlParserComponent
with DefaultListenerActorComponent
with DefaultXmlPrettifierComponent
All main program components are in one place. Pretty neat IMO.

Is scala's cake pattern possible with parametrized components?

Parametrized components work well with the cake pattern as long as you are only interested in a unique component for each typed component's, example:
trait AComponent[T] {
val a:A[T]
class A[T](implicit mf:Manifest[T]) {
println(mf)
}
}
class App extends AComponent[Int] {
val a = new A[Int]()
}
new App
Now my application requires me to inject an A[Int] and an A[String], obviously scala's type system doesn't allow me to extends AComponent twice. What is the common practice in this situation ?
I think the AComponent doesn't need to be parameterized itself. So loose the type parameter and change this into
trait AComponent {
val aInt: A[Int]
val aStr: A[String]
class A[T](implicit mf:Manifest[T]) {
println(mf)
}
}
class App extends AComponent {
val aInt = new A[Int]()
val aStr = new A[String]()
}
if you want to be able to provide instances for Int and String