Good Java idioms

原文链接

There are some things about programming in Java that are not obvious just by learning from the language specification or standard API documentation. In this document I will try to collect the most frequently used idioms, especially ones that are hard to get right by guessing. (To learn even more, the book Effective Java by Joshua Bloch gives a much more thorough treatment of this topic.)

I hereby place all code on this page in the public domain. Feel free to copy and modify any snippet of code however you like without credit.

Contents

• Implementing:
  • equals()
  • hashCode()
  • compareTo()
  • clone()
• Using:
  • StringBuilder/StringBuffer
  • Random.nextInt(int)
  • Iterator.remove()
  • StringBuilder.reverse()
  • Thread/Runnable
  • try-finally
• Input/output:
  • Reading byte-wise from InputStream
  • Reading block-wise from InputStream
  • Reading text from file
  • Writing text from file
• Defensive checking:
  • Values
  • Objects
  • Array indexes
  • Array ranges
• Arrays:
  • Filling elements
  • Copying a range
  • Resizing an array
• Packing:
  • 4 bytes to int
  • int to 4 bytes

---

Implementing equals()

class Person {
  String name;
  int birthYear;
  byte[] raw;
  
  public boolean equals(Object obj) {
    if (!obj instanceof Person)
      return false;
    
    Person other = (Person)obj;
    return name.equals(other.name)
        && birthYear == other.birthYear
        && Arrays.equals(raw, other.raw);
  }
  
  public int hashCode() { ... }
}

• The parameter must be of type Object, not the type of the enclosing class.
• foo.equals(null) must return false, not throw a NullPointerException. (Note that null instanceof AnyClass is always false, so the code above works.)
• Compare primitive fields (e.g. int) using ==, compare object fields using equals(), and compare array-of-primitive fields using Arrays.equals().
• When overriding equals(), remember to override hashCode() in a way that is consistent with equals().
• See: java.lang.Object.equals(Object)

Implementing hashCode()

class Person {
  String a;
  Object b;
  byte c;
  int[] d;
  
  public int hashCode() {
    return a.hashCode() + b.hashCode() + c + Arrays.hashCode(d);
  }
  
  public boolean equals(Object o) { ... }
}

• When two objects x and y have x.equals(y) == true, you must ensure that x.hashCode() == y.hashCode().
• By contrapositive, if x.hashCode() != y.hashCode(), then it must be the case that x.equals(y) == false.
• It is not required that when x.equals(y) == false, you have x.hashCode() != y.hashCode(). But if you can make this occur as often as possible, then it improves the performance of hash tables.
• The simplest legal implementation of hashCode() is simply return 0;. However, this will cause data structures like HashMap to run slowly, though correctly.
• See: java.lang.Object.hashCode()

Implementing compareTo()

class Person implements Comparable<Person> {
  String firstName;
  String lastName;
  int birthdate;
  
  // Compare by firstName, break ties by lastName, finally break ties by birthdate
  public int compareTo(Person other) {
    if (firstName.compareTo(other.firstName) != 0)
      return firstName.compareTo(other.firstName);
    else if (lastName.compareTo(other.lastName) != 0)
      return lastName.compareTo(other.lastName);
    else if (birthdate < other.birthdate)
      return -1;
    else if (birthdate > other.birthdate)
      return 1;
    else
      return 0;
  }
}

• Always implement the generic version Comparable<T> rather than the raw type Comparable because it saves code and hassle.
• Only the sign of the returned result matters (negative/zero/positive), not the magnitude.
• Implementing Comparator.compare() is quite similar to this.
• See: java.lang.Comparable

Implementing clone()

class Values implements Cloneable {
  String abc;
  double foo;
  int[] bars;
  Date hired;
  
  public Values clone() {
    try {
      Values result = (Values)super.clone();
      result.bars = result.bars.clone();
      result.hired = result.hired.clone();
      return result;
    } catch (CloneNotSupportedException e) {  // Impossible
      throw new AssertionError(e);
    }
  }
}

• Use super.clone() to make the Object class be responsible for creating the new object.
• The primitive fields are already copied properly. Also, there is no need to clone fields of immutable types such as String and BigInteger.
• Manually make a deep copy of all the non-primitive fields (objects and arrays).
• When the class implements Cloneable, clone() will never throw CloneNotSupportedException. So catch the exception and ignore it, or wrap it in an unchecked exception.
• It’s also possible and legal to implement clone() manually without using Object.clone().
• See: java.lang.Object.clone(), java.lang.Cloneable

