Practical Java Programming Language Guide / Edition 1

Table of Contents

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

GENERAL TECHNIQUES.

Praxis 1: Understand that parameters are passed by value, not by reference.

Praxis 2: Use final for constant data and constant object references.

Praxis 3: Understand that all non-static methods can be overridden by default.

Praxis 4: Choose carefully between arrays and Vectors.

Praxis 5: Prefer polymorphism to instance of.

Praxis 6: Use instance of only when you must.

Praxis 7: Set object references to null when they are no longer needed.

OBJECTS AND EQUALITY.

Praxis 8: Differentiate between reference and primitive types.

Praxis 9: Differentiate between == and equals.

Praxis 10: Do not rely on the default implementation of equals.

Praxis 11: Implement the equals method judiciously.

Praxis 12: Prefer get Class in equals method implementations.

Praxis 13: Call super. equals of base classes.

Praxis 14: Consider carefully instance of in equals method implementations.

Praxis 15: Follow these rules when implementing an equals method.

EXCEPTION HANDLING.

Praxis 16: Know the mechanics of exception control flow.

Praxis 17: Never ignore an exception.

Praxis 18: Never hide an exception.

Praxis 19: Consider the drawback to the throws clause.

Praxis 20: Be specific and comprehensive with the throws clause.

Praxis 21: Use finally to avoid resource leaks.

Praxis 22: Do not return from a try block.

Praxis 23: Place try/catch blocks outside of loops.

Praxis 24: Do not use exceptions for control flow.

Praxis 25: Do not use exceptions for every error condition.

Praxis 26: Throw exceptions from constructors.

Praxis 27: Return objects to a valid state before throwing an exception.

PERFORMANCE.

Praxis 28: Focus initially on design, data structures, and algorithms.

Praxis 29: Do not rely on compile-time code optimization.

Praxis 30: Understand runtime code optimization.

Praxis 31: Use String Buffer, rather than String, for concatenation.

Praxis 32: Minimize the cost of object creation.

Praxis 33: Guard against unused objects.

Praxis 34: Minimize synchronization.

Praxis 35: Use stack variables whenever possible.

Praxis 36: Use static, final, and private methods to allow in lining.

Praxis 37: Initialize instance variables only once.

Praxis 38: Use primitive types for faster and smaller code.

Praxis 39: Do not use an Enumeration or an Iterator to traverse a Vector.

Praxis 40: Use System array copy for copying arrays.

Praxis 41: Prefer an array to a Vector or Array List.

Praxis 42: Reuse objects whenever possible.

Praxis 43: Use lazy evaluation.

Praxis 44: Optimize source code by hand.

Praxis 45: Compile to native code.

MULTITHREADING.

Praxis 46: Understand that for instance methods, synchronized locks objects, not methods or code.

Praxis 47: Distinguish between synchronized statics and synchronized instance methods.

Praxis 48: Use private data with an accessor method instead of public or protected data.

Praxis 49: Avoid unnecessary synchronization.

Praxis 50: Use synchronized or volatile when accessing shared variables.

Praxis 51: Lock all objects involved in a single operation.

Praxis 52: Acquire multiple locks in a fixed, global order to avoid deadlock.

Praxis 53: Prefer notify All to notify.

Praxis 54: Use spin locks for wait and notify All.

Praxis 55: Use wait and notify All instead of polling loops.

Praxis 56: Do not reassign the object reference of a locked object.

Praxis 57: Do not invoke the stop or suspend methods.

Praxis 58: Terminate threads through thread cooperation. Classes and Interfaces.

Praxis 59: Use interfaces to support multiple inheritance.

Praxis 60: Avoid method clashes in interfaces.

Praxis 61: Use abstract classes when it makes sense to provide a partial implementation.

Praxis 62: Differentiate between an interface, abstract class, and concrete class.

Praxis 63: Define and implement immutable classes judiciously.

Praxis 64: Use clone for immutable objects when passing or receiving object references to mutable objects.

Praxis 65: Use inheritance or delegation to define immutable classes.

Praxis 66: Call super. clone when implementing a clone method.

Praxis 67: Do not rely on finalize methods for non-memory resource cleanup.

Praxis 68: Use care when calling non-final methods from constructors.

Appendix: Learning Java.

Further Reading.

Index.

Colophon. 0201616467T04062001

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