Dependency Injection

Dependency injection (DI) is a process whereby objects define their dependencies (that is, the other objects with which they work) only through constructor arguments, arguments to a factory method, or properties that are set on the object instance after it is constructed or returned from a factory method. The container then injects those dependencies when it creates the bean. This process is fundamentally the inverse (hence the name, Inversion of Control) of the bean itself controlling the instantiation or location of its dependencies on its own by using direct construction of classes or the Service Locator pattern.

Code is cleaner with the DI principle, and decoupling is more effective when objects are provided with their dependencies. The object does not look up its dependencies and does not know the location or class of the dependencies. As a result, your classes become easier to test, particularly when the dependencies are on interfaces or abstract base classes, which allow for stub or mock implementations to be used in unit tests.

DI exists in two major variants: Constructor-based dependency injection and Setter-based dependency injection.

Constructor-based Dependency Injection

Constructor-based DI is accomplished by the container invoking a constructor with a number of arguments, each representing a dependency. Calling a static factory method with specific arguments to construct the bean is nearly equivalent, and this discussion treats arguments to a constructor and to a static factory method similarly. The following example shows a class that can only be dependency-injected with constructor injection:

Java

public class SimpleMovieLister {

  // the SimpleMovieLister has a dependency on a MovieFinder
  private final MovieFinder movieFinder;

  // a constructor so that the Infra container can inject a MovieFinder
  public SimpleMovieLister(MovieFinder movieFinder) {
    this.movieFinder = movieFinder;
  }

  // business logic that actually uses the injected MovieFinder is omitted...
}

Notice that there is nothing special about this class. It is a POJO that has no dependencies on container specific interfaces, base classes, or annotations.

Constructor Argument Resolution

Constructor argument resolution matching occurs by using the argument’s type. If no potential ambiguity exists in the constructor arguments of a bean definition, the order in which the constructor arguments are defined in a bean definition is the order in which those arguments are supplied to the appropriate constructor when the bean is being instantiated. Consider the following class:

Java

package x.y;

public class ThingOne {

  public ThingOne(ThingTwo thingTwo, ThingThree thingThree) {
    // ...
  }
}

Assuming that the ThingTwo and ThingThree classes are not related by inheritance, no potential ambiguity exists. Thus, the following configuration works fine, and you do not need to specify the constructor argument indexes or types explicitly in the <constructor-arg/> element.

<beans>
  <bean id="beanOne" class="x.y.ThingOne">
    <constructor-arg ref="beanTwo"/>
    <constructor-arg ref="beanThree"/>
  </bean>

  <bean id="beanTwo" class="x.y.ThingTwo"/>

  <bean id="beanThree" class="x.y.ThingThree"/>
</beans>

When another bean is referenced, the type is known, and matching can occur (as was the case with the preceding example). When a simple type is used, such as <value>true</value>, Infra cannot determine the type of the value, and so cannot match by type without help. Consider the following class:

Java

package examples;

public class ExampleBean {

  // Number of years to calculate the Ultimate Answer
  private final int years;

  // The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything
  private final String ultimateAnswer;

  public ExampleBean(int years, String ultimateAnswer) {
    this.years = years;
    this.ultimateAnswer = ultimateAnswer;
  }
}

Constructor argument type matching

In the preceding scenario, the container can use type matching with simple types if you explicitly specify the type of the constructor argument by using the type attribute, as the following example shows:

<bean id="exampleBean" class="examples.ExampleBean">
  <constructor-arg type="int" value="7500000"/>
  <constructor-arg type="java.lang.String" value="42"/>
</bean>

Constructor argument index

You can use the index attribute to specify explicitly the index of constructor arguments, as the following example shows:

<bean id="exampleBean" class="examples.ExampleBean">
  <constructor-arg index="0" value="7500000"/>
  <constructor-arg index="1" value="42"/>
</bean>

In addition to resolving the ambiguity of multiple simple values, specifying an index resolves ambiguity where a constructor has two arguments of the same type.

The index is 0-based.

Constructor argument name

You can also use the constructor parameter name for value disambiguation, as the following example shows:

<bean id="exampleBean" class="examples.ExampleBean">
  <constructor-arg name="years" value="7500000"/>
  <constructor-arg name="ultimateAnswer" value="42"/>
</bean>

Keep in mind that, to make this work out of the box, your code must be compiled with the debug flag enabled so that Infra can look up the parameter name from the constructor. If you cannot or do not want to compile your code with the debug flag, you can use the @ConstructorProperties JDK annotation to explicitly name your constructor arguments. The sample class would then have to look as follows:

Java

package examples;

public class ExampleBean {

  // Fields omitted

  @ConstructorProperties({"years", "ultimateAnswer"})
  public ExampleBean(int years, String ultimateAnswer) {
    this.years = years;
    this.ultimateAnswer = ultimateAnswer;
  }
}

Setter-based Dependency Injection

Setter-based DI is accomplished by the container calling setter methods on your beans after invoking a no-argument constructor or a no-argument static factory method to instantiate your bean.

