Java Code Convention

Introduction

Why Have Code Conventions
Code conventions are important to programmers for a number of reasons:

80% of the lifetime cost of a piece of software goes to maintenance.
Hardly any software is maintained for its whole life by the original author.
Code conventions improve the readability of the software, allowing engineers to understand new code more quickly and thoroughly.
If you ship your source code as a product, you need to make sure it is as well packaged and clean as any other product you create.

File Names

This section lists commonly used file suffixes and names.
File Suffixes
JavaSoft uses the following file suffixes:
File Type Suffix

Java source .java

Java bytecode .class

File Organization

A file consists of sections that should be separated by blank lines and an optional comment identifying each section.
Files longer than 2000 lines are cumbersome and should be avoided.
For an example of a Java program properly formatted, see “Java Source File Example” on page

Java Source Files

Each Java source file contains a single public class or interface. When private classes and interfaces are associated with a public class, you can put them in the same source file as the public class. The public class should be the first class or interface in the file.

Java source files have the following ordering:

Beginning comments
Package and Import statements;
Class and interface declarations

All source files should begin with a c-style comment that lists the programmer(s), the date, a copyright notice, and also a brief description of the purpose of the program. For example:

* Classname

* Version info

* Copyright notice

Package and Import Statements

The first non-comment line of most Java source files is a package statement. After that, import statements can follow. For example:

package java.awt;

import java.awt.peer.CanvasPeer;

Class and Interface Declarations

Indentation

Four spaces should be used as the unit of indentation. The exact construction of the indentation(spaces vs. tabs) is unspecified. Tabs must be set exactly every 8 spaces (not 4).

Line Length
Avoid lines longer than 80 characters, since they’re not handled well by many terminals and tools.
Note: Examples for use in documentation should have a shorter line length—generally no more than 70 characters.

Wrapping Lines
When an expression will not fit on a single line, break it according to these general principles:

Break after a comma.

Break before an operator.

Prefer higher-level breaks to lower-level breaks.

Align the new line with the beginning of the expression at the same level on the previous line.

If the above rules lead to confusing code or to code that’s squished up against the right margin, just indent 8 spaces instead.

Here are some examples of breaking method calls:

function(longExpression1, longExpression2, longExpression3,
longExpression4, longExpression5);

var = function1(longExpression1,
function2(longExpression2,
longExpression3));

Following are two examples of breaking an arithmetic expression. The first is preferred, since the break occurs outside the parenthesized expression, which is at a higher level.

longName1 = longName2 * (longName3 + longName4 - longName5)
+ 4 * longname6; // PREFER
longName1 = longName2 * (longName3 + longName4
- longName5) + 4 * longname6; // AVOID

Following are two examples of indenting method declarations. The first is the conventional case. The second would shift the second and third lines to the far right if it used conventional indentation, so instead it indents only 8 spaces.

//CONVENTIONAL INDENTATION
someMethod(int anArg, Object anotherArg, String yetAnotherArg,
Object andStillAnother) {
...
}

//INDENT 8 SPACES TO AVOID VERY DEEP INDENTS
private static synchronized horkingLongMethodName(int anArg,
Object anotherArg, String yetAnotherArg,
Object andStillAnother) {
...
}

Line wrapping for if statements should generally use the 8-space rule, since conventional (4 space) indentation makes seeing the body difficult. For example:

//DON’T USE THIS INDENTATION
if ((condition1 && condition2)
|| (condition3 && condition4)
||!(condition5 && condition6)) { //BAD WRAPS
doSomethingAboutIt(); //MAKE THIS LINE EASY TO MISS
}

//USE THIS INDENTATION INSTEAD
if ((condition1 && condition2)
|| (condition3 && condition4)
||!(condition5 && condition6)) {
doSomethingAboutIt();
}

//OR USE THIS
if ((condition1 && condition2) || (condition3 && condition4)
||!(condition5 && condition6)) {
doSomethingAboutIt();
}

Here are three acceptable ways to format ternary expressions:

alpha = (aLongBooleanExpression) ? beta : gamma;
alpha = (aLongBooleanExpression) ? beta
: gamma;
alpha = (aLongBooleanExpression)
? beta
: gamma;

Comments

Java programs can have two kinds of comments:

implementation comments
documentation comments.

Implementation comments are those found in C++, which are delimited by /*...*/, and //.

Documentation comments (known as “doc comments”) are Java-only, and are delimited by /**...*/. Doc comments can be extracted to HTML filesusing the javadoc tool.

