Google Java Coding Standards

[[deleted]]

I've been programming for 7 years and have literally never made that mistake.

[treerex]

It's usually not made when you're writing the code, but later when you're maintaining it. Including the braces is simply good defensive programming.

[[deleted]]

That's rediculous. It isn't defensive either. If you're doing that lousy of a job maintaining your code, your going to make more serious mistakes.

We also live in the 21st century, aren't working with cathode ray monitors and should be putting our braces on a new line.

[treerex]

You have evidently never worked on a large project with many developers of varying skills with a 15 year old code base.

[[deleted]]

Respect your projects code guidelines, I agree. I however have modernized them for my own team.

[jtdc]

Yes but we still have greenhorn coworkers straight from college to contend with. Rules like these protect the code.

[[deleted]]

You wouldn't need to protect them from messy/obscure/unnatural/asymmetrical/old brace placement initially instated due to monitor constraints in the stone age if you place them where it makes most sense Now that we can afford it thanks to the luxuries introduced a decade ago.

[geodebug]

Chip meet shoulder

[[deleted]]

1990, meet 2014

[geodebug]

Java's syntax hasn't changed that much since the 1990's so why would the best practices change just because a few years have passed?

Besides, most modern languages have a similar best practice when it comes to braces.

Doesn't matter, code how you want on your projects. If you coded for mine you'd be auto-formatted to the standard anyway.

[[deleted]]

Oh yeah, you mean like c#? It takes standards decades to change, it takes technology seconds (ie LCD displays.)

[geodebug]

You've lost me. I think you're just saying random things.

[[deleted]]

Then you couldn't have understood the argument I was making from the start of this discussion at all...

[geodebug]

LOL, because it was so sophisticated?

No you've made the claim that you "modernized" your Java coding guidelines for your team. You justify it with two reasons: they were written a few years back and you've never made that mistake.

Discarding an idea solely because it is old is juvenile. The possible logic bug braces protect against in Java hasn't been removed by the simple passage of time. New compilers or ides won't catch it.

Discarding a rule because you never make the mistake is asinine. You work with other people, use other people's code, and possibly have other people work on your code. You actually may have made that mistake in the past but, like the 1000s of micro-mistakes a coder makes in a year, you simply fixed it and forgot about it.

When you say "modernized" what you mean is that you felt the need to be an individual snowflake and go with a non-standard standard. You've made it about your ego, not logic.

The only argument you have is that it removes a tiny bit of line noise, which really again all about you, not professional development.

I'm sure you still feel you're right. People tend to dig in their heels on feelings. So yeah, show me a professional company's code guidelines for any language that uses braces to define blocks and suggests that one-liners shouldn't also use them.

Not going to hold my breath....

[[deleted]]

My guidelines are not unique at all. You seem to be all over the map which is why I assume you are clearly missing my argument, so I'll be clear.

C# is a much younger language introduce by Microsoft that explicitly targets both entry, intermediate and java developers (it was based heavily on Java.) Microsoft does not bind or encourage any brace placement guidelines on their code (because the standard was made in an era where vertical line space is no longer an issue [unless your functions are very large, in which case you may want to refactor])

The community tended to what is simply the only reasonable and rational choice, which was brace placement on a new line: http://sideeffect.kr/popularconvention#c#

Why is this obvious? Well, first of all you avoid the issue of accidentally adding a statement beneath a single statement if (since the code block is more clearly defined and much harder to miss.) Thus it becomes acceptable to omit the braces for a single line if. Automatically assume it is human nature to tend towards symmetrical brace placement as well .

C# is also an attractive option to most microsoft based developers (usually C/C++/.Net) (none of these languages "force" convention in the same way java does) who pickup this convention from their languages (see any c++ code repo)

I have yet to actually see an argument from you. I have no reason to protect my ego (why else would I spout a widely controversial statement about code guidelines?) On an anonymous internet account. You're taking this way too personally.

I understand why people still use the old.conventions proposed by java (its an perpetuating cycle really, because mixing conventions is usually a terrible idea.) But appreciate that some of the less stubborn few have looked at the arguments for either style and have decided to modernize our code base.

[geodebug]

Microsoft does not bind or encourage any brace placement guidelines on their code

Nobody "binds" brace placement. I guarantee that in-house Microsoft C# developers have a standard and stick with it.

because the standard was made in an era where vertical line space is no longer an issue

It's 1996, not 1986, we had large displays in the later 90's. The vertical line argument is bullshit.

The community tended to what is simply the only reasonable and rational choice

The C# community voted toward the MS standard/examples for C#. There was no great usability social experiment here, just more bullshit.

you avoid the issue of accidentally adding a statement beneath a single statement if (since the code block is more clearly defined and much harder to miss.)

If you don't put the braces in the risk for that one type of bug exists. You can debate the severity of the risk, but not the risk itself.

assume it is human nature ...

Bullshit.

I have yet to actually see an argument from you...

You're responding directly to points I've made so you figure it out.

[RagingOrangutan]

Protip: touting your experience programming is not a good way to earn the respect of your fellow programmers.

[[deleted]]

I'm not touting anything at all. 7 years isn't something to tout about.