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For API Nerds: Interfaces and Inner Classes

This article is for API developers only. If you're writing an application, you may not care about APIs, because you probably don't have any. But if you're writing a library that others will use, public API comes into play. API is like a pile of laundry: you can either spread the huge, reeking mess out all over your floor, or you can stuff it into a nice, clean hamper. While the first approach provides the convenience of being able to select each day's pre-soiled attire quickly, since it is arrayed out in front of you when you get out of bed, the second solution presents a clean interface to people that make the mistake of walking into your pathetic, slovenly life. Good APIs prefer hampers. I was implementing a new piece of API and functionality and wondered the following: Is there any reason to not put my implementation (which I did not want in the public API, and which would be the only implementation of said interface) inside the interface itself? It seems odd, perhap...