A drop of Java style

Although the Google Java Style Guide provides comprehensive style guidelines, some students benefit from shorter guidelines. Here are some of the key guidelines we look for.

Indentation

• Use a two space indent. Not tabs. Not four spaces. Two spaces!

Capitalization

• Class names are CamelCase and start with uppercase letters.
• Field, variable, and methods names are camelCase and start with lowercase letters.
• Constants are all caps, perhaps with underscores to separate words.

Braces

• In general, the open brace goes on the same line as a command (e.g., the if or while and the close brace goes on a line by itself, at the same indent as the command.
• Use braces with most commands, even if you have only one statement in the body.
• Things within the braces should be indented by two spaces.
• Sam suggests that you comment your end-braces. That is not part of the Google standard.
• Please put a space before the open brace.

Spaces

• Make sure to have a space after each keyword. For example, if (TEST) { ... } and while (TEST) { ... }.
• Don’t put a space immediately after an open paren or before a close paren.

Other

• In general, you should declare your loop variables within the loop.
• Don’t use a for loop as a substitute for a while loop.
• Use Javadoc comments for the class, fields, methods, and constructors.
  • Javadoc comments start with /** and end with */.