Talk:Fluent interface

Problem with the C# sample code

Hello!

1) I tried the C# sample code, but the compiler alerted 12 syntax errors. Please give a sample with runnable code.

2) The "fluent-interface-benefit" (short intuitive code) is not demonstrated very convincing. I would prefer to see something like:

IConfiguration config = ConfigurationFluent.Create().Color("blue").Height(1).Length(2).Depth(3);

or

IConfiguration config = ConfigurationFluent.CreateColored("blue").Height(1).Length(2).Depth(3);

(Create() or CreateColored() would be static methods, returning a new instance as an "entry-Point" into the fluent interface.

That is no really good Sample too, because C# 2008 provides the with-Keyword, so one could instantiate without fluent interface as well:

var config = new Configuration() with { Color = "blue", Height = 1, Length = 2, Depth = 3 };

3) A better sample would result in stuff like:

// List<SpecialItem> _SpecialItems = new List<SpecialItem>();
SpecialItem.CreateColored("blue").Height(1).Length(2).Depth(3).AddTo(_SpecialItems);

That would demonstrate, how fluent interface reduce nesting. Compare to:

// List<SpecialItem> _SpecialItems = new List<SpecialItem>();
_SpecialItems.Add(new SpecialItem() with { Color = "blue", Height = 1, Length = 2, Depth = 3 });

Unfortunately the benefit "help from Intellisense" (a fluent interface supports fluent writing code) cannot be shown in an article, or would you like to add screenshots?

ErfinderDesRades (talk) 11:11, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

---

IMO the published sample is garbage. Chaining in itself does not make for readability and the ALT.NET community is severely abusing mere chaining with this misunderstanding. There's nothing less readable about

myObject.SetValueX(1);
myObject.SetValueY(2);

than

myObject.SetValueX(1).SetValueY(2);

In my opinion, this actually makes it less readable because these are distinct statements that are being slurred together.

I agree that the samples from ErfinderDesRades are better. Jon (talk) 09:52, 30 September 2009 (UTC)

PHP sample

In the PHP sample, what is this part good for?

<?php
	session_start();
	error_reporting(E_ALL | E_USER_NOTICE);
	require_once 'classes/Loader.php';
	require_once 'config.php';
?>

Monad

Shouldn't a reference to monad be included somewhere in this article? Dave Sexton (talk) 08:43, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Fluent Interface vs Method Chains

The article correctly states that a fluent interface entails more than just method chaining but then goes on to to show examples that solely use Method Chaining. This is misleading. The article and the examples could be improved to reflect a Fluent Interface' role in creating internal DSLs. This would make the distinction more clear. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.123.52.156 (talk) 08:46, 22 September 2010 (UTC)

Same comment from my side. The C++ example in fact does implement a fluent interface, but not so the other examples. One correct example is much more worth than a dozen of examples whereof only one really illustrates the point. Since nothing happened since this comment from 2010 I am going to remove the other examples. --Chiccodoro (talk) 11:15, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

JQuery

Is JQuery considered a fluent interface? If so, it should be referenced in this article.

Also, I'd like to echo the above topic's concern. This article doesn't make clear what the requirements for fluent interfaces are, beyond method chaining. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.91.1.14 (talk) 22:11, 27 October 2010 (UTC)

The non-existence of C# 3.5

Regarding "With C# 3.5 and later there are more advanced method chaining techniques".

I don't think C# 3.5 exist; there is C# 3.0 and .NET Framework 3.5. Do you agree? --Mortense (talk) 03:09, 17 November 2010 (UTC)

Single-statement nature and debugging

The article should elaborate on the problematic side of fluent style, which is debugging: fluent chains constitute a single statement or expression, which can be problematic when debugging, compared to more classic styles.

Typically, for many languages you are not able set breakpoints within a chain, and stepping will often be problematic.

There is also an issue with crash stack reports, in which a fluent chain will be treated as a single statement when the debug information is limited to statements (which for many languages is the case). That can make identifying which method call triggered an issue ambiguous if the same method is present more than once in a chain. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.174.31.159 (talk) 20:58, 7 January 2011 (UTC)