Re: [EBOB-DISCUSS] coding style

[Liam M. <lm...@wp...>]

I was thinking about that. I was curious what happens when I've got 
preferences for different plug-ins, though? I actually just tried 
exporting it to see what's in it... it looks like the things we'd be 
most concerned with, code formatting and code templates, aren't in the 
epf file, so if we wanted to we could just export those two as xml 
files. I attached the code templates (and organize imports) settings -- 
you'll want to change the template for Comments>Types, it has my email 
address -- but I figured it'd be best if we stick with the built-in Java 
Conventions for formatting. Oh, and code formatting doesn't actually run 
unless you choose to run it, so either press CTRL+SHIFT+F or select 
Source>Format from the Eclipse menu before checking things in.

btw, I forgot to mention a great plugin the other day- JadClipse. It's a 
great plugin that uses the Jad Decompiler to open class files within 
eclipse. You have to download Jad separately, I personally use DJ Java 
Decompiler which includes it. You can get that at 
http://dj.navexpress.com/djdec377.zip (if that doesn't work, do an I 
Feel Lucky on DJ Java Decompiler, but the Russian alternative download 
sites never work for me- don't worry, the program's pretty reputable and 
works great- but it will try to associate itself with both .class files 
and .java files within Windows, so make sure you uncheck that in the 
setup if you don't want to). You can get the jadclipse plugin from 
http://sourceforge.net/projects/jadclipse/

Liam


Gary Pollice wrote:

>Well, a simple thing is to make your environment preferences have the style
>you want, then export them to a .epf file. Then put it in the project for
>other people to import into their eclipse workspace for the project.
>
>	--Gary 
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: ebo...@li...
>[mailto:ebo...@li...] On Behalf Of Liam
>Morley
>Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2004 3:16 AM
>To: ebo...@li...
>Subject: [EBOB-DISCUSS] coding style
>
>Looking at the Prop-Ed wiki page reminded me of something... coding style.
>It's probably good to be consistent. I suggest using the Java Built-in
>style, as far as code formatting goes. I'm sure other issues will come up..
>I'd like to see a document get added to the Docs page on SF. Here are a few
>ideas, some of which are copied/pasted from Kevin's coding guidelines page
>(some of which I have a different opinion on)... 
>some of them are really basic and common sense, others are good habits i've
>been taught, still others boil down to personal opinion. If all of this
>sounds good, then great- if some of this sounds bad or if there's something
>missing, then reply. If you don't think there needs to be a official
>document that decrees our coding style, that's cool too.
>
>
>
>Eclipse has a lot of default code templates that mention something like "To
>change this, please go to Window > Preferences > Java > Code Style > Code
>Templates". I can't remember what they say exactly because I already got rid
>of that part... I think one of the files I checked in still has it. We
>should probably remove that from our code templates.
>
>I'll have to check whether or not the Eclipse license needs to be included
>with the sourcecode... a lot of people throw the license (or a disclaimer,
>which is scary) at the top of each source file. That'd be easy if we wanted
>to do that, or if we wanted to have something else.
>
>*Meaningful* javadoc is important. The question is, what gets javadoc? 
>Public only methods/fields? or private methods too? What about private
>fields?
>
>I'd say we can probably safely settle on java 1.4 as a target jvm to shoot
>for; we can probably avoid using new java 1.5 code.
>
>As far as code suggestions go:
>If possible, use an interface as a return type rather than the class that
>actually implements the interface. What I mean by this is, let's say your
>method returns an ArrayList. If possible, you want to return a Collection
>object instead, or if you need to return specific list functionality then
>return the List. No casting is necessary, just specify "Collection" or
>"List" as the return type and you're set.
>
>As far as using arrays vs. the Collection heirarchy goes... I always thought
>it's best to use arrays when dealing with data that has a fixed count, and
>collections when dealing with things that change size. Some people say to
>always use Collection, but I think that there's some unnecessary overhead.
>Arrays are often more concise/readable when it comes to for loops etc (that
>is, before java 1.5).
>
>If you're using a Collection and you're not sure which implementation to go
>with, when in doubt, use ArrayList. It's faster.
>
>When accessing a Collection that implements the "java.util.RandomAccess" 
>interface (like ArrayList, Stack, or Vector),  use this:
>
>for (int i=0, n=list.size(); i < n; i++)
>         list.get(i);
>
>instead of this:
>
>for (Iterator i=list.iterator(); i.hasNext(); )
>         i.next();
>
>It's faster. (The javadoc page for RandomAccess explains it better.)
>Consequently when using something that doesn't implement RandomAccess, use
>an iterator. (Or if you need to traverse a list in either direction or
>add/remove from a list while traversing it, use ListIterator, but only if
>you have to.)
>
>Some people say to return Iterators instead of Collections. I prefer to
>return collections (rendered unmodifiable using the Collections utility
>class if this makes sense) because you can only use an Iterator once, and it
>doesn't support random access.
>
>Use the final modifier when possible.
>
>Try not to use the ?: ternary operator, unless it makes MORE sense than
>using if/else and it's really brief.
>
>When choosing between code conciseness and clarity, go for clarity.
>
>Use common sense when it comes to using braces on one-line statements. 
>If the statement's easier to read without the clutter, leave it out; if it's
>easier to read with the structure, leave it in.
>
>Last but not least, don't break the build.;) Comments?
>
>Liam
>
>
>
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