Development Practices
A developer who has write access to the JavaUtils repository is free
to make any changes to the JavaUtils code base, update the home
pages, perform releases, etc... However, certain principles and
practices should be understood, agreed upon and adhered to, so that
risks are minimized.
General Principles
-
Everyone is responsible for ensuring that legal issues are
observed:
- If you use code written by someone else, make sure that:
- You have the right to use the code.
- You follow the license requirements carefully.
- Use of the code does not jeopardize the project.
- All code should carry a copyright statement.
- All code should preferably be under the LGPL license.
- Code ownership and responsibility is shared:
-
Anyone working on the project is free to change any code, as
long as the other principles are observed.
- Simplicity first / Use refactoring to keep code simple:
-
Everyone is responsible for keeping the code and scripts as
simple as possible.
-
If the functionality remains the same, code should not be
changed unless the change is towards simplicity.
-
Code that is not going to be used, should not be added. Unused
code should be removed.
-
Clear and easy to understand code is preferred to heavy
commenting.
-
Everything that might brake should be tested (automatically).
- Automate everything / Keep everything automated:
-
By automating all kinds of processes (build, test, release,
update, ...), working on the project will be easier, safer and
faster.
-
Anyone working on the project should have the knowledge and
skills required to perform a release, for instance.
-
If someone, for example, makes a change to the release
process, others do not necessarily need to know about it,
because the change is applied automatically.
Preferred Java / Formatting Style
-
Wildcard import statements should not be used, because they
introduce the risk that code may break when new classes are added
to external packages. It is better to not use wildcard import
statements than fix things later.
-
Import statements should be kept sorted so that it is easier to
search them.
-
Tab-characters should not be used, because they cause formatting
problems between just about any tool. Most editors have an option
to not insert tabs.
I personally use JDEE / XEmacs as my development
environment, because the environment allows me to easily
automate everything. For example, it inserts import statements and
keeps them sorted for me.
Last modified: Mon Dec 8 21:10:49 EET 2003