Implementation comments are mean for commenting out code or for comments about the particular implementation. Doc comments are meant to describe the specification of the code, from an implementation-free perspective. to be read by developers who might not necessarily have the source code at hand.

Comments should be used to give overviews of code and provide additional information that is not readily available in the code itself. Comments should contain only information that is relevant to reading and understanding the program. For example, information about how the corresponding package is built or in what directory it resides should not be included as a comment.

Discussion of nontrivial or nonobvious design decisions is appropriate, but avoid duplicating information that is present in (and clear from) the code. It is too easy for redundant comments to get out of date. In general, avoid any comments that are likely to get out of date as the code evolves.

Note: The frequency of comments sometimes reflects poor quality of code. When you feelcompelled to add a comment, consider rewriting the code to make it clearer.

Comments should not be enclosed in large boxes drawn with asterisks or other characters.Comments should never include special characters such as form-feed and backspace.

Implementation Comment Formats
Programs can have four styles of implementation comments: block, single-line, trailing and end-of-line.

Block Comments
Block comments are used to provide descriptions of files, methods, data structures and algorithms. Block comments should be used at the beginning of each file and before each method. They can also be used in other places, such as within methods. Block comments inside a function or method should be indented to the same level as the code they describe.
A block comment should be preceded by a blank line to set it apart from the rest of the code.Block comments have an asterisk “*” at the beginning of each line except the first.

/*
* Here is a block comment.
*/

Block comments can start with /*, which is recognized by indent(1) as the beginning of a block comment that should not reformatted. Example:

/*
* Here is a block comment with some very special
* formatting that I want indent(1) to ignore.
*
* one
* two
* three
*/

Single-Line Comments
Short comments can appear on a single line indented to the level of the code that follows. If a
comment can’t be written in a single line, it should follow the block comment format (see
section 5.1.1). A single-line comment should be preceded by a blank line. Here’s an example
of a single-line comment in Java code (also see “Documentation Comments” on page 9):

if (condition) {
/* Handle the condition. */
...
}

Trailing Comments
Very short comments can appear on the same line as the code they describe, but should be shifted far enough to separate them from the statements. If more than one short comment appears in a chunk of code, they should all be indented to the same tab setting. Avoid the assembly language style of commenting every line of executable code with a trailing comment.
Here’s an example of a trailing comment in Java code (also see “Documentation Comments”

if (a == 2) {
return TRUE; /* special case */
} else {
return isprime(a); /* works only for odd a */
}

End-Of-Line Comments
The // comment delimiter begins a comment that continues to the newline. It can comment out a complete line or only a partial line. It shouldn’t be used on consecutive multiple lines for text comments; however, it can be used in consecutive multiple lines for commenting out sections of code. Examples of all three styles follow:

if (foo > 1) {
// Do a double-flip.
...
}
else
return false; // Explain why here.
//if (bar > 1) {
//
// // Do a triple-flip.
// ...
//}
//else
// return false;

Documentation Comments
Doc comments describe Java classes, interfaces, constructors, methods, and fields. Each doc comment is set inside the comment delimiters /**...*/, with one comment per API. This comment should appear just before the declaration:

/**
* The Example class provides ...
*/
class Example { ...

Notice that classes and interfaces are not indented, while their members are. The first line of doc comment (/**) for classes and interfaces is not indented; subsequent doc comment lines each have 1 space of indentation (to vertically align the asterisks). Members, including constructors, have 4 spaces for the first doc comment line and 5 spaces thereafter.

If you need to give information about a class, interface, variable, or method that isn’t appropriate for documentation, use an implementation block comment or single-line comment immediately after the declaration. For example, details about the implementation of a class should go in in such an implementation block comment following the class statement, not in the class doc comment.

Doc comments should not be positioned inside a method or constructor definition block, because Java associates documentation comments with the first declaration after the comment.

Declarations

Number Per Line

One declaration per line is recommended since it encourages commenting. In other words,

int level; // indentation level

int size; // size of table

is preferred over

int level, size;

In absolutely no case should variables and functions be declared on the same line. Example:

long dbaddr, getDbaddr(); // WRONG!

Do not put different types on the same line. Example:

int foo, fooarray[]; //WRONG!

Note: The examples above use one space between the type and the identifier. Another acceptable alternative is to use tabs, e.g.:

int level; // indentation level

int size; // size of table

Object currentEntry; // currently selected table entry

Placement
Put declarations only at the beginning of blocks. (A block is any code surrounded by curly braces “{” and “}”.) Don’t wait to declare variables until their first use; it can confuse the unwary programmer and hamper code portability within the scope.

void MyMethod() {
int int1; // beginning of method block
if (condition) {
int int2; // beginning of "if" block
...
}
}

The one exception to the rule is indexes of for loops, which in Java can be declared in the for statement:

for (int i = 0; i < maxLoops; i++) { ...

