All Questions
Tagged with javaprogramming-practices
135 questions
296votes
16answers
30kviews
Grokking Java culture - why are things so heavy? What does it optimize for? [closed]
I used to code in Python a lot. Now, for work reasons, I code in Java. The projects I do are rather small, and possibly Python would work better, but there are valid non-engineering reasons to use ...
- 1,569
283votes
6answers
168kviews
Choosing between Single or multiple projects in a git repository?
In a git environment, where we have modularized most projects, we're facing the one project per repository or multiple projects per repository design issue. Let's consider a modularized project: ...
- 3,017
276votes
14answers
125kviews
Should we avoid object creation in Java?
I was told by a colleague that in Java object creation is the most expensive operation you could perform. So I can only conclude to create as few objects as possible. This seems somewhat to defeat ...
- 2,657
87votes
10answers
111kviews
How many lines per class is too many in Java? [closed]
In your experience, what is a useful rule of thumb for how many lines of code are too many for one class in Java? To be clear, I know that number of lines is not even close to the real standard to ...
- 1,672
84votes
8answers
73kviews
Is modifying an incoming parameter an antipattern? [closed]
I am programming in Java, and I always make converters sort of like this: public OtherObject MyObject2OtherObject(MyObject mo){ ... Do the conversion return otherObject; } At the new ...
- 1,439
59votes
9answers
49kviews
Should the methods of a class call its own getters and setters?
Where I work I see lots of classes that do things like this: public class ClassThatCallsItsOwnGettersAndSetters { private String field; public String getField() { return field; }...
- 6,824
56votes
3answers
74kviews
Which is a better practice - helper methods as instance or static?
This question is subjective but I was just curious how most programmers approach this. The sample below is in pseudo-C# but this should apply to Java, C++, and other OOP languages as well. Anyway, ...
- 663
49votes
7answers
48kviews
Is it a bad practice to have an interface to define constants?
I am writing a set of junit test classes in Java. There are several constants, for example strings that I will need in different test classes. I am thinking about an interface that defines them and ...
- 932
46votes
6answers
7kviews
How necessary is it to follow defensive programming practices for code that will never be made publicly available?
I'm writing a Java implementation of a card game, so I created a special type of Collection I'm calling a Zone. All modification methods of Java's Collection are unsupported, but there's a method in ...
- 1,754
45votes
6answers
14kviews
Is it better to check `c >= '0'` or `c >= 48`?
After a discussion with some my colleagues, I've a 'philosophical' question about how treat the char data type in Java, following the best practices. Suppose a simple scenario (obviously this is only ...
- 585
38votes
5answers
9kviews
When should I extend a Java Swing class?
My current understanding of Inheritance implementation is that one should only extend a class if an IS-A relation is present. If the parent class can further have more specific child types with ...
- 491
36votes
9answers
15kviews
Why do schools teach arrays over List? [closed]
Most of the assignments in my school for the initial programming classes required me to use arrays. I work full time now, and I never used an array for any project that I have worked on. Even in the ...
- 803
34votes
8answers
15kviews
Is throwing an exception an anti-pattern here?
I just had a discussion over a design choice after a code review. I wonder what your opinions are. There's this Preferences class, which is a bucket for key-value pairs. Null values are legal (that'...
- 9,747
33votes
6answers
13kviews
Is throwing new RuntimeExceptions in unreachable code a bad style?
I was assigned to maintain an application written some time ago by more skilled developers. I came across this piece of code: public Configuration retrieveUserMailConfiguration(Long id) throws ...
27votes
6answers
34kviews
Is it a bad habit to (over)use reflection?
Is it a good practice to use reflection if greatly reduces the quantity of boilerplate code? Basically there is a trade-off between performance and maybe readability on one side and abstraction/...
- 10.5k
