More Kotlin (Sealed Class Hierarchies)

Kotlin sealed-hierarchies

In Java and Kotlin, traditional enum types allow a fixed set of constants with the restriction that they are implemented only as singletons (In the JVM).

Kotlin allows a class hierarchy which consists of a sealed abstract super class enclosing named concrete implementations.

The following sealed class leans on the compiler and lets it do the work.

sealed class ForceAllegiance {
    class Jedi: ForceAllegiance()
    class Sith: ForceAllegiance()
}

The Kotlin compiler ensures “when” covers all possible subclasses in the sealed class.

fun ForceAllegiance.asString() = when (this) {
    is ForceAllegiance.Jedi -> "The Light"
    is ForceAllegiance.Sith -> "The Dark"
}

Not to be confused with Abstract Data Types that occur in Java as encapsulated value types like “ZipCode”.

Instead, sealed classes are Algebraic Data Types allowing us to count the members of a type and manipulate a single data type as several kinds of “things”. The structure of code follows the structure of the data. In the above example, we can say that ForceAllegiance “has a” Jedi and Sith, ForceAllegiance is either Jedi or Sith.

Note: In Kotlin 1.1 sealed classes can be used with data class inheritance.

Here is a more elaborate version of FizzBuzz where type safety is provided with Sealed Classes for the conditions. Inside a companion object, an invoke operator on “T() calls T.invoke()” is used as a factory to create the actual subclass instance. Updated for Kotlin 1.1 changes mod -> rem, data classes inheritance from sealed classes

Below, shows type safe access without having to access String representations.