Avoid local declarations that hide declarations at higher levels. For example, do not declare the same variable name in an inner block:

int count;
...
func() {
if (condition) {
int count; // AVOID!
...
}
...
}

Initialization
Try to initialize local variables where they’re declared. The only reason not to initialize a variable where it’s declared is if the initial value depends on some computation occurring first. Class and Interface Declarations

When coding Java classes and interfaces, the following formatting rules should be followed:

No space between a method name and the parenthesis “(“ starting its parameter list

Open brace “{” appears at the end of the same line as the declaration statement

Closing brace “}” starts a line by itself indented to match its corresponding opening statement,

“{“
class Sample extends Object {
int ivar1;
int ivar2;
Sample(int i, int j) {
ivar1 = i;
ivar2 = j;
}
int emptyMethod() {}
...
}

Methods are separated by a blank line

Statements
Simple Statements
Each line should contain at most one statement. Example:

argv++; argc--; // AVOID!

Do not use the comma operator to group multiple statements unless it is for an obvious reason.

Example:
if (err) {
Format.print(System.out, “error”), exit(1); //VERY WRONG!
}

Compound Statements
Compound statements are statements that contain lists of statements enclosed in braces “{ statements }”.

The enclosed statements should be indented one more level than the compound statement.

The opening brace should be at the end of the line that begins the compound statement; the closing brace should begin a line and be indented to the beginning of the compound statement.

Braces are used around all statements, even singletons, when they are part of a control structure, such as a if-else or for statement. This makes it easier to add statements without accidentally introducing bugs due to forgetting to add braces.

return Statements
A return statement with a value should not use parentheses unless they make the return value more obvious in some way. Example:

return;
return myDisk.size();
return (size ? size : defaultSize);

if, if-else, if-else-if-else Statements
The if-else class of statements should have the following form:

if (condition) {
statements;
}
if (condition) {
statements;
} else {
statements;
}
if (condition) {
statements;
} else if (condition) {
statements;
} else if (condition) {
statements;
}

Note: if statements always use braces {}. Avoid the following error-prone form:

if (condition) //AVOID! THIS OMITS THE BRACES {}!
statement;

for Statements
A for statement should have the following form:
for (initialization; condition; update) {
statements;
}
An empty for statement (one in which all the work is done in the initialization, condition, and update clauses) should have the following form:

for (initialization; condition; update);

When using the comma operator in the initialization or update clause of a for statement, avoid the complexity of using more than three variables. If needed, use separate statements before the for loop (for the initialization clause) or at the end of the loop (for the update clause).

while Statements
A while statement should have the following form:

while (condition) {
statements;
}

An empty while statement should have the following form:
while (condition);

do-while Statements
A do-while statement should have the following form:
do {
statements;
} while (condition);

switch Statements
A switch statement should have the following form:
switch (condition) {
case ABC:
statements;
/* falls through */
case DEF:
statements;
break;
case XYZ:
statements;
break;
default:
statements;
break;
}

Every time a case falls through (doesn’t include a break statement), add a comment where the break statement would normally be. This is shown in the preceding code example with the

/* falls through */ comment.

Every switch statement should include a default case. The break in the default case is redundant, but it prevents a fall-through error if later another case is added.

try-catch Statements
A try-catch statement should have the following format:
try {
statements;
} catch (ExceptionClass e) {
statements;
}

White Space

Blank Lines
Blank lines improve readability by setting off sections of code that are logically related.

Two blank lines should always be used in the following circumstances:

Between sections of a source file

Between class and interface definitions

One blank line should always be used in the following circumstances:

Between methods

Between the local variables in a method and its first statement

Before a block (see section 5.1.1) or single-line (see section 5.1.2) comment.

Between logical sections inside a method to improve readability

Blank Spaces

Blank spaces should be used in the following circumstances:

A keyword followed by a parenthesis should be separated by a space. Example:

while (true) {

...

}

Note that a blank space should not be used between a method name and its opening parenthesis. This helps to distinguish keywords from method calls.

A blank space should appear after commas in argument lists.

