Encapsulate Record

Removes smells

Referenced by patterns

Symptom

A plain object passed around the codebase whose fields are read and written by anyone — `org.name = '...'` from any consumer.

Goal

A bare record (plain object with public fields) becomes a class whose properties are accessed through methods that can validate, log, or derive.

Before the refactoring

const org = { name: 'Acme', country: 'US' };
console.log(org.name);

After the refactoring

class Org {
  constructor({ name, country }) { this._name = name; this._country = country; }
  name()    { return this._name; }
  country() { return this._country; }
}
console.log(new Org(org).name());

Example source: Illustrative example written for this site, not a quotation from any source.

Pressure

Field renames touch every reader/writer; validation can't be enforced; the record's invariants drift as consumers diverge in their assumptions.

Tradeoff

Wrapping every record adds ceremony — only worth it when behavior or validation will accrete around the data.

Relief

Field renames stay internal; invariants can be enforced on every read or write; the record becomes a real domain object.

Trap

Wrapping every record on principle — even ones with no validation needs, no derivation, no behavior to attract — adds construction ceremony at every entry point.