Is replacing enum constructs with classes in Java still relevant?

Question

I am reading Effective Java written by Joshua Bloch published in 2008, and one tip is to replace enum constructs with classes. Here's the example shown from the book.

public class Suit {
    private final String name;
    public Suit(String name) { this.name = name; }
    public String toString() { return name; }
    public static final Suit CLUBS = new Suit("clubs");
    public static final Suit DIAMONDS = new Suit("diamonds");
    public static final Suit HEARTS = new Suit("hearts");
    public static final Suit SPADES = new Suit("spades");
}

My question is since Java now supports enum type, is it still a good idea to use the approach above? Here's example of Java enum type.

public enum Day {
    SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY,
    THURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY 
}

Answer 1

I think that the idea is exactly opposite. If you have enum-like structure - use enum.

Your class example is not exactly suits to the enum you wrote. First, it cannot be compiled because it contains several fields named CLUBS. Second, enum contains days that are not mentioned in your class.

Answer 2

The "Effective Java" book has been written well before the introduction of enums into the language, so I would recommend using the enum feature instead. Fortunately, Java enums are very versatile, so you can follow Joshua's advice pretty closely using the enum feature:

public enum Day {
    SUNDAY("Sunday", 0)
,   MONDAY("Monday", 1)
,   TUESDAY("Tuesday", 2)
,   WEDNESDAY("Wednesday", 3)
,   THURSDAY("Thursday", 4)
,   FRIDAY("Friday", 5)
,   SATURDAY("Saturday", 6);

    private String name;
    private int ordinal;
    public String getName() { return name; }
    public int getOrdinal() { return ordinal; }
    public Day(String name, int ordinal) {
        this.name = name;
        this.ordinal = ordinal;
    }
}