There Can Be Only One Primary Constructor

I suggest classifying class constructors in OOP as primary and secondary. A primary constructor is the one that constructs an object and encapsulates other objects inside it. A secondary one is simply a preparation step before calling a primary constructor and is not really a constructor but rather an introductory layer in front of a real constructing mechanism.

Here is what I mean:

final class Cash {
  private final int cents;
  private final String currency;
  public Cash() { // secondary
    this(0);
  }
  public Cash(int cts) { // secondary
    this(cts, "USD");
  }
  public Cash(int cts, String crn) { // primary
    this.cents = cts;
    this.currency = crn;
  }
  // methods here
}

There are three constructors in the class—only one is primary and the other two are secondary. My definition of a secondary constructor is simple: It doesn’t do anything besides calling a primary constructor, through this(..).

My point here is that a properly designed class must have only one primary constructor, and it should be declared after all secondary ones. Why? There is only one reason behind this rule: It helps eliminate code duplication.

Without such a rule, we may have this design for our class:

final class Cash {
  private final int cents;
  private final String currency;
  public Cash() { // primary
    this.cents = 0;
    this.currency = "USD";
  }
  public Cash(int cts) { // primary
    this.cents = cts;
    this.currency = "USD";
  }
  public Cash(int cts, String crn) { // primary
    this.cents = cts;
    this.currency = crn;
  }
  // methods here
}

There’s not a lot of code here, but the duplication is massive and ugly; I hope you see it for yourself.

By strictly following this suggested rule, all classes will have a single entry point (point of construction), which is a primary constructor, and it will always be easy to find because it stays below all secondary constructors.

More about this subject in Elegant Objects, Section 1.2.