Additional Notes
How would you explain a potential pitfall of exposing an object’s internal list in an interview?
Track: Java
Topic: OOP
Focus: Object Responsibility
Java: Object Responsibility
Answer
It allows external modification of its state.
Exposing an internal list via a public method can lead to external code modifying it directly, which may violate invariants or introduce bugs. Instead, return a copy or an unmodifiable view of the list. In a `Cart` class, directly exposing the list of `CartItem` objects could allow clients to add or remove items improperly.
Exposing an internal list via a public method can lead to external code modifying it directly, which may violate invariants or introduce bugs. Instead, return a copy or an unmodifiable view of the list. In a `Cart` class, directly exposing the list of `CartItem` objects could allow clients to add or remove items improperly.
Topics: Java Object Responsibility OOP