---

Using StringBuilder/StringBuffer

// join(["a", "b", "c"]) -> "a and b and c"
String join(List<String> strs) {
  StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
  boolean first = true;
  for (String s : strs) {
    if (first) first = false;
    else sb.append(" and ");
    sb.append(s);
  }
  return sb.toString();
}

• Don’t use repeated string concatenation like this because it takes O(n²) time: s += item;
• In StringBuilder or StringBuffer, use append() to add text and toString() to get the entire accumulated text.
• StringBuilder is preferred because it’s faster. StringBuffer has all synchronized methods, which you usually don’t need.
• See: java.lang.StringBuilder, java.lang.StringBuffer

Generating a random integer in a range

Random rand = new Random();

// Between 1 and 6, inclusive
int diceRoll() {
  return rand.nextInt(6) + 1;
}

• Always use the Java API method to generate random numbers in an integer range.
• Never try to improvise something like Math.abs(rand.nextInt()) % n because it is biased. Furthermore, the value can be negative when rand.nextInt() == Integer.MIN_VALUE.
• See: java.util.Random.nextInt(int)

Using Iterator.remove()

void filter(List<String> list) {
  for (Iterator<String> iter = list.iterator(); iter.hasNext(); ) {
    String item = iter.next();
    if (...)
      iter.remove();
  }
}

• remove() acts on the most recent item returned by next(). remove() can only be used once per item.
• See: java.util.Iterator.remove()

Reversing a String

String reverse(String s) {
  return new StringBuilder(s).reverse().toString();
}

• Maybe this ought to belong in the Java standard library.
• See: java.lang.StringBuilder.reverse()

Starting a thread

The following 3 examples all accomplish the same thing, but in different ways.

By implementing Runnable:

void startAThread0() {
  new Thread(new MyRunnable()).start();
}

class MyRunnable implements Runnable {
  public void run() {
    ...
  }
}

By extending Thread:

void startAThread1() {
  new MyThread().start();
}

class MyThread extends Thread {
  public void run() {
    ...
  }
}

By anonymously extending Thread:

void startAThread2() {
  new Thread() {
    public void run() {
      ...
    }
  }.start();
}

• Do not call run() directly. Always call Thread.start(), which creates a new thread and makes that new thread call run().
• See: java.lang.Thread, java.lang.Runnable

Using try-finally

Example with I/O stream:

void writeStuff() throws IOException {
  OutputStream out = new FileOutputStream(...);
  try {
    out.write(...);
  } finally {
    out.close();
  }
}

Example with lock:

void doWithLock(Lock lock) {
  lock.acquire();
  try {
    ...
  } finally {
    lock.release();
  }
}

• If the statement before the try fails and throws an exception, then the finally block won’t execute, but there is nothing to release anyway.
• If a statement inside the try block throws an exception, then execution will jump to the finally block, execute as much as possible, then jump out of the method (unless there is another enclosing finally block).

---

Reading byte-wise from an InputStream

InputStream in = (...);
try {
  while (true) {
    int b = in.read();
    if (b == -1)
      break;
    (... process b ...)
  }
} finally {
  in.close();
}

• read() either returns the next byte value (range 0 to 255, inclusive) from the stream or returns −1 if the stream has ended.
• See: java.io.InputStream.read()

Reading block-wise from an InputStream

InputStream in = (...);
try {
  byte[] buf = new byte[100];
  while (true) {
    int n = in.read(buf);
    if (n == -1)
      break;
    (... process buf with offset=0 and length=n ...)
  }
} finally {
  in.close();
}

• Remember that read() does not necessarily fill all of buf. You must consider the returned length in your processing logic.
• See: java.io.InputStream.read(byte[]), java.io.InputStream.read(byte[], int, int)

Reading text from a file

BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(
    new InputStreamReader(new FileInputStream(...), "UTF-8"));
try {
  while (true) {
    String line = in.readLine();
    if (line == null)
      break;
    (... process line ...)
  }
} finally {
  in.close();
}

• The creation of the BufferedReader object is cumbersome. But it’s because Java treats bytes and characters as separate concepts (unlike C, for example).
• You can replace the FileInputStream with any kind of InputStream, such as one from a Socket.
• BufferedReader.readLine() returns null when the end of the stream is reached.
• To read one character at a time instead, use Reader.read().
• You could use character encodings other than UTF-8, but it is inadvisable.
• See: java.io.BufferedReader, java.io.InputStreamReader

