你困惑的原因可能是来客是一个致命的用词不当。许多(杰出的)程序员都曾遇到过这个问题。它实际做的是用本身不支持它的语言(大多数语言不支持)实现双重调度。

1)我最喜欢的例子是《Effective c++》的作者Scott Meyers，他称这是他最重要的c++啊哈之一!的时刻。

感谢@Federico A. Ramponi的精彩解释，我只是在java版本中做了这个。希望对大家有所帮助。

正如@Konrad Rudolph指出的那样，这实际上是使用两个具体实例一起确定运行时方法的双重分派。

因此，实际上，只要正确定义了操作接口，就不需要为操作执行器创建公共接口。

import static java.lang.System.out;
public class Visitor_2 {
    public static void main(String...args) {
        Hearen hearen = new Hearen();
        FoodImpl food = new FoodImpl();
        hearen.showTheHobby(food);
        Katherine katherine = new Katherine();
        katherine.presentHobby(food);
    }
}

interface Hobby {
    void insert(Hearen hearen);
    void embed(Katherine katherine);
}


class Hearen {
    String name = "Hearen";
    void showTheHobby(Hobby hobby) {
        hobby.insert(this);
    }
}

class Katherine {
    String name = "Katherine";
    void presentHobby(Hobby hobby) {
        hobby.embed(this);
    }
}

class FoodImpl implements Hobby {
    public void insert(Hearen hearen) {
        out.println(hearen.name + " start to eat bread");
    }
    public void embed(Katherine katherine) {
        out.println(katherine.name + " start to eat mango");
    }
}

正如您所期望的那样，公共接口将为我们带来更多的清晰度，尽管它实际上并不是这个模式的基本部分。

import static java.lang.System.out;
public class Visitor_2 {
    public static void main(String...args) {
        Hearen hearen = new Hearen();
        FoodImpl food = new FoodImpl();
        hearen.showHobby(food);
        Katherine katherine = new Katherine();
        katherine.showHobby(food);
    }
}

interface Hobby {
    void insert(Hearen hearen);
    void insert(Katherine katherine);
}

abstract class Person {
    String name;
    protected Person(String n) {
        this.name = n;
    }
    abstract void showHobby(Hobby hobby);
}

class Hearen extends  Person {
    public Hearen() {
        super("Hearen");
    }
    @Override
    void showHobby(Hobby hobby) {
        hobby.insert(this);
    }
}

class Katherine extends Person {
    public Katherine() {
        super("Katherine");
    }

    @Override
    void showHobby(Hobby hobby) {
        hobby.insert(this);
    }
}

class FoodImpl implements Hobby {
    public void insert(Hearen hearen) {
        out.println(hearen.name + " start to eat bread");
    }
    public void insert(Katherine katherine) {
        out.println(katherine.name + " start to eat mango");
    }
}

我不理解这种模式，直到我看到bob叔叔的文章和评论。 考虑下面的代码:

public class Employee
{
}

public class SalariedEmployee : Employee
{
}

public class HourlyEmployee : Employee
{
}

public class QtdHoursAndPayReport
{
    public void PrintReport()
    {
        var employees = new List<Employee>
        {
            new SalariedEmployee(),
            new HourlyEmployee()
        };
        foreach (Employee e in employees)
        {
            if (e is HourlyEmployee he)
                PrintReportLine(he);
            if (e is SalariedEmployee se)
                PrintReportLine(se);
        }
    }

    public void PrintReportLine(HourlyEmployee he)
    {
        System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("hours");
    }
    public void PrintReportLine(SalariedEmployee se)
    {
        System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("fix");
    }
}

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        new QtdHoursAndPayReport().PrintReport();
    }
}

虽然它看起来很好，因为它确认了单一责任，但它违反了开放/封闭原则。每次你有新的员工类型，你将不得不添加如果与类型检查。如果你不知道，在编译时你永远也不会知道。

使用访问者模式，你可以让你的代码更干净，因为它不违反开放/关闭原则，也不违反单一责任。如果你忘记实现visit，它将不会编译:

public abstract class Employee
{
    public abstract void Accept(EmployeeVisitor v);
}

public class SalariedEmployee : Employee
{
    public override void Accept(EmployeeVisitor v)
    {
        v.Visit(this);
    }
}

public class HourlyEmployee:Employee
{
    public override void Accept(EmployeeVisitor v)
    {
        v.Visit(this);
    }
}

public interface EmployeeVisitor
{
    void Visit(HourlyEmployee he);
    void Visit(SalariedEmployee se);
}

public class QtdHoursAndPayReport : EmployeeVisitor
{
    public void Visit(HourlyEmployee he)
    {
        System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("hourly");
        // generate the line of the report.
    }
    public void Visit(SalariedEmployee se)
    {
        System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("fix");
    } // do nothing

    public void PrintReport()
    {
        var employees = new List<Employee>
        {
            new SalariedEmployee(),
            new HourlyEmployee()
        };
        QtdHoursAndPayReport v = new QtdHoursAndPayReport();
        foreach (var emp in employees)
        {
            emp.Accept(v);
        }
    }
}

class Program
{

    public static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        new QtdHoursAndPayReport().PrintReport();
    }       
}  
}

神奇的是，虽然v.Visit(this)看起来一样，但实际上是不同的，因为它调用不同的访问者重载。

Quick description of the visitor pattern. The classes that require modification must all implement the 'accept' method. Clients call this accept method to perform some new action on that family of classes thereby extending their functionality. Clients are able to use this one accept method to perform a wide range of new actions by passing in a different visitor class for each specific action. A visitor class contains multiple overridden visit methods defining how to achieve that same specific action for every class within the family. These visit methods get passed an instance on which to work.

当你考虑使用它的时候

When you have a family of classes you know your going to have to add many new actions them all, but for some reason you are not able to alter or recompile the family of classes in the future. When you want to add a new action and have that new action entirely defined within one the visitor class rather than spread out across multiple classes. When your boss says you must produce a range of classes which must do something right now!... but nobody actually knows exactly what that something is yet.

在我看来，使用访问者模式或直接修改每个元素结构添加新操作的工作量大致相同。此外，如果我要添加新的元素类，比如Cow，操作接口将受到影响，并且这将传播到所有现有的元素类，因此需要重新编译所有元素类。那么重点是什么呢?

虽然我知道如何做，何时做，但我一直不明白为什么。为了对有c++等语言背景的人有所帮助，请仔细阅读本文。

对于懒惰的人，我们使用访问者模式，因为“虽然在c++中虚函数是动态分派的，但函数重载是静态完成的”。

或者，换句话说，当你传递一个实际绑定到ApolloSpacecraft对象的飞船引用时，确保CollideWith(ApolloSpacecraft&)被调用。

class SpaceShip {};
class ApolloSpacecraft : public SpaceShip {};
class ExplodingAsteroid : public Asteroid {
public:
  virtual void CollideWith(SpaceShip&) {
    cout << "ExplodingAsteroid hit a SpaceShip" << endl;
  }
  virtual void CollideWith(ApolloSpacecraft&) {
    cout << "ExplodingAsteroid hit an ApolloSpacecraft" << endl;
  }
}