5 Powerful Enum-Based Patterns in Java

Non traditional coding approaches in Java

Enums in Java are more than just constants — they can encapsulate behavior, making them powerful tools for writing cleaner, maintainable, and type-safe code.

They may not always be the conventional solution, but they offer clear, self-contained implementations that can surprise and delight once you see them in action.

Enum-Based Strategy Pattern

This pattern encapsulates different strategies within the enum constants and provides a clear and self-contained mapping from a constant to its behavior. Also makes adding new strategies as simple as adding a new enum constant.

When to Use It:

• When you have several algorithms or behaviors that can be interchanged.
• When you want to eliminate large switch-case or if-else blocks.

public enum Operation {
    ADD {
        @Override
        public int apply(int a, int b) { return a + b; }
    },
    SUBTRACT {
        @Override
        public int apply(int a, int b) { return a - b; }
    },
    MULTIPLY {
        @Override
        public int apply(int a, int b) { return a * b; }
    },
    DIVIDE {
        @Override
        public int apply(int a, int b) { return a / b; }
    }…