The Elements of Java Style

	The Elements of Java Style Vermeulen, Ambler, Bumgardner, Metz, Misfeldt, Shur, & Thompson Cambridge University Press, 2000 ISBN: 0-521-77768-2

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Overview
The strengths of The Elements of Java Style
A closer look at The Elements of Java Style
Who should read The Elements of Java Style?
How to order The Elements of Java Style
Reviews
Related Resources

Overview

The syntax of a programming language tells you what code it is possible to write—what the machine will understand. Style tells you what you ought to write—what the humans reading the code will understand. Code written with a consistent, simple style will be maintainable, robust, and contain fewer bugs. Code written with no regard to style will contain more bugs. It may simply be thrown away and rewritten rather than maintained.

Our two favorite style guides are classics: Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style and Kernighan and Plauger’s The Elements of Programming Style. These small books work because they are simple—a list of rules, each containing a brief explanation and examples of correct, and sometimes incorrect, use. We followed the same pattern in this book. This simple treatment—a series of rules—enabled us to keep this book short and easy to understand. The idea is to provide a clear standard to follow, so programmers can spend their time on solving the problems of their customers, instead of worrying about naming conventions and formatting.

This book was written by a team of senior developers from RogueWave Software and myself. Seven people to write a 140-page book? It must be good!

The Strengths of The Elements of Java Style

It presents proven practices for writing robust Java code -- this isn't an academic wish list
It is written by developers for developers -- you can immediately see how to put these coding guidelines to use
It increases your productivity during development -- it is easier to write code when it is written in a consistent manner
In increases your productivity during maintenance -- you always have to update your code, and the easier it is to understand the easier it is to update
It is short and to the point -- it is paperback-sized and 140 pages in length
It includes a plethora of source code examples -- you immediately see how to apply the guidelines
It includes a summary listing of the guidelines -- you have an easy to read quick reference
It explains why each guideline is important -- you gain an understanding of the principles of writing robust Java code
It is based on existing industry practices -- it summarizes, explains, and expands on common Java conventions in use by the best Java software engineers

A Closer Look at The Elements of Java Style

The book is organized into 6 major sections:

General Principles. While it is important to write software that performs well, many other issues should concern the professional Java developer. All good software performs well. But great software, written with style, is predictable, robust, maintainable, supportable, and extensible. This section presents fundamental principles and practices for writing high-quality code, principles and practices that are built upon through the rest of the book.
Formatting Conventions. This section describes approaches to formatting your code to make it more readable, such as indenting (paragraphing) rules, the proper use of white space, and how to effectively break up long lines. Simple practices that have a big payoff when used consistently.
Naming Conventions. This section presents the standard Java naming conventions for classes, member functions, fields, getter and setter operations, local variables, parameters to member functions, and more. Many development teams waste hours, if not days, arguing about how to name the various aspects of their code. Do you really want to spend your time doing this, or spend it writing code? We've documented the standard naming conventions right here so that you don't have to.
Documentation Conventions. Few programs are so simple, so trivial, that they don't need to be documented. In this section we present a collection of principles and guidelines for writing effective source code documentation.
Programming Conventions. This section presents a collection of tips, techniques, and programming idioms for writing superior Java code. Techniques for improving the performance and efficiency of your code are presented, as well as conventions to improve the readability and quality of your code.
Packaging Conventions. The section presents a collection of packaging conventions for distributing your Java code.

Who Should Read The Elements of Java Style?

We wrote this book for anyone writing Java code, but especially for programmers who are writing Java as part of a team. For a team to be effective, everyone must be able to read and understand everyone else’s code. Having consistent style conventions is a very good first step. We assume that you already know the basics of Java and object-oriented programming, and that you are interested in writing superior Java code.

How to Obtain The Elements of Java Style

Amazon U.S.

Amazon U.K.

Amazon Canada

Other:

Go to your local bookstore (if it isn’t on the shelf then tell them to order it in!)
Order it online from Barnes & Noble.
Order it online from Ch apters.ca/Indigo in Canada.
Purchase it at Stacey's Professional Bookstore.

Reviews of The Elements of Java Style:

If you're a book reviewer for a magazine or web site feel free to email a request for a review copy to me.

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I actively work with clients around the world to improve their information technology (IT) practices as both a mentor/coach and trainer. A full description of what I do, and how to contact me, can be found here.