The following example shows a class that can only be dependency-injected by using pure setter injection. This class is conventional Java. It is a POJO that has no dependencies on container specific interfaces, base classes, or annotations.

Java

public class SimpleMovieLister {

  // the SimpleMovieLister has a dependency on the MovieFinder
  private MovieFinder movieFinder;

  // a setter method so that the Infra container can inject a MovieFinder
  public void setMovieFinder(MovieFinder movieFinder) {
    this.movieFinder = movieFinder;
  }

  // business logic that actually uses the injected MovieFinder is omitted...
}

The ApplicationContext supports constructor-based and setter-based DI for the beans it manages. It also supports setter-based DI after some dependencies have already been injected through the constructor approach. You configure the dependencies in the form of a BeanDefinition, which you use in conjunction with PropertyEditor instances to convert properties from one format to another. However, most Infra users do not work with these classes directly (that is, programmatically) but rather with XML bean definitions, annotated components (that is, classes annotated with @Component, @Controller, and so forth), or @Bean methods in Java-based @Configuration classes. These sources are then converted internally into instances of BeanDefinition and used to load an entire Infra IoC container instance.

Constructor-based or setter-based DI?

Since you can mix constructor-based and setter-based DI, it is a good rule of thumb to use constructors for mandatory dependencies and setter methods or configuration methods for optional dependencies. Note that use of the @Autowired annotation on a setter method can be used to make the property be a required dependency; however, constructor injection with programmatic validation of arguments is preferable.

The Infra team generally advocates constructor injection, as it lets you implement application components as immutable objects and ensures that required dependencies are not null. Furthermore, constructor-injected components are always returned to the client (calling) code in a fully initialized state. As a side note, a large number of constructor arguments is a bad code smell, implying that the class likely has too many responsibilities and should be refactored to better address proper separation of concerns.

Setter injection should primarily only be used for optional dependencies that can be assigned reasonable default values within the class. Otherwise, not-null checks must be performed everywhere the code uses the dependency. One benefit of setter injection is that setter methods make objects of that class amenable to reconfiguration or re-injection later. Management through JMX MBeans is therefore a compelling use case for setter injection.

Use the DI style that makes the most sense for a particular class. Sometimes, when dealing with third-party classes for which you do not have the source, the choice is made for you. For example, if a third-party class does not expose any setter methods, then constructor injection may be the only available form of DI.

Dependency Resolution Process

The container performs bean dependency resolution as follows:

The ApplicationContext is created and initialized with configuration metadata that describes all the beans. Configuration metadata can be specified by XML, Java code, or annotations.
For each bean, its dependencies are expressed in the form of properties, constructor arguments, or arguments to the static-factory method (if you use that instead of a normal constructor). These dependencies are provided to the bean, when the bean is actually created.
Each property or constructor argument is an actual definition of the value to set, or a reference to another bean in the container.
Each property or constructor argument that is a value is converted from its specified format to the actual type of that property or constructor argument. By default, Infra can convert a value supplied in string format to all built-in types, such as int, long, String, boolean, and so forth.

The Infra container validates the configuration of each bean as the container is created. However, the bean properties themselves are not set until the bean is actually created. Beans that are singleton-scoped and set to be pre-instantiated (the default) are created when the container is created. Scopes are defined in Bean Scopes. Otherwise, the bean is created only when it is requested. Creation of a bean potentially causes a graph of beans to be created, as the bean’s dependencies and its dependencies' dependencies (and so on) are created and assigned. Note that resolution mismatches among those dependencies may show up late — that is, on first creation of the affected bean.

Circular dependencies

If you use predominantly constructor injection, it is possible to create an unresolvable circular dependency scenario.

For example: Class A requires an instance of class B through constructor injection, and class B requires an instance of class A through constructor injection. If you configure beans for classes A and B to be injected into each other, the Infra IoC container detects this circular reference at runtime, and throws a BeanCurrentlyInCreationException.

One possible solution is to edit the source code of some classes to be configured by setters rather than constructors. Alternatively, avoid constructor injection and use setter injection only. In other words, although it is not recommended, you can configure circular dependencies with setter injection.

Unlike the typical case (with no circular dependencies), a circular dependency between bean A and bean B forces one of the beans to be injected into the other prior to being fully initialized itself (a classic chicken-and-egg scenario).

