Static layers in a java web application

Question

I am building a small website for fun/learning using a fairly standard Web/Service/Data Access layered design.

To save me from constantly having to create instances of my service layer/data access layer classes, I have made the methods in them all static. I shouldn't get concurrency issues as they use local variables etc and do not share any resources (things are simple enough for this at the moment).

As far as I can see the only trade-off for this is that I am not really following a true OO approach, but then again it keeps the code much cleaner.

Is there any reason this would not be a viable approach? What sort of problems might arise later on? Would it be better to have a "factory" class that can return me instances of the service and data layer classes as needed?

Answer 1

You know those rides at the amusement park where they say "please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times"? It turns out the ride is a lot more fun if you don't. The only real trade-off is that you're not really following a true keeping-your-hands-and-feet-inside-the-ride-at-all-times approach.

The point is this -- there is a reason you should follow a "true OO approach", just as there's a reason to keep your hands and feet inside the ride -- it's great fun until you start bleeding everywhere.

Answer 2

The way you describe it, this isn't the "wrong" approach per se but I don't really see the problem you're trying to avoid. Can't you just create a single instance of these business objects when the server starts up and pass them to your servlets as needed?

If you're ready to throw OO out the window you might want to check out the Singleton pattern as well.