``` if (ocrItem.pattern is DateRegex) { ...

# codereview

[ivano]

if (ocrItem.pattern is DateRegex) {
                        ocrItem.newValue = result.transformToDefaultDate()
                    } else {
                        ocrItem.newValue = result
                    }

[adamd]

ocrItem.newValue = result.let { if ocrItem.pattern is DateRegex it.transformToDefaultDate() else it }

[adamd]

I'm not sure if it is more readable after all but looks better to me

[Matteo Mirk]

apart from readability, there’s a deeper design problem: you’re operating outside the object in an explicit way, against the “tell, don’t ask” principle (https://www.martinfowler.com/bliki/TellDontAsk.html): you’re asking the object for data and perform some logic outside instead of just telling it to do it for you.
Following the principle your code should be something like:

ocrItem.setResult(result)

// then, inside OcrItem class:
fun setResult(result: Result) {
    newValue = if (pattern is DateRegex) {             
        result.transformToDefaultDate()
    } else {
        result
    }       
}

(i made some things up as I don’t know the actual types you’re using)

[Matteo Mirk]

Also, there’s nothing wrong or “javish” in using a good old if/else in Kotlin: most of the time makes the code way more readable than let/apply/also/?:

[ivano]

thank you very much