[Junit-trackers] [ junit-Feature Requests-2094343 ] Filter.describe is unnecessary; should be toString

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Feature Requests item #2094343, was opened at 2008-09-05 04:05
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Category: None
Group: None
Status: Open
Resolution: None
Priority: 5
Private: No
Submitted By: Nobody/Anonymous (nobody)
Assigned to: Nobody/Anonymous (nobody)
Summary: Filter.describe is unnecessary; should be toString

Initial Comment:
Why introduce a new method like describe, when there is a standard Java method for this purpose called toString?

Using toString is superior in general because Java knows, for instance, to automatically invoke it in contexts where a String is needed.

By the way, if you are worried about forcing subclasses to reimplement toString in a meaningful way and NOT rely on the version from Object, note that in Java an abstract class can declare
	public abstract String toString();
to achieve this goal.

For instance:

public abstract class ForcesSubclassesToReimplToString {
	public abstract String toString();
}

public class Subclass extends ForcesSubclassesToReimplToString {
	public String toString() { return "Subclass.toString works...";}
}

will NOT compile if you comment out Subclass 's toString reimplementation.

This trick does not, unfortunately, work with interfaces. 


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