Event Aggregator

About 3 min

The Event Aggregator design pattern aims to reduce the direct dependencies between multiple systems and components that need to interact by introducing a single component, the Event Aggregator, that receives events from multiple sources and distributes them to multiple listeners.

Explanation

Real-world example

King Joffrey sits on the iron throne and rules the seven kingdoms of Westeros. He receives most of his critical information from King's Hand, the second in command. King's hand has many close advisors himself, feeding him with relevant information about events occurring in the kingdom.

In Plain Words

Event Aggregator is an event mediator that collects events from multiple sources and delivers them to registered observers.

Programmatic Example

In our programmatic example, we demonstrate the implementation of an event aggregator pattern. Some of the objects are event listeners, some are event emitters, and the event aggregator does both.

public interface EventObserver {
    void onEvent(Event e);
}

public abstract class EventEmitter {

    private final Map<Event, List<EventObserver>> observerLists;

    public EventEmitter() {
        observerLists = new HashMap<>();
    }

    public final void registerObserver(EventObserver obs, Event e) {
      // ...
    }

    protected void notifyObservers(Event e) {
      // ...
    }
}

KingJoffrey is listening to events from KingsHand.


@Slf4j
public class KingJoffrey implements EventObserver {
    @Override
    public void onEvent(Event e) {
        LOGGER.info("Received event from the King's Hand: {}", e.toString());
    }
}

KingsHand is listening to events from his subordinates LordBaelish, LordVarys, and Scout. Whatever he hears from them, he delivers to KingJoffrey.

public class KingsHand extends EventEmitter implements EventObserver {

    public KingsHand() {
    }

    public KingsHand(EventObserver obs, Event e) {
        super(obs, e);
    }

    @Override
    public void onEvent(Event e) {
        notifyObservers(e);
    }
}

For example, LordVarys finds a traitor every Sunday and notifies the KingsHand.


@Slf4j
public class LordVarys extends EventEmitter implements EventObserver {
    @Override
    public void timePasses(Weekday day) {
        if (day == Weekday.SATURDAY) {
            notifyObservers(Event.TRAITOR_DETECTED);
        }
    }
}

The following snippet demonstrates how the objects are constructed and wired together.

    var kingJoffrey=new KingJoffrey();

    var kingsHand=new KingsHand();
    kingsHand.registerObserver(kingJoffrey,Event.TRAITOR_DETECTED);
    kingsHand.registerObserver(kingJoffrey,Event.STARK_SIGHTED);
    kingsHand.registerObserver(kingJoffrey,Event.WARSHIPS_APPROACHING);
    kingsHand.registerObserver(kingJoffrey,Event.WHITE_WALKERS_SIGHTED);

    var varys=new LordVarys();
    varys.registerObserver(kingsHand,Event.TRAITOR_DETECTED);
    varys.registerObserver(kingsHand,Event.WHITE_WALKERS_SIGHTED);

    var scout=new Scout();
    scout.registerObserver(kingsHand,Event.WARSHIPS_APPROACHING);
    scout.registerObserver(varys,Event.WHITE_WALKERS_SIGHTED);

    var baelish=new LordBaelish(kingsHand,Event.STARK_SIGHTED);

    var emitters=List.of(kingsHand, baelish, varys, scout);

    Arrays.stream(Weekday.values()).<Consumer<? super EventEmitter>>map(day->emitter->emitter.timePasses(day)).forEachOrdered(emitters::forEach);

The console output after running the example.

18:21:52.955 [main] INFO com.iluwatar.event.aggregator.KingJoffrey - Received event from the King's Hand: Warships approaching
18:21:52.960 [main] INFO com.iluwatar.event.aggregator.KingJoffrey - Received event from the King's Hand: White walkers sighted
18:21:52.960 [main] INFO com.iluwatar.event.aggregator.KingJoffrey - Received event from the King's Hand: Stark sighted
18:21:52.960 [main] INFO com.iluwatar.event.aggregator.KingJoffrey - Received event from the King's Hand: Traitor detected

Class diagram

Applicability

Use the Event Aggregator pattern when

Use the Event Aggregator pattern in systems where multiple components generate events and multiple components need to receive those events, but direct coupling between these components leads to complex dependencies and hard-to-manage code.
Suitable in applications where a reduction in the number of explicit references between decoupled systems is desired, such as in microservices architectures or complex user interface systems.

Known Uses

Enterprise application integrations where systems need a central point to handle events generated by various subsystems.
Complex GUI applications where user actions in one part of the interface need to affect other parts without tight coupling between the components.

Consequences

Benefits:

Reduces Coupling: By centralizing event handling, the Event Aggregator minimizes direct interaction between components, leading to a more modular and easier-to-manage system.
Improves Flexibility and Scalability: Adding new publishers or subscribers involves less effort since the central aggregator handles all routing.
Simplifies Component Interface: Components need to know only about the Event Aggregator, not about other components.

Trade-offs:

Complexity of the Aggregator: The Event Aggregator itself can become a complex and high-maintenance component if not properly designed.
Potential Performance Bottleneck: If not scaled properly, the central event handling mechanism can become a bottleneck in the system.

Mediatoropen in new window: Similar to Mediator in that it abstracts direct communications between components, but focused specifically on event messages.
Observeropen in new window: The Event Aggregator pattern is often implemented using the Observer pattern, where the aggregator observes events and notifies subscribers.
Publish-Subscribe: The Event Aggregator can be seen as a special case of the Publish-Subscribe pattern, with the aggregator acting as the broker.

Event Aggregator

Also known as

Intent

Explanation

Class diagram

Applicability

Known Uses

Consequences

Credits