Writing text to a file

PrintWriter out = new PrintWriter(
    new OutputStreamWriter(new FileOutputStream(...), "UTF-8"));
try {
  out.print("Hello ");
  out.print(42);
  out.println(" world!");
} finally {
  out.close();
}

• The creation of the PrintWriter object is cumbersome. But it’s because Java treats bytes and characters as separate concepts (unlike C, for example).
• Just like with System.out, you can print() and println() many types of values.
• You could use character encodings other than UTF-8, but it is inadvisable.
• See: java.io.PrintWriter, java.io.OutputStreamWriter

---

Defensive checking: values

int factorial(int n) {
  if (n < 0)
    throw new IllegalArgumentException("Undefined");
  else if (n >= 13)
    throw new ArithmeticException("Result overflow");
  else if (n == 0)
    return 1;
  else
    return n * factorial(n - 1);
}

• Never assume that numeric inputs are going to be positive, sufficiently small, etc. Check for these conditions explicitly.
• A well-designed function should behave correctly for all possible input values. Carefully ensure that all cases are considered and that bad output (such as overflow) is never generated.

Defensive checking: objects

int findIndex(List<String> list, String target) {
  if (list == null || target == null)
    throw new NullPointerException();
  ...
}

• Never assume that object arguments are not null. Check for this condition explicitly.

Defensive checking: array indexes

void frob(byte[] b, int index) {
  if (b == null)
    throw new NullPointerException();
  if (index < 0 || index >= b.length)
    throw new IndexOutOfBoundsException();
  ...
}

• Never assume that a given array index is within bounds. Check explicitly.

Defensive checking: array ranges

void frob(byte[] b, int off, int len) {
  if (b == null)
    throw new NullPointerException();
  if (off < 0 || off > b.length
    || len < 0 || b.length - off < len)
    throw new IndexOutOfBoundsException();
  ...
}

• Never assume that a given array range (i.e. “starting at off, going for len elements”) is within bounds. Check explicitly.

---

Filling array elements

Using a loop:

// Fill each element of array 'a' with 123
byte[] a = (...);
for (int i = 0; i < a.length; i++)
  a[i] = 123;

Using the standard library method (preferred):

Arrays.fill(a, (byte)123);

• See: java.util.Arrays.fill(T[], T)
• See: java.util.Arrays.fill(T[], int, int, T)

Copying a range of array elements

Using a loop:

// Copy 8 elements from array 'a' starting at offset 3
// to array 'b' starting at offset 6,
// assuming 'a' and 'b' are distinct arrays
byte[] a = (...);
byte[] b = (...);
for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++)
  b[6 + i] = a[3 + i];

Using the standard library method (preferred):

System.arraycopy(a, 3, b, 6, 8);

• See: java.lang.System.arraycopy(Object, int, Object, int, int)

Resizing an array

Using a loop (upsizing):

// Make array 'a' larger to newLen
byte[] a = (...);
byte[] b = new byte[newLen];
for (int i = 0; i < a.length; i++)  // Goes up to length of A
  b[i] = a[i];
a = b;

Using a loop (downsizing):

// Make array 'a' smaller to newLen
byte[] a = (...);
byte[] b = new byte[newLen];
for (int i = 0; i < b.length; i++)  // Goes up to length of B
  b[i] = a[i];
a = b;

Using the standard library method (preferred):

a = Arrays.copyOf(a, newLen);

• See: java.util.Arrays.copyOf(T[], int)
• See: java.util.Arrays.copyOfRange(T[], int, int)

---

Packing 4 bytes into an int

int packBigEndian(byte[] b) {
  return (b[0] & 0xFF) << 24
       | (b[1] & 0xFF) << 16
       | (b[2] & 0xFF) <<  8
       | (b[3] & 0xFF) <<  0;
}

int packLittleEndian(byte[] b) {
  return (b[0] & 0xFF) <<  0
       | (b[1] & 0xFF) <<  8
       | (b[2] & 0xFF) << 16
       | (b[3] & 0xFF) << 24;
}

Unpacking an int into 4 bytes

byte[] unpackBigEndian(int x) {
  return new byte[] {
    (byte)(x >>> 24),
    (byte)(x >>> 16),
    (byte)(x >>>  8),
    (byte)(x >>>  0)
  };
}

byte[] unpackLittleEndian(int x) {
  return new byte[] {
    (byte)(x >>>  0),
    (byte)(x >>>  8),
    (byte)(x >>> 16),
    (byte)(x >>> 24)
  };
}

• Always use the unsigned right shift operator (>>>) for bit packing, never the arithmetic right shift operator (>>).