Re: Style: order of fields, params and methods
Karsten Wutzke wrote:
Hello!
When programming I keep switching the order of declared fields, method
params (especially for constructors) and sometimes methods themselves
in the class.
-> Is there a specific order recommended? <-
For constructors:
Mostly I keep ordering them in "most mandatory order first". I put
those in the param list first, probably coming off some PHP coding
where you can omit passing optional method params at the end:
function do_something($param1, $param2, $param3, $param4 = null,
$param5 = "black")
{
...
}
=> Calling do_something(1, "dfgdf", 0); is perfectly valid.
Is it better to keep "mandatory order first", use "order by topic",
e.g. group somewhat related params whether mandatory or optional. Or
another?
Karsten
For parameters, I prefer to put the most optional ones at the end,
because I may want to do multiple constructors or methods, turning them
into optional parameters.
void doSomething(int param1, int param2, int param3, Object param4,
String param5){
....
}
void doSomething(int param1, int param2, int param3, Object param4){
doSomething(param1, param2, param3, parm4, "black");
}
void doSomething(int param1, int param2, int param3){
doSomething(param1, param2, param3, null);
}
Even if, initially, I'm only doing the first version, putting the
potentially optional parameters last leaves the door open to making them
optional later.
I tend to group data logically, because I use Eclipse a lot and its
package explorer lists alphabetically.
Patricia