Purpose of this White Paper
This white paper describes a collection of standards, conventions, and guidelines for writing solid Java code. They are based on sound, proven software engineering principles that lead to code that is easy to understand, to maintain, and to enhance. Furthermore, by following these coding standards your productivity as a Java developer should increase remarkably – Experience shows that by taking the time to write high-quality code right from the start you will have a much easier time modifying it during the development process. Finally, following a common set of coding standards leads to greater consistency, making teams of developers significantly more productive.
Important Features of This White Paper
• Existing standards from the industry are used wherever possible – You can reuse more than just code.
• The reasoning behind each standard is explained so that you understand why you should follow it.
• Viable alternatives, where available, are also presented along with their advantages and disadvantages
so that you understand the tradeoffs that have been made.
• The standards presented in this white paper are based on real-world experience from numerous object-
oriented development projects. This stuff works in practice, not just theory.
• These standards are based on proven software-engineering principles that lead to improved
development productivity, greater maintainability, and greater enhancability.
Target Audience
Professional software developers who are interested in:
• Writing Java code that is easy to maintain and to enhance
• Increasing their productivity
• Working as productive members of a Java development team