Design Patterns Java™ Workbook

Appendix B. Solutions

method should not have to check that the mementos stack has at least one memento. But it
doesn't hurt.

SOLUTION 19.4....................................................................................................................................

The latest memento contains the state to save, so the object to write to disk is
mementos.peek().

SOLUTION 19.5....................................................................................................................................

The disadvantages of storing an object in textual format follow.

• Encapsulation flies out the window. Anyone with a text editor can manipulate the
  object's data.


• For this approach to work, you must be able to parse the text, either using an XML
  parser or writing your own parser for a proprietary format.


• A textual representation may be much larger than an object serialization with the same
  information.

On the other hand, there are many advantages to storing objects as text.

• Anyone with a text editor can verify an object's data.


• Anyone with a text editor can manipulate an object's data—an advantage in some
  contexts.


• It is often easier to pass text between systems than it is to set up interchange with
  RMI, CORBA, or other protocols.