All binary operators except . should be separated from their operands by spaces. Blankspaces should never separate unary operators such as unary minus, increment (“++”), and decrement (“--”) from their operands. Example:

a += c + d;

a = (a + b) / (c * d);

while (d++ = s++) {

n++;

}

prints("size is " + foo + "\n");

The expressions in a for statement should be separated by blank spaces. Example:

for (expr1; expr2; expr3)

Casts should be followed by a blank. Examples:

myMethod((byte) aNum, (Object) x);

myFunc((int) (cp + 5), ((int) (i + 3))

+ 1);

Naming Conventions
Naming conventions make programs more understandable by making them easier to read.They can also give information about the function of the identifier—for example, whether it’s a constant, package, or class—which can be helpful in understanding the code.

Programming Practices

Providing Access to Instance and Class Variables Don’t make any instance or class variable public without good reason. Often, instance variables don’t need to be explicitly set or gotten—often that happens as a side effect of
method calls.
One example of appropriate public instance variables is the case where the class is essentially adata structure, with no behavior. In other words, if you would have used a struct instead of a class (if Java supported struct), then it’s appropriate to make the class’s instance variables
public.

Referring to Class Variables and Methods
Avoid using an object to access a class (static) variable or method. Use a class name instead.
For example:

classMethod(); //OK
AClass.classMethod(); //OK
anObject.classMethod(); //AVOID!

Constants
Numerical constants (literals) should not be coded directly, except for -1, 0, and 1, which can appear in a for loop as counter values.

Variable Assignments
Avoid assigning several variables to the same value in a single statement. It is hard to read.
Example:

fooBar.fChar = barFoo.lchar = 'c'; // AVOID!

Do not use the assignment operator in a place where it can be easily confused with the equality
operator. Example:

if (c++ = d++) { // AVOID! Java disallows
...
}

should be written as

if ((c++ = d++) != 0) {
...
}

Do not use embedded assignments in an attempt to improve run-time performance. This is the job of the compiler, and besides, it rarely actually helps. Example:

d = (a = b + c) + r; // AVOID!

should be written as

a = b + c;
d = a + r;

Miscellaneous Practices

Parentheses
It is generally a good idea to use parentheses liberally in expressions involving mixed operators to avoid operator precedence problems. Even if the operator precedence seems clear to you, it might not be to others—you shouldn’t assume that other programmers know precedence as
well as you do.

if (a == b && c == d) // AVOID!
if ((a == b) && (c == d)) // RIGHT

Returning Values
Try to make the structure of your program match the intent. Example:
if (booleanExpression) {
return TRUE;
} else {
return FALSE;
}

should instead be written as

return booleanExpression;

Similarly,

if (condition) {
return x;
}
return y;

should be written as

return (condition ? x : y);

Expressions before ‘?’ in the Conditional Operator

If an expression containing a binary operator appears before the ? in the ternary ?: operator, it should be parenthesized. Example:

(x >= 0) ? x : -x

Special Comments
Use XXX in a comment to flag something that is bogus but works. Use FIXME to flag something that is bogus and broken.

Code Examples

Java Source File Example
The following example shows how to format a Java source file containing a single public class. Interfaces are formatted similarly. For more information, see “Class and Interface Declarations”

/*
* %W% %E% Firstname Lastname
*
* Copyright (c) 1993-1996 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
*
* This software is the confidential and proprietary information of Sun
* Microsystems, Inc. ("Confidential Information"). You shall not
* disclose such Confidential Information and shall use it only in
* accordance with the terms of the license agreement you entered into
* with Sun.
*
* SUN MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES ABOUT THE SUITABILITY OF
* THE SOFTWARE, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED
* TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A
* PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. SUN SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR
* ANY DAMAGES SUFFERED BY LICENSEE AS A RESULT OF USING, MODIFYING OR
* DISTRIBUTING THIS SOFTWARE OR ITS DERIVATIVES.
*/
package java.blah;
import java.blah.blahdy.BlahBlah;
/**
* Class description goes here.
*
* @version 1.10 04 Oct 1996
* @author Firstname Lastname
*/
public class Blah extends SomeClass {
/* A class implementation comment can go here. */
/** classVar1 documentation comment */
public static int classVar1;
/*** classVar2 documentation comment that happens to be
* more than one line long
*/
private static Object classVar2;
/** instanceVar1 documentation comment */
public Object instanceVar1;
/** instanceVar2 documentation comment */
protected int instanceVar2;
/** instanceVar3 documentation comment */
private Object[] instanceVar3;
/**
* ...method Blah documentation comment...
*/

public Blah() {
// ...implementation goes here...
}
/**
* ...method doSomething documentation comment...
*/

public void doSomething() {
// ...implementation goes here...
}
/**
* ...method doSomethingElse documentation comment...
* @param someParam description
*/
public void doSomethingElse(Object someParam) {
// ...implementation goes here...
}
}

Sunday, June 14, 2015