Ways to setup a Ninject singleton

Question

I have a class (MyFacade) that I injected parameter(s) with Ninject:

class MyFacade
{
    IDemoInterface demo;

    public MyFacade(IDemoInterface demo)
    {
        this.demo = demo;
    }

    public void MyMethod()
    {
        Console.WriteLine(demo.GetInfo());
    }
} 

Of course, I have to setup the Ninject to inject the appropiate implementation of my parameter (IDemoInterface)

I know, I can instantiate MyFacade object by doing kernel.Get<MyFacade>(); without setting anything else. Currently my facade doesn't have an interface (because it is my only implementation, maybe I will add its interface for standard proposes)

if I want to make this facade singlenton, I know two ways: create a empty constructor and pass a parameter by doing this kernel.Get<IDemoInterface>(); or by setup Ninject like: kernel.Bind<MyFacade>().To<MyFacade>().InSingletonScope();

The second one look a better approach, but do you know any other way to setup it in a singleton way?

Ludewig

I also can do kernel.Bind<MyFacade>().ToSelf().InSingletonScope(); – Ludewig

Actually your first option shouldn't be an option, since the singleton pattern doesn't allow having public constructors. – Piscatelli

Answer 1

When setting up your bindings, you need to bind your dependencies. It is always better to setup your dependencies in your bindings, as opposed to doing a kernel.Get<T>() in a constructor. You are using IOC, so leverage the framework you are using to do the injection for you.

In your second example binding, what you are missing is binding in your IDemoInterface. Your bindings should look like this:

//bind the dependency to the implementation.
kernel.Bind<IDemoInterface>().To<DemoInterface>();
//since you bound your dependency, ninject should now have 
// all the dependencies required to instantiate your `MyFacade` object.
kernel.Bind<MyFacade>().To<MyFacade>().InSingletonScope(); 

Ticktock

That is what I though. One more thing, in order to avoid direct instantiate, normally singleton use private ctor... is that possible with Ninject? – Ludewig

It's not possible, as far a I'm aware, with Ninject. Ninject requires a public constructor in order to know how to instantiate an instance of your object for injection. – Ticktock

See this discussion about default public constructors and mechanisms for getting around them: #21666339 – Ticktock

@Ludewig I know this is an old question, but a way to use Ninject like this and still avoid a publicly available constructor is to have the class implement a public interface but be internal itself. The project responsible for the Ninject bindings then needs to be given access to the relevant internals. – Bronnie

Answer 2

If you do not want the container to manage the lifecycle of your singleton by using InSingletonScope(), but still wants it to get injected, I can think of 2 ways to go about it. Choose which one suits better to your needs. Consider the following ISingleton (name your interface) implementation:

public class ConcreteSingleton : ISingleton
{
    private static readonly Lazy<ConcreteSingleton> _instance = new Lazy<ConcreteSingleton>(() => new ConcreteSingleton());

    private ConcreteSingleton() { }

    public static ConcreteSingleton Instance
    {
        get
        {
            return _instance.Value;
        }
    }
}

1. Alter the singleton class to have a GetInstance(...) method

   In this method (my preferred approach), you won't be calling kernel.Inject(instance) each time, only for the first time the singleton is initialized. Adding the following method to your ConcreteSingleton class:

   public static ConcreteSingleton GetInstance(IKernel kernelForInjection)
   {
       if (_instance.IsValueCreated == false)
       {
           kernelForInjection.Inject(_instance.Value);
       }
   
       return _instance.Value;
   }
   

   And using this binding:

   kernel.Bind<ISingleton>().ToMethod(c => ConcreteSingleton.GetInstance(c.Kernel));
   

   Will achieve the desired behavior of not having a public constructor but enabling your facade to be efficiently injected.

2. Perform injection each time the ISingleton instance is requested

   If by any reason you are not allowed to modify your ConcreteSingleton: This approach will wrap the singleton creation in a provider to efficiently inject the instance only for the first time it is created. It is important to note that the provider itself must be registered as a singleton.

   internal class ConcreteSingletonProvider : Provider<ISingleton>
   {
       public IKernel Kernel { get; set; }
   
       //Just a wrapper
       private readonly Lazy<ISingleton> _lazy = new Lazy<ISingleton>(() => ConcreteSingleton.Instance);
   
       public ConcreteSingletonProvider(IKernel kernel)
       {
           Kernel = kernel;
       }
   
       protected override ISingleton CreateInstance(IContext context)
       {
           if (_lazy.IsValueCreated == false)
           {
               Kernel.Inject(ConcreteSingleton.Instance);
           }
           return _lazy.Value;
       }
   }
   

   And your bindings should be like this:

   kernel.Bind<ISingleton>().ToProvider<ConcreteSingletonProvider>();
   kernel.Bind<ConcreteSingletonProvider>().ToSelf().InSingletonScope();
   

   This gist has a complete working sample for the above approach.

Hope that helps!

Aube