Java – Better Ways to Escape Too Many If/Else-If Statements

design-patternsjavaobject-oriented

I am trying to write a servlet which does task based on the "action" value passed it to as input.

Here is the sample of which

public class SampleClass extends HttpServlet {
     public static void action1() throws Exception{
          //Do some actions
     }
     public static void action2() throws Exception{
          //Do some actions
     }
     //And goes on till action9


     public void doPost(HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse res)throws ServletException, IOException {
          String action = req.getParameter("action");

          /**
           * I find it difficult in the following ways
           * 1. Too lengthy - was not comfortable to read
           * 2. Makes me fear that action1 would run quicker as it was in the top
           * and action9 would run with a bit delay - as it would cross check with all the above if & else if conditions
           */

          if("action1".equals(action)) {
               //do some 10 lines of action
          } else if("action2".equals(action)) {
               //do some action
          } else if("action3".equals(action)) {
               //do some action
          } else if("action4".equals(action)) {
               //do some action
          } else if("action5".equals(action)) {
               //do some action
          } else if("action6".equals(action)) {
               //do some action
          } else if("action7".equals(action)) {
               //do some action
          } else if("action8".equals(action)) {
               //do some action
          } else if("action9".equals(action)) {
               //do some action
          }

          /**
           * So, the next approach i tried it with switch
           * 1. Added each action as method and called those methods from the swith case statements
           */
          switch(action) {
          case "action1": action1();
               break;
          case "action2": action2();
               break;
          case "action3": action3();
               break;
          case "action4": action4();
               break;
          case "action5": action5();
               break;
          case "action6": action6();
               break;
          case "action7": action7();
               break;
          case "action8": action8();
               break;
          case "action9": action9();
               break;
          default:
               break;
          }

          /**
           * Still was not comfortable since i am doing un-necessary checks in one way or the other
           * So tried with [reflection][1] by invoking the action methods
           */
          Map<String, Method> methodMap = new HashMap<String, Method>();

        methodMap.put("action1", SampleClass.class.getMethod("action1"));
        methodMap.put("action2", SampleClass.class.getMethod("action2"));

        methodMap.get(action).invoke(null);  

       /**
        * But i am afraid of the following things while using reflection
        * 1. One is Security (Could any variable or methods despite its access specifier) - is reflection advised to use here?
        * 2. Reflection takes too much time than simple if else
        */

     }
    }

All i need is to escape from too many if/else-if checks in my code for better readability and better code maintanance. So tried for other alternatives like

1.switch case – still it does too many checks before doing my action

2.reflection

i]one main thing is security – which allows me to access even the variables and methods within the class despite of its access specifier – i am not sure weather i could use it in my code

ii] and the other is it takes time more than the simple if/else-if checks

Is there any better approach or better design some one could suggest to organise the above code in a better way?

EDITED

I have added the answer for the above snippet considering the below answer.

But still, the following classes "ExecutorA" and "ExecutorB" does only a few lines of code. Is it a good practice to add them as a class than adding it as a method? Please advise in this regard.

Best Answer

Based on the previous answer, Java allows enums to have properties so you could define a strategy pattern, something like

public enum Action {
    A ( () -> { //Lambda Sintax
        // Do A
       } ), 
    B ( () -> executeB() ), // Lambda with static method
    C (new ExecutorC()) //External Class 

    public Action(Executor e)
        this.executor = e;
    }

    //OPTIONAL DELEGATED METHOD
    public foo execute() {
        return executor.execute();
    }

    // Action Static Method
    private static foo executeB(){
    // Do B
    }
}

Then your Executor (Strategy) would be

public interface Executor {
    foo execute();
}

public class ExecutorC implements Executor {
    public foo execute(){
        // Do C
    }
}

And all your if/else in your doPost method become something like 

public void doPost(HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse res) throws ServletException, IOException {
    String action = req.getParameter("action");
    Action.valueOf(action).execute();
}

This way you could even use lambdas for the executors in the enums.

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