Programming Style

Last modified Thursday, 04-Jan-2024 18:02:45 UTC.

It's important to program in style, so that ...
- You can easily read and understand your code
- Others can easily read and understand your code
- You code can be easily maintained
- You code can be easily modified
- Example: MetricConversion.java
- Example: PizzaCost.java
Identifiers
- Start with a letter, and contain letters and digits. Letters are case sensitive.
- Must be meaningful in English (Geoff's law).
- Java conventions (Java law)
  - Class identifiers are nouns, and start with upper case.
  - Data value identifiers (including object identifiers) start with lower case.
  - Method identifiers are verbs, and start with lower case.
  - New words within identifiers start with upper case.
  - Initialized final variables (constants) are all upper case with _ as the word separator.
- Local variables must be declared at the start of a method (Geoff's law)
  - Not within loop headers, e.g., for (int index; ...) is not allowed in CSC120.
  - Not within compound statements, e.g., if (...) { int local; ....} is not allowed in CSC120.
Indentation and Lines
- Indent blocks 2-4 characters consistently (Java law)
- Use space (NOT tabs) for indenting (portability law)
- No line longer than 80 or 100 (choose one) characters (Geoff's law)
- Continuations against the left margin (Geoff's suggestion)
- Use a consistent style.

Comments

Code must be documented using comments.
On a single line starting with //, e.g.,
```
//----The SNAFU algorithm is used here 
```

In /* */ pairs, e.g.,

/*
   Program DisplayMessage

   The program displays the text "I Love Java". The program uses a
   MessageBox object from the javabook package to display the text.
   
*/

and

/* The SNAFU algorithm is used here */

Exercises

Describe the naming convention for
- Class identifiers
- Java files
- Methods
- Non-final data values
- Final data values

Programming Style

Exercises

Exam Style Questions