Using Enum values as String literals

Question

What is the best way to use the values stored in an Enum as String literals? For example:

public enum Modes {
    some-really-long-string,
    mode1,
    mode2,
    mode3
}

Then later I could use Mode.mode1 to return its string representation as mode1. Without having to keep calling Mode.mode1.toString().

Answer 1

You can't. I think you have FOUR options here. All four offer a solution but with a slightly different approach...

Option One: use the built-in name() on an enum. This is perfectly fine if you don't need any special naming format.

    String name = Modes.mode1.name(); // Returns the name of this enum constant, exactly as declared in its enum declaration.

Option Two: add overriding properties to your enums if you want more control

public enum Modes {
    mode1 ("Fancy Mode 1"),
    mode2 ("Fancy Mode 2"),
    mode3 ("Fancy Mode 3");

    private final String name;       

    private Modes(String s) {
        name = s;
    }

    public boolean equalsName(String otherName) {
        // (otherName == null) check is not needed because name.equals(null) returns false 
        return name.equals(otherName);
    }

    public String toString() {
       return this.name;
    }
}

Option Three: use static finals instead of enums:

public final class Modes {

    public static final String MODE_1 = "Fancy Mode 1";
    public static final String MODE_2 = "Fancy Mode 2";
    public static final String MODE_3 = "Fancy Mode 3";

    private Modes() { }
}

Option Four: interfaces have every field public, static and final:

public interface Modes {

    String MODE_1 = "Fancy Mode 1";
    String MODE_2 = "Fancy Mode 2";
    String MODE_3 = "Fancy Mode 3";  
}