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📝 Day Six: Adapter Design Pattern in Java

🔍 What is the Adapter Pattern?

The Adapter Pattern allows incompatible classes to work together by converting the interface of one class into an interface expected by the client.

✅ When Should You Use It?

  • When you want to reuse an existing class but its interface doesn’t match what your code expects.
  • When you want to create a bridge between legacy code and modern systems.
  • When you want to avoid modifying source code of existing (3rd-party or legacy) classes.

🧠 Real-World Analogy

Imagine you’re traveling from India to the USA, and you want to plug in your charger 🪫. But the sockets don’t match — so you use a socket adapter. It converts the plug type so your charger can still work!

🧱 Structure 

+--------------------+      +----------------------+
|      Client        |----->|      Target          |
+--------------------+      +----------------------+
                                  ^  
                                  |
                         +-------------------+
                         |     Adapter       |
                         +-------------------+
                                  |
                                  v
                          +---------------+
                          | Adaptee       |
                          +---------------+
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💡 Example: Media Player Adapter

Let’s say you have a MediaPlayer interface that supports .mp3 files, but now you want to add support for .vlc, .mp4 using an AdvancedMediaPlayer. The interfaces don’t match — so we’ll use an Adapter.

✅ 1. Target Interface 

public interface MediaPlayer {
    void play(String audioType, String fileName);
}
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✅ 2. Adaptee Class (Incompatible Interface) 

public interface AdvancedMediaPlayer {
    void playVlc(String fileName);
    void playMp4(String fileName);
}

public class VlcPlayer implements AdvancedMediaPlayer {
    public void playVlc(String fileName) {
        System.out.println("Playing vlc file: " + fileName);
    }

    public void playMp4(String fileName) {
        // Do nothing
    }
}

public class Mp4Player implements AdvancedMediaPlayer {
    public void playMp4(String fileName) {
        System.out.println("Playing mp4 file: " + fileName);
    }

    public void playVlc(String fileName) {
        // Do nothing
    }
}
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✅ 3. Adapter Class 

public class MediaAdapter implements MediaPlayer {
    AdvancedMediaPlayer advancedMediaPlayer;

    public MediaAdapter(String audioType) {
        if (audioType.equalsIgnoreCase("vlc")) {
            advancedMediaPlayer = new VlcPlayer();
        } else if (audioType.equalsIgnoreCase("mp4")) {
            advancedMediaPlayer = new Mp4Player();
        }
    }

    public void play(String audioType, String fileName) {
        if (audioType.equalsIgnoreCase("vlc")) {
            advancedMediaPlayer.playVlc(fileName);
        } else if (audioType.equalsIgnoreCase("mp4")) {
            advancedMediaPlayer.playMp4(fileName);
        }
    }
}
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✅ 4. Concrete Target Class (Using the Adapter) 

public class AudioPlayer implements MediaPlayer {
    MediaAdapter mediaAdapter;

    public void play(String audioType, String fileName) {
        if (audioType.equalsIgnoreCase("mp3")) {
            System.out.println("Playing mp3 file: " + fileName);
        } else if (audioType.equalsIgnoreCase("vlc") || audioType.equalsIgnoreCase("mp4")) {
            mediaAdapter = new MediaAdapter(audioType);
            mediaAdapter.play(audioType, fileName);
        } else {
            System.out.println("Invalid media format: " + audioType + " not supported.");
        }
    }
}
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💻 Client Code 

public class AdapterDemo {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        AudioPlayer audioPlayer = new AudioPlayer();

        audioPlayer.play("mp3", "song.mp3");
        audioPlayer.play("mp4", "movie.mp4");
        audioPlayer.play("vlc", "concert.vlc");
        audioPlayer.play("avi", "series.avi");
    }
}
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🧪 Output 

Playing mp3 file: song.mp3
Playing mp4 file: movie.mp4
Playing vlc file: concert.vlc
Invalid media format: avi not supported.
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🎯 Benefits

✅ Promotes code reusability

✅ Acts as a bridge between legacy and new systems

✅ Adds flexibility without modifying existing classes

✅ Helps follow the Single Responsibility Principle

🔌 Java Libraries Using Adapter

  • java.util.Arrays#asList() — wraps an array into a List
  • javax.xml.bind.annotation.adapters.XmlAdapter — to map between XML and Java objects

🧠 Summary Table

Aspect Description
Pattern Type Structural
Problem Solved Interface incompatibility
Key Benefit Reusability & flexibility
Common Use Cases Integrating with 3rd party libraries, supporting legacy systems

🗺️ UML Diagram (Text Format) 

+--------------------+
|   MediaPlayer      | <---------+
+--------------------+           |
| +play(type, name)  |           |
+--------------------+           |
         ^                       |
         |                       |
+----------------+        +---------------------+
|  AudioPlayer    |        |   MediaAdapter      |
+----------------+        +---------------------+
                          | -AdvancedMediaPlayer |
                          | +play(...)           |
                          +---------------------+
                                   |
                     +--------------------------+
                     | VlcPlayer     Mp4Player  |
                     +--------------------------+
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💡 Pro Tip: The Adapter pattern is often used when integrating with third-party APIs whose interface you cannot change.

🚀 Up Next for Day 7: Let’s keep the streak going! Want to explore:

  • Facade
  • Chain of Responsibility
  • State

Let me know what you’re feeling next, and I’ll brew the next blog for you!

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