What is Java?
Java is a general-purpose, object-oriented programming language based on classes that is supposed to have fewer implementation requirements. It’s an application development platform on a PC. As a result, Java is secure, quick, and dependable. It is widely used in laptops, data centres, game consoles, cell phones, scientific supercomputers, and other devices to construct Java applications. Here in this blog we will discuss about java documentation comments and to know more about this join Java Training in Chennai at FITA Academy.
Principles
We have various guidelines at Java Software that may cause our documentation comments to differ from those of third-party developers. The official Java Platform API Specification is defined by our documentation comments. Our target audience, in addition to developers, is those who create Java compatibility tests, conform or re-implement the Java platform. Rather than defining standard programming vocabulary, providing conceptual overviews, and including examples for developers, we spend time and effort focusing on establishing boundary conditions, argument ranges, and corner cases.
As a result, doc comments are often written in one of two ways: as API specifications or as programming guide documentation. The following parts go through these two objectives. A large team can afford to mix the two into the same documentation (properly “chunked”); nevertheless, our goals mandate that we focus on creating API specs in doc comments first. As a result, developers frequently need to consult other resources for programming guidance, such as Java SE Technical Documentation and the Java Tutorials.
Writing API Specifications
The Java API Specification should ideally include all assertions required for a clean-room implementation of the Java Platform, allowing every Java applet or programme to execute the same on any implementation. This could include assertions in the doc comments, as well as architectural and functional requirements (often written in FrameMaker) or any other document. This is a lofty objective, and there are certain practical limitations on how comprehensively we can define the API. We attempt to follow the following guiding principles:
The Java Platform API Specification is defined by the source code documentation comments and any documents identified as specifications that can be reached from those comments.
It’s worth noting that the specification doesn’t have to be contained entirely in doc comments. Long specs, in particular, may be better formatted in a distinct file and linked to from a doc comment.
A contract between callers and implementations is the Java Platform API Specification.
The Specification outlines all aspects of each method’s behaviour that a caller can rely on. It doesn’t go into detail about the method’s implementation, such as whether it’s native or synchronised. The thread-safety guarantees provided by a given object should be described (textually) in the specification. All objects are presumed to be “thread-safe” in the absence of any indication to the contrary (i.e., it is permissible for multiple threads to access them concurrently). Current specifications, it is acknowledged, do not always meet this objective.
The Java API Specification statements must be implementation-independent unless otherwise stated. Exceptions must be distinguished and clearly indicated.
We have procedures for clearly documenting implementation discrepancies.
Software Quality Assurance should be able to build full Java Compatibility Kit (JCK) tests using the Java API Specification.
This means that the doc comments must meet the requirements of SQA’s conformance testing. Bugs or how an implementation that is currently out of standard should not be documented in the comments.
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Writing Programming Guide Documentation
Examples, explanations of common programming vocabulary, certain conceptual overviews (such as metaphors), and discussions of implementation issues and workarounds distinguish API specifications from a programming book. There is no doubt that these contribute to a developer’s comprehension and aid in the faster development of trustworthy apps. They are not required in an API specification because they do not contain API “assertions.” Any or all of this information can be included in documentation comments (and can include custom tags, handled by a custom doclet, to facilitate it). We intentionally do not include this level of documentation in doc comments at Java Software, instead including links to it (links to the Java Tutorial and a list of changes) or including it in the same documentation download bundle as the API spec (the JDK documentation bundle includes the API specs, demos, examples, and programming guides).
It’s beneficial to go over how to document bugs and workarounds in greater depth. Sometimes there is a disconnect between how code should work and how it really does. API spec bugs and code bugs are two different types of bugs. It’s a good idea to decide whether you want to document these in the doc comments up front. We decided to document both of these outside of doc comments at Java Software, with some exceptions.
API Spec Bugs: API specification defects are bugs that affect the syntax or semantics of a method declaration or a doc remark. A method that is specified to produce a NullPointerException when null is passed in, yet null is actually a useful parameter that should be accepted, is an example of a spec flaw (and was even implemented that way). If the API specification is to be corrected, it should be stated either in the API specification itself, or in a list of changes to the spec, or both.
A developer will be alerted to an API difference like this in a doc remark, along with a workaround. It’s worth noting that an API specification with this change would still be implementation-independent.
Code bugs: Rather than defects in the API specification, code bugs are bugs in the implementation. In a bug report, code defects and workarounds are frequently given separately. If the Javadoc tool is being used to generate documentation for a specific implementation, however, it would be very good to include this information in the doc comments, appropriately separated as a note or by a custom tag (say @bug).
Conclusion:
So far we discussed about documentation comment in java and join Java Training in Coimbatore at FITA Academy to learn more about how to write a comment and docstring in a function and How is Java Platform Independent.