Enum or EnumMap to store String constants using enums?

Question

I have decided to use enums to store some String
constants. What are the pros and cons of using a
simple enum versus using EnumMap? What are
the differences?
If going with the simple enum option, I would just
do as in the following example:
// The typesafe enum pattern
public class Suit {
    private final String name;
    private 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");
}A System.out.println(CLUBS); prints out "clubs".
Or is EnumMap a better choice? If so, why? If not,
then why?

Answer 1

jverd wrote:
sunfun99 wrote:
+3.1459378192030194732612839423...+ is a constant, but not a named constant. If I give the constant a name, like "PI", then I can use that name to access the constant (instead of having to repeat the long constant literal every time I want to use it). Now, I want to use a number of constants across various classes, so I give each of these constants a name. What I then have is a number of named constants. To name a constant means that I map a name to a value:That's not what "mapping" means in this context. Really? Even the Collections tutorial says it, "Map � an object that maps keys to values". And - not surprising - the classes/interfaces "Map", "Set", etc. are named so because they mimic these mathematical concepts.
It appears you don't know what java.util.Map is for. java.util.Map is "an object that maps keys to values". It's an interface that also provides various methods that allows for various dealings with the data, such as removing or adding mappings, provide the value given the name, give the total number of mappings, etc.
Then define an enum.As I said earlier, I believe you, and that's what I will do.
What makes you think that EnumMap is a "more advanced implementation" of enums? (It's not. It's not an implementation of enums at all.) What does "more advanced" even mean here?Sorry, my mistake. It's not an implementation of enums. However, it takes enums as parameters. In that sense, using EnumMap would indirectly imply a more complicated way of using enums, since not only do I create enums, but then I have to put the into EnumMap.