+1 for MessageFormat, for the exact reasons you specify below (err on the side
of
readability and understandability).
Thanks, Martin!
Cheers,
Chris
On Oct 2, 2012, at 4:12 AM, Martin Desruisseaux wrote:
> Hello all
>
> The JDK provides us two ways to format localized messages with parameters:
> java.text.MessageFormat (since JDK 1.1) and java.util.Formatter (since JDK
> 5). The former uses its own syntax like below:
>
> /Argument '{0}' shall not be negative. The given value was {1}.//
> /
>
> The more recent java.util.Formatter class uses a syntax similar to C/C++:
>
> /Argument '%s' shall not be negative. The given value was %f.//
> /
>
> The SIS resource bundles currently uses MessageFormat for historical reasons
> (created before Formatter was available). However I wonder if we should
> revisit that choice. Both MessageFormat and Formatter provide a wide range of
> formatting options. Pros and cons that I can see about Formatter:
>
> Pros:
>
> *
>
> I presume that the Formatter syntax may be more familiar to a wider
> range of developers: C/C++ developers, and also the Java ones who
> use System.out.printf(...) or String.format(...).
>
> *
>
> Formatter may have slightly more formatting options than
> MessageFormat (while I think that MessageFormat flexibility is
> sufficient for most cases).
>
> *
>
> We can "plugin" our own formatting rules for SIS classes (e.g. an
> Angle class) by implementing the java.util.Formattable interface.
> I'm not aware of such plugin mechanism for MessageFormat. We
> currently workaround by providing special cases in our
> ResourceBundle implementation.
>
>
> Cons:
>
> *
>
> For those who are not familiar with the C/C++ syntax, the
> MessageFormat syntax may be more readable since it is more explicit.
>
> *
>
> MessageFormat has a "choice" type, which seems to have no equivalent
> in Formatter. This type is useful for handling plural forms (among
> other uses).
>
> *
>
> Formatter forces us to declare the argument type (e.g. "%s" or
> "%f"), while MessageFormat infers it from the object type. For
> example if the argument could be a string or a number, then
> Formatter forces us to use the "%s" type (passing a string to "%f"
> causes an exception). However a number formatted with "%s" is
> formatted using Number.toString(), which produce an unlocalized
> value. By contrast, MessageFormat produce a localized value
> dynamically for all recognized types.
>
>
> Because of the two last "cons", I'm tempted to stick with MessageFormat.
> However if something in my analysis is wrong, please let me known...
>
> Martin
>
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Chris Mattmann, Ph.D.
Senior Computer Scientist
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Pasadena, CA 91109 USA
Office: 171-266B, Mailstop: 171-246
Email: [email protected]
WWW: http://sunset.usc.edu/~mattmann/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Computer Science Department
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089 USA
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