We are advancing through our journey of building various real-world applications. We have explored the Command, Observer, and Strategy patterns in the previous units. In this unit, we will integrate all three behavioral patterns into different scenarios to solve real-world problems.

Before diving into the coding exercise, let's have a quick recap of what each pattern does. The Command pattern encapsulates a request as an object, allowing clients to parameterize and queue requests. The Observer pattern defines a one-to-many dependency between objects, ensuring that when one object changes state, all its dependents are notified and updated automatically. The Strategy pattern defines a family of algorithms, encapsulates each one, and makes them interchangeable. Clients can choose the algorithm to use at runtime.

Let us consider one scenario of using the Command and Observer patterns together to build a chat application.

The Command pattern encapsulates a request as an object, supporting the parameterization of clients with different requests and enabling undoable operations. Here’s a quick sample demonstrating how to encapsulate the action of showing a message in the chat room:

We define a base Command class with an execute method that needs to be implemented by subclasses. This serves as the blueprint for all command objects, ensuring they adhere to a common execution interface.

Next, we define a ChatRoom class with a method to display and propagate messages. The sendMessage function in the ChatRoom class will be defined further down below.

The ChatCommand class inherits from Command and encapsulates the action of showing a message. When creating a ChatCommand, you set the message and the chat room where the message will be displayed, then execute this command to display the message.

Now, we integrate the Observer pattern to enable our chat application to notify users about incoming messages. Each User instance represents an observer that can receive messages, while the ChatRoom acts as the subject that notifies its users.

We define a User class where each user can receive and print messages. This will allow users to get real-time updates from the chat room.

Here, the ChatRoom class is enhanced to hold a list of users and send messages to all users by iterating through the list, simulating the observer notification. Adding the Observer pattern ensures that new messages are immediately communicated to all users.

Now, we will combine both the Command and Observer patterns to create a functional chat application. You will use commands to handle user inputs and observers to manage message broadcasting. This integration increases the modularity and clarity of the application structure, making it easier to maintain and extend.

1. Defining the ChatRoom

2. Creating User Instances

3. Adding Users to the ChatRoom

4. Creating and Executing a ChatCommand

In this way, the chat room acts as a central hub, commands encapsulate user actions such as sending messages, and users observe and receive messages from the chat room.

Below is the combined structure of our chat application, illustrating how the Command and Observer patterns work together:

By the end of this unit, you will have a functional chat application in which messages can be sent and received efficiently. You will also have a deeper understanding of how combining multiple behavioral patterns can solve complex real-world problems effectively. Let's get started with the practice section and see these concepts come to life in our chat application!