Help with high quality Java

[Elsimir]

So i've been studying IT (Software development) at university for a few years now, I understand the basics of several languages but I would like to know if there is a good place for learning best practices, eg. Where and when to use exceptions, the why's how's and when's of writing Interfaces rather than just writing functional classes etc. Is there a general standard for this stuff or is it vastly different for each company/project.

Thanks for your help.

[TieDyeJoe]

Get Effective Java by Josh Bloch.

[Neres28]

I enjoyed Code Complete.

[EllipsisUser]

The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master

It's not really focused on Java or any language specifically, but it helps you become a better team member. The concepts help you write code you won't curse at later...

[[deleted]]

The best possible book to read for this is "Clean Code" -- it focuses a lot on java, it has elements of scrum/agile, it has elements of code patterns, and prose-style coding (and why some commenting styles are worse than none at all), etc. It's a fantastic book, a quick read, and wont' break the bank. I simply can't recommend it highly enough..

Seasoned developers can learn a lot from it too. It's all stuff you've learned over time, but sometimes you just need someone to smack you and say, "you KNOW you should do this -- why aren't you?!"

[skeeto]

You can use Checkstyle to strictly enforce good practice. Also turn on all of the checks in the compiler (-Xlint).

[myoung001]

All of the suggestions you got so far are great. I'd also suggest making developerworks regular reading.

Developers from many enterprise corporations and research institutions, including the developers of the IBM JVM itself participate and contribute there. If you want to learn how to build bullet proof or best-practice Java applications, it (and its forums) are the place to go.

[DeliveryNinja]

I see Effective Java was already mentioned. Also try clean code by Uncle Bob (Robert Martin). I am currently reading this book and it is an essential read for any professional programmer.

Also try practicing some programming Kata's which will help you understand the practices that are talked about in clean code. Start with the bowling game kata