Behavioral Patterns  «Prev 

Observer is an Interface implemented by Multiple Classes

What is an interface, anyway?

This is one of those tricky areas where exact details vary a lot from language to language. In Java, the Observer is almost always an interface implemented by multiple classes. In C++, the Observer is likely to be an abstract class mixed in through multiple inheritance .
In Smalltalk, the weak typing allows the Observer interface to be merely an abstract idea rather than something directly implemented in code.

Observer design pattern

  1. Model the independent functionality with a subject abstraction
  2. Model the dependent functionality with observer hierarchy
  3. The Subject is coupled only to the Observer base class
  4. Observers register themselves with the Subject
  5. The Subject broadcasts events to all registered Observers
  6. Observers pull the information they need from the Subject
  7. Client configures the number and type of Observers

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
using namespace std;

class Subject {
    // 1. "independent" functionality
    vector <class Observer * > views; // 3. Coupled only to "interface"
    int value;
  public:
    void attach(Observer *obs) {
        views.push_back(obs);
    }
    void setVal(int val) {
        value = val;
        notify();
    }
    int getVal() {
        return value;
    }
    void notify();
};

class Observer {
    // 2. "dependent" functionality
    Subject *model;
    int denom;
  public:
    Observer(Subject *mod, int div) {
        model = mod;
        denom = div;
        // 4. Observers register themselves with the Subject
        model->attach(this);
    }
    virtual void update() = 0;
  protected:
    Subject *getSubject() {
        return model;
    }
    int getDivisor() {
        return denom;
    }
};

void Subject::notify() {
  // 5. Publisher broadcasts
  for (int i = 0; i < views.size(); i++)
    views[i]->update();
}

class DivObserver: public Observer {
  public:
    DivObserver(Subject *mod, int div): Observer(mod, div){}
    void update() {
        // 6. "Pull" information of interest
        int v = getSubject()->getVal(), d = getDivisor();
        cout << v << " div " << d << " is " << v / d << '\n';
    }
};


class ModObserver: public Observer {
  public:
    ModObserver(Subject *mod, int div): Observer(mod, div){}
    void update() {
        int v = getSubject()->getVal(), d = getDivisor();
        cout  << v << " mod "  << d << " is " << v % d  <<  '\n';
    }
};

int main() {
  Subject subj;
  DivObserver divObs1(&subj, 4); // 7. Client configures the number and
  DivObserver divObs2(&subj, 3); //    type of Observers
  ModObserver modObs3(&subj, 3);
  subj.setVal(14);
}