Linked Bindings

Linked bindings map a type to its implementation. This example maps the interface TransactionLog to the implementation DatabaseTransationLog:

public class BillingModule extends AbstractModule {
  @Override 
  protected void configure() {
    bind(TransactionLog.class).to(DatabaseTransactionLog.class);
  }
}

Now, when you call injector.getInstance(TransactionLog.class), or when the injector encounters a dependency on TransactionLog, it will use a DatabaseTransactionLog. Link from a type to any of its subtypes, such as an implementing class or an extending class. You can even link the concrete DatabaseTransactionLog class to a subclass:

    bind(DatabaseTransactionLog.class).to(MySqlDatabaseTransactionLog.class);

Linked bindings can also be chained:

public class BillingModule extends AbstractModule {
  @Override 
  protected void configure() {
    bind(TransactionLog.class).to(DatabaseTransactionLog.class);
    bind(DatabaseTransactionLog.class).to(MySqlDatabaseTransactionLog.class);
  }
}

In this case, when a TransactionLog is requested, the injector will return a MySqlDatabaseTransactionLog.