What is the correct name for the following Java class:
DVDPlayer or DvdPlayer?
views:
384answers:
8
+4
A:
DVDPlayer is the standard, but DvdPlayer is not uncommon.
You more often than not see getId. That's probably due to thinking ID is a shortening of "Identity". It is actually the initials of Identity Document.
HttpURLConnection is often given as an example of mixed convention. However, "http" used as protocol name in a URL should be lower case (although upper case is often accepted).
Tom Hawtin - tackline
2010-02-10 12:46:51
I don't think this is really a standard, but it is probably the most common.
Bruno Rothgiesser
2010-02-10 12:49:07
It's in the Sun Java Coding Standard, IIRC. Although not in the JLS.
Tom Hawtin - tackline
2010-02-10 12:50:17
HyperTextTransferProtocolUniformResourceLocatorConnection
flybywire
2010-02-10 14:13:39
I'm pretty sure most people use ID as an abbreviation of Identifier...i.e. in a database the table ID is referring to the table identifier to the identity document.
DD
2010-02-10 14:29:08
DVDPlayer is definitely not the standard; even the JDK is wildly inconsistent in their approach to this.
Kevin Bourrillion
2010-02-10 23:47:26
The Java library is inconsistent in a number of ways (my favourite example is `javax.xml.parsers` vs `javax.xml.transform`). However, it is quite consistent with initials using caps, as in `DOMURIReference`. I guess most of the counterexamples come through JSRs where there spec lead has gone off and done something odd.
Tom Hawtin - tackline
2010-02-11 13:27:05
@Kevin And then there is CORBA, which is "special" with regards to naming.
Tom Hawtin - tackline
2010-02-11 13:33:39
+5
A:
I've seen both of them used in the wild, and Sun seems to go for the DVDPlayer style. I prefer DvdPlayer, though, because that way it is clear where the word boundaries are even if there are multiple consecutive acronyms, as in HTTPURLConnection.
jk
2010-02-10 12:47:45
+3
A:
From sun java docs:
Class names should be nouns, in mixed case with the first letter of each internal word capitalized. Try to keep your class names simple and descriptive. Use whole words-avoid acronyms and abbreviations (unless the abbreviation is much more widely used than the long form, such as URL or HTML).
codaddict
2010-02-10 12:49:44
That doesnt really say anything about whether it should be upper or camel case.
DD
2010-02-10 14:29:45
+8
A:
There is no "correct" answer. Just a set of practices and conventions that better play with your other tools.
Therefore I prefer DvdPlayer. It is more helpful as in Eclipse you can do Ctrl+Shift+T and pick classes by the first letter of each word.
flybywire
2010-02-10 12:51:06
This also works elsewhere in Eclipse - auto-complete for instance. Have a method/variable named 'myDvdCoverImage'? - just type mDCI Ctrl+Space
teabot
2010-02-10 14:34:31
there is also some shortcuts already set, like sysout Ctrl+Space, gives you System.out.println. same goes for (try) and (for)
medopal
2010-02-10 15:09:56
+4
A:
I like to define individual instances of classes in the following fashion:
Catalogue catalogue;
Person person;
Therefore, if I used DVDplayer, what would I call an instance of that? dVDPlayer? Hence I'd choose the DvdPlayer class name, so you can name the instances like dvdPlayer.
Peter Perháč
2010-02-10 12:51:35
+2
A:
Some examples from the JavaSE classes, apache commons and spring:
HttpURLConnectionHTTPAddressUrlPathHelperAopProxyISBNValidator
So - it doesn't really matter.
Bozho
2010-02-10 12:52:03
A:
There is no "correct", only preferences here.
Sun is consistent in the way they name classes containing "URL" and "HTML", but I see HTTP using both all caps and camel case in the javadocs.
Personally, I'd prefer DvdPlayer.
duffymo
2010-02-10 12:53:01
I believe the HTTP protocol name in URLs should be written in lower case (although it may be accepted in upper case by browsers).
Tom Hawtin - tackline
2010-02-10 13:05:52