You can generally trust Infra to do the right thing. It detects configuration problems, such as references to non-existent beans and circular dependencies, at container load-time. Infra sets properties and resolves dependencies as late as possible, when the bean is actually created. This means that a Infra container that has loaded correctly can later generate an exception when you request an object if there is a problem creating that object or one of its dependencies — for example, the bean throws an exception as a result of a missing or invalid property. This potentially delayed visibility of some configuration issues is why ApplicationContext implementations by default pre-instantiate singleton beans. At the cost of some upfront time and memory to create these beans before they are actually needed, you discover configuration issues when the ApplicationContext is created, not later. You can still override this default behavior so that singleton beans initialize lazily, rather than being eagerly pre-instantiated.

If no circular dependencies exist, when one or more collaborating beans are being injected into a dependent bean, each collaborating bean is totally configured prior to being injected into the dependent bean. This means that, if bean A has a dependency on bean B, the Infra IoC container completely configures bean B prior to invoking the setter method on bean A. In other words, the bean is instantiated (if it is not a pre-instantiated singleton), its dependencies are set, and the relevant lifecycle methods (such as a configured init method or the InitializingBean callback method) are invoked.

Examples of Dependency Injection

The following example uses XML-based configuration metadata for setter-based DI. A small part of a Infra XML configuration file specifies some bean definitions as follows:

<bean id="exampleBean" class="examples.ExampleBean">
  <!-- setter injection using the nested ref element -->
  <property name="beanOne">
    <ref bean="anotherExampleBean"/>
  </property>

  <!-- setter injection using the neater ref attribute -->
  <property name="beanTwo" ref="yetAnotherBean"/>
  <property name="integerProperty" value="1"/>
</bean>

<bean id="anotherExampleBean" class="examples.AnotherBean"/>
<bean id="yetAnotherBean" class="examples.YetAnotherBean"/>

The following example shows the corresponding ExampleBean class:

Java

public class ExampleBean {

  private AnotherBean beanOne;

  private YetAnotherBean beanTwo;

  private int i;

  public void setBeanOne(AnotherBean beanOne) {
    this.beanOne = beanOne;
  }

  public void setBeanTwo(YetAnotherBean beanTwo) {
    this.beanTwo = beanTwo;
  }

  public void setIntegerProperty(int i) {
    this.i = i;
  }
}

In the preceding example, setters are declared to match against the properties specified in the XML file. The following example uses constructor-based DI:

<bean id="exampleBean" class="examples.ExampleBean">
  <!-- constructor injection using the nested ref element -->
  <constructor-arg>
    <ref bean="anotherExampleBean"/>
  </constructor-arg>

  <!-- constructor injection using the neater ref attribute -->
  <constructor-arg ref="yetAnotherBean"/>

  <constructor-arg type="int" value="1"/>
</bean>

<bean id="anotherExampleBean" class="examples.AnotherBean"/>
<bean id="yetAnotherBean" class="examples.YetAnotherBean"/>

The following example shows the corresponding ExampleBean class:

Java

public class ExampleBean {

  private AnotherBean beanOne;

  private YetAnotherBean beanTwo;

  private int i;

  public ExampleBean(
    AnotherBean anotherBean, YetAnotherBean yetAnotherBean, int i) {
    this.beanOne = anotherBean;
    this.beanTwo = yetAnotherBean;
    this.i = i;
  }
}

The constructor arguments specified in the bean definition are used as arguments to the constructor of the ExampleBean.

Now consider a variant of this example, where, instead of using a constructor, Infra is told to call a static factory method to return an instance of the object:

<bean id="exampleBean" class="examples.ExampleBean" factory-method="createInstance">
  <constructor-arg ref="anotherExampleBean"/>
  <constructor-arg ref="yetAnotherBean"/>
  <constructor-arg value="1"/>
</bean>

<bean id="anotherExampleBean" class="examples.AnotherBean"/>
<bean id="yetAnotherBean" class="examples.YetAnotherBean"/>

The following example shows the corresponding ExampleBean class:

Java

public class ExampleBean {

  // a private constructor
  private ExampleBean(...) {
    ...
  }

  // a static factory method; the arguments to this method can be
  // considered the dependencies of the bean that is returned,
  // regardless of how those arguments are actually used.
  public static ExampleBean createInstance (
    AnotherBean anotherBean, YetAnotherBean yetAnotherBean, int i) {

    ExampleBean eb = new ExampleBean (...);
    // some other operations...
    return eb;
  }
}

Arguments to the static factory method are supplied by <constructor-arg/> elements, exactly the same as if a constructor had actually been used. The type of the class being returned by the factory method does not have to be of the same type as the class that contains the static factory method (although, in this example, it is). An instance (non-static) factory method can be used in an essentially identical fashion (aside from the use of the factory-bean attribute instead of the class attribute), so we do not discuss those details here.