Double Dispatch

This article explains the language jetbrains.mps.baselanguage.doubleDispatch. The used example comes from this article ⧉:

Most OOP programming languages support single dispatch, commonly known as virtual methods. For example, consider the following code:

public class SpaceShip {
    public string GetShipType() {
        return "SpaceShip";
    }
}

public class ApolloSpacecraft extends SpaceShip {
    public string GetShipType() {
        return "ApolloSpacecraft";
    }
}

SpaceShip ship = new ApolloSpacecraft();
System.out.println(ship.GetShipType()); // output: (1)

1. ApolloSpacecraft

The actual method implementation, which the interpreter should call, is chosen at runtime based solely on the actual type of ship. The interpreter only uses the type of a single object to select the method, hence the name single dispatch.

Note: Single dispatch is one form of dynamic dispatch. For example, the interpreter chooses the method at runtime. If the compiler decides the method at compile time (valid for all non-virtual methods), it's called static dispatch.

Now add some asteroids:

public class Asteroid {
    public void collideWith(SpaceShip s) {
    System.out.println("Asteroid hit a SpaceShip");
    }

    public void collideWith(ApolloSpacecraft a) {
    System.out.println("Asteroid hit an ApolloSpacecraft");
    }
}

public class ExplodingAsteroid extends Asteroid {
    public void collideWith(SpaceShip s) {
    System.out.println("ExplodingAsteroid hit a SpaceShip");
}

public void collideWith(ApolloSpacecraft a) {
    System.out.println("ExplodingAsteroid hit an ApolloSpacecraft");
    }
}

public class DoubleDispatch {

    public static void main(string[] args) {
    Asteroid theAsteroid = new Asteroid();
    SpaceShip theSpaceShip = new SpaceShip();
    ApolloSpacecraft theApolloSpacecraft = new ApolloSpacecraft();

    theAsteroid.collideWith(theSpaceShip); // output: (1) 
    theAsteroid.collideWith(theApolloSpacecraft); // output: (2)

    System.out.println(); 

    ExplodingAsteroid theExplodingAsteroid = new ExplodingAsteroid(); 
    theExplodingAsteroid.collideWith(theSpaceShip); // output: (3)

    theExplodingAsteroid.collideWith(theApolloSpacecraft); // output: (4)

    System.out.println(); 

    Asteroid theAsteroidReference = theExplodingAsteroid; 
    theAsteroidReference.collideWith(theSpaceShip); // output: (5)
    theAsteroidReference.collideWith(theApolloSpacecraft); // output: (6)

    System.out.println(); 

    // Note the different data types  
    SpaceShip theSpaceShipReference = theApolloSpacecraft; 
    theAsteroid.collideWith(theSpaceShipReference); // output: (7)
    theAsteroidReference.collideWith(theSpaceShipReference); // output: (8)
    }
}

1. Asteroid hit a SpaceShip
2. Asteroid hit an ApolloSpacecraft
3. Exploding Asteroid hit a SpaceShip
4. Exploding Asteroid hit anApolloSpacecraft
5. Exploding Asteroid hit a SpaceShip
6. Exploding Asteroid hit an ApolloSpacecraft
7. Asteroid hit an ApolloSpacecraft
8. ExplodingAsteroid hit a SpaceShip

The desired result here would be ExplodingAsteroid hit an ApolloSpacecraft, but instead, you get ExplodingAsteroid hit a SpaceShip. To support double dispatch, import the dispatch language and include dispatch modifiers in ExplodingAsteroid:

public class ExplodingAsteroid extends Asteroid {
    public dispatch void collideWith(SpaceShip s) {
    System.out.println("ExplodingAsteroid hit a SpaceShip");
    }

    public dispatch void collideWith(ApolloSpacecraft a) {
    System.out.println("ExplodingAsteroid hit an ApolloSpacecrat");
    }
}

The last method now correctly returns ExplodingAsteroid hit an ApolloSpacecraft.

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Last update: July 16, 2023

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