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Equivalent of #define in Java?

Asked 2009-12-21T22:21:50.963
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I'm writing a library that needs to have some code if a particular library is included. Since this code is scattered all around the project, it would be nice if users didn't have to comment/uncomment everything themselves.

In C, this would be easy enough with a #define in a header, and then code blocks surrounded with #ifdefs. Of course, Java doesn't have the C preprocessor...

To clarify - several external libraries will be distributed with mine. I do not want to have to include them all to minimize my executable size. If a developer does include a library, I need to be able to use it, and if not, then it can just be ignored.

What is the best way to do this in Java?

java preprocessor c-preprocessor
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Use a constant:

This week we create some constants that have all of the benefits of using the C preprocessor's facilities to define compile-time constants and conditionally compiled code.

Java has gotten rid of the entire notion of a textual preprocessor (if you take Java as a "descendent" of C/C++). We can, however, get the best benefits of at least some of the C preprocessor's features in Java: constants and conditional compilation.

answered 2009-12-21T22:23:04.773

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