It is very easy to add constant fields to your classes. All you need to do is
add the const keyword to the declaration and set the value. You now have a field
whose value cannot change during the execution of your program. Here is an
example of using const:
private const double _kP = .5; private const double _kI = .3; private const double _kD = .2;
This example comes from a class to manage a PID control loop. I learned about
PID control when working with the local robotics team. PID controls allow the
robot program to maintain a constant speed or to turn a turret to a set position.
This is accomplished by using information about how far away from the target
value you are and how fast you are approaching the target value are used to
adjust the output value.
Three constants are used to determine how to adjust the
output value. These constants will be different for each application of PID
control. The constant values for maintaining a constant speed will be different
than the constants used to turn the turret to a set position. If you use the
const keyword for these fields, you will have to create a separate class for
each application of PID control so that you can adjust the constants for each
situation. Using this method, the number of classes could grow very quickly and
become hard to manage.
There is an alternative, however, that allows you to set the constant values
once and ensure that they will not change for the rest of the life of the
object. The solution is to use the readonly keyword instead of the const
keyword. Readonly fields are declared like const fields and may include an
initializer. Declaring the above fields using readonly looks like this:
private readonly double _kP; private readonly double _kI; private readonly double _kD;
The difference between const and readonly is that readonly fields can be
initialized when declared and their values can be set in a constructor. This
allows you to set the values for the constants when the object is created and
ensures that the values of the constants cannot change. This way you can use a
single class to manage PID control and simply set the constants when each new
instance is created. The constructor for the PID control class might look like
this:
public PIDControl(double kP, double kI, double kD)
{
_kP = kP;
_kI = kI;
_kD = kD;
}
Attempting to set the value of a readonly field outside of a constructor is a
compile-time error. Readonly fields give you the flexibility to set their value
in the constructor and prevent them from changing later. Your PID control
variables can then be created like this:
PIDControl TurretControl = new PIDControl(.5, .3, .2); PIDControl SpeedControl = new PIDControl(.8, .4, 0);
You can find more information about PID control at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PID_controller.
About the Author
Jay Miller is a Software Engineer with Electronic Tracking Systems, a company dedicated to robbery prevention,
apprehension, and recovery based in Carrollton, Texas. Jay has been working with .NET since the release of the first beta and is co-author of Learn Microsoft Visual Basic.Net In a Weekend.
Jay can be reached via email at jmiller@sm-ets.com.
