Java currently ranks as the fifth most-used programming language worldwide, a testament to its widespread adoption. In a recent study, 64.96% of respondents cited Java as their primary language for everyday work. Impressively, this marks the ninth consecutive year that Java has maintained such a high ranking.
The popularity of Java can be attributed to several factors, making it a preferred choice for numerous commercial applications.
Here are the key aspects of Java that experienced developers value most in 2024:
Scalability
Java provides a robust set of tools for developing scalable, enterprise software. It supports modularity, static checking, and advanced analysis and debugging tools.
Garbage collection
Java includes an automatic memory management system, known as garbage collection, which significantly enhances application speed.
Cross-platform capabilities
Java is cross-platform compatible, allowing compiled programs to run seamlessly on various devices. The Java compiler plays a key role in enabling this cross-platform functionality.
Multi-threading
Java supports multithreading, enabling concurrent execution of commands on multiple threads. This enhances software performance and hardware utilization.
Active developer community
Java’s popularity has fostered a vibrant developer community, offering a wealth of invaluable knowledge and resources for developers.
Energy efficiency
Java is renowned for its speed and energy efficiency, making it one of the fastest and most efficient object-oriented programming languages available.
What are Java best practices for developers? 11 tips from our experts
Now we can move on to the things that you can do to help improve your practical coding skills.
First, establish clear naming conventions for classes, interfaces, methods, and variables before delving deep into the project.
For complex software development involving multiple teams, it’s crucial to agree on and adhere to a single naming convention to maintain consistency and avoid confusion.
Consider the following tips for creating easily understandable and clear naming schemes:
Classes: Use nouns and start with uppercase letters.
Packages: Use lowercase letters exclusively.
Interfaces: Follow CamelCase.
Variables: Use mixed case.
Methods: Use verbs with every word capitalized.
While these recommendations may seem trivial, they become invaluable during merges and when adding new features.
A consistent naming scheme is more important than extensive code comments. Java developers often overlook this aspect and fail to update comments when modifying code, leading to confusion.
Remember about commenting and writing self-documenting code
Now, let’s discuss one of the often overlooked aspects of the software development process – commenting.
How do people understand a codebase? Initially, they must grasp what the code is intended to accomplish. This is where comments play a crucial role.
Commenting involves inserting human-readable explanations within the code to clarify what a specific part of the program is doing. Since your code will be read by team members with varying levels of Java knowledge, comments should provide a clear overview of the chosen approaches and offer additional insights that may not be immediately apparent from the code itself. Effective comments can significantly simplify the maintenance of Java code and expedite bug diagnosis and resolution.
Some developers advocate for self-documenting code, which is code written in a way that eliminates the need for separate documentation, as it is inherently clear to the reader.
Here is an example of an ordinary comment in Java code:
// check if employee has right to all benefits
if ((employee.flags & HOURLY_FLAG) && (employee.age > 65))
Self-documenting code greatly improves overall readability and makes your code cleaner. In this sample, a developer can see what is being done:
if (employee.isEligibleForFullBenefits())
Make sure commits are well-described
Code and variables aren’t the only aspects of the software development process that require proper description; the same applies to commits.
In addition to the main content of your code, a commit also stores additional information such as the author, timestamp, and a message. The commit message should not be overlooked, as it provides valuable information to other team members about the changes made to the repository over time.
For example, a git commit message might look like this:
git commit -m “Improve performance with lazy load implementation for images”
There are several best practices for writing a good commit message that every Java Developer should know:
Capitalize the first letter of the commit message, e.g., “Fix bug with global search input deleting user text.”
Keep the message brief and to the point. It’s generally recommended to keep it under 50 characters.
Focus on what has changed in your commit message, rather than why you made the change.
No Empty Catch Blocks
Moving on from comments and descriptions, let’s discuss some practical coding tips, practices, and Java coding standards, starting with Catch Blocks.
In Java, the try-catch block is used for handling exceptions. Code that may throw an exception is placed inside the try block, and if an exception is thrown, it is handled by the corresponding catch block. If an unexpected event occurs in the try block, such as division by zero or a file not found, an exception is generated and caught by the catch block.
While it’s possible to have an empty catch block in theory, it’s considered a bad practice and should be avoided. An empty catch block provides no information about the issue within our code, which can prolong the debugging process.
Consider the following code snippet:
public int aggregateIntegerStringss(String[] integers) {
int sum = 0;
try {
for (String integer: integers) {
sum += Integer.parseInt(integer);
}
} catch (NumberFormatException ex) {
}
return sum;
}
In this example, each catch block is empty. If we run this method with the following parameters [“123”, “1abc”], it will fail silently, providing no feedback, and return 123.
Depending on the circumstances, the exception handling code may vary. However, it is essential to remember never to ignore an exception by using an empty catch block.
Proper handling of Null Pointer Exceptions
Let’s discuss a common exception in Java – the Null Pointer Exception (NPE).
An NPE occurs when a program tries to use a string object reference that is null. This situation can arise when:
- Modifying or accessing a field of a null object
- Invoking a method from a null object
- Modifying or accessing slots of a null object
- Throwing null as if it were a Throwable value
- Synchronizing over a null object
Encountering Null Pointer Exceptions is common for Java developers. However, it’s important to follow some basic guidelines to handle them properly.
Firstly, check for possible null values and variables before executing the code to eliminate them. Additionally, modify your code to handle exceptions more effectively.
Use Java libraries ergonomically
One of the primary reasons Java remains a popular programming language worldwide is its extensive support for code libraries, known as Java Class Libraries. These pre-written code sets are invaluable tools for software architects, allowing Java programmers to quickly assemble code components without manually writing every function.
However, it’s important to note that excessive use of libraries is considered a bad practice in software programming and can have negative consequences in the long term.
Each library requires system resources to be loaded, consuming significant amounts of memory and potentially affecting application performance. Additionally, the quality of libraries varies, with some containing buggy code that can introduce more problems than solutions.
Java programmers should prioritize using libraries from reputable sources that serve multiple purposes to conserve valuable memory resources.
Avoid redundant initializations
While initializing member variables with values like false, 0, or null is a common practice among Java developers, we advise against it.
These values are already the default initialization values of member variables in Java. It is a good Java best practice to be aware of this default behavior and avoid redundant initializations.
Conclusion
In this tutorial, we’ve discussed both the best and worst practices for coding in Java. We highlighted how organizing member variables of a class based on their scopes is a beneficial coding practice that should always be implemented.
We also emphasized the importance of handling exceptions instead of leaving them unhandled, as tempting as it may be.
Overall, these practices contribute to cleaner and better code. Additionally, a developer who consistently strives to improve their coding practices stands a good chance of being contacted by clients seeking Java developers.
