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The Elements of Java Style
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by Allan Vermeulen, Scott W. Ambler, Greg Bumgardner, and Eldon Metz
Sales Rank: 231206
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List Price: $15.99
$14.39
At Amazon
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Paperback: 142 pages
Publisher: Cambridge University Press January 2000
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0521777682
ISBN-13: 978-0521777681
Product Dimensions:
6.8 x 4.3 x 0.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
Product Review
'The Elements of Java Style is perfect in what it tries to achieve. Each rule is sensible, hardly any are debatable, and there is no excuse for ignoring any of them.' JavaZone Book of the Week
Product Review
"This is a great book for the beginner or intermediate developer -- experts should already know this stuff. It will help you create better, cleaner, more easily maintained code. If you work with other developers, I recommend getting several copies for the groupThe Elements of Java Style proves that 'Good things come in small packages.' Physically, it's a small book, and weighs in at just 142 pages. However, the positive impact it can have on your work is all out of proportion to its size. That's because the ideas presented aren't limited to a single language, and the way the ideas are presented is very compact. The Elements of Java Style isn't about the code you write, it's about the way you write. Its central premise is that your writing style either enhances or decreases the readability and understandability of the code you writeOver the years, I've read lots of books that I would recommend to different developers, but this book is one of a few that I would recommend to all developers. Pick up a copy, give it a read, and I think you'll agree."
Javalobby
"The Elements of Java Style is a useful resource for those wishing to refine their skills in the language and apply them in a team environment."
Science Books & Films
"By and large there is little to argue about. The Elements of Java Style is perfect in what it tries to achieve."
The Development Exchange's Java Zone
Customer Reviews & Comments
A good coding standard should focus on advice that encourages the correct and consistent application of a language. The more widely-adopted a standard is, the more benefit. No less than the Java Language Specification acknowledges this by listing a limited set of naming and usage practices. While the JLS falls far short of establishing a complete coding standard, the naming conventions it established have alone been of great benefit to the Java community. The "Elements of Java Style" nicely fills the gap left by the JLS in other areas, although it too falls a little short in places--thus the 4 star rating instead of 5. I strongly suggest "Effective Java" by Joshua Bloch as a companion to this book. Whereas the 108 rules in this book focus on style, format and many pearls of practical advice, "Effective Java" provides an excellent set of 57 rules that go much deeper and tackle more advanced aspects of writing correct and consistent code. The two books complement each other well. Of the 108 rules, the most glaring technical error is rule #99 which promotes the use of the flawed double-check synchronization pattern. Ignore this rule. The 108 rules are divided into six chapters as follows: 4 General Principles: While I would have added a few, the four here are quite sound. 4 Formatting Conventions: Programmers tend to get weird about code format. After long enough you realize any reasonable and consistently adhered to standard is fine, so just use this well-considered set. 23 Naming Conventions: These are of great benefit as they resolve the ambiguities left by the JLS. I especially like rule #12, "Join the vowel generation". 35 Documentation Conventions: These very well-reasoned conventions will help to produce useful documentation as well as to eliminate unnecessary or excessively wordy documentation. The rules target both internal and external documentation as emphasize the different goals of each. 37 Programming Conventions: While there is a lot of good advice in this section, it also contains some of the weakest advice. Rule #74 on enumerations is flawed ("Effective Java" provides better coverage on how to use enumeration classes). The section on using assertions (4 rules) doesn't mention the important rule to only use tests with no side effects. It will also need to be modified for the assertion facility being added in J2SE 1.4. The section on threads and synchronization is the weakest (7 rules) as it contains rule #99 as well as some weak and incomplete advice in rules #97 and #98. 5 Packaging Conventions: This section contains some good advice not just on how to organize your classes into packages, but also on how to design stable packages. Particularly on points of style and format, individuals will find aspects of any coding standard (at least any standard they didn't author) that they disagree with. Having written several coding standards in a variety of languages, I too have some rules I would have written differently. However, the benefit of a language-wide coding standard is that if everyone follows it, then everyone benefits from that shared agreement. My company has adopted "The Elements of Java Style" as its coding standard with as few amendments as possible. You and your company should too.
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The Elements of Java Style
List Price: $15.99
Available from Amazon
Price: $14.39
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