Data Structures Course Coding Style Requirements

Following are guidelines for the programming exercises.
All exercises submitted must conform to these guidelines.
Note:The guidelines are very similar to those from intro2cs, so you should be familiar with them. There are a few differences, so read them carefully.

Naming Conventions:
Allways use meaningful names. It is OK to use i, j etc. for loop counters and the like, however if a variable carries more specific information it should be evident from it's name.
1. Class should names begin with a capital letter, and so does each new word of the name, e.g. ClassOne.
2. Field names should begin a small letter, with each new word capitalized, e.g. fieldThree.
3. Methods should be named like fields.
4. Constant (=final) variables should be named using capitals, with an underscore seperating the words, e.g. FINAL_VARIABLE_X.
5. Local variables (not part of the class) should be named like fields.

Indentation:

Use one tab for each level of indentation (Emacs should do this for you automatically). example:

  while(x>0) {
    if(y==1) {
      statement1;
      statement2;
      .
      .
    }
    else {
      .
      statement45;
      .
    }
    .
    .
  }

Classes:
Each class should be placed in a separate file. The file should have exactly the same name as the class that is defined in it (with a '.java' extension), e.g. the class "ClassOne" should be placed in a file named "ClassOne.java".
The only exception to this rule are auxiliary classes that are used for the implementation of another class (and only by it). In that case, provided the former is not a public class, you may put both classes together in the same file.
Public classes are required (i.e. by the compiler) to be placed in a separate file with the appropriate name.

Documentation:

Submition Block

Each file submitted should begin with the submition block:


/*
  Exercise No.        : 1
  File Name           : FooBar.java
  Name (First Last)   : Umberto De-Miguel, Silvio Di Palma
  Student No.         : 03239243-19, 05612387-23
  login               : miguel, palma
*/

JavaDoc

At the head of each class you should put a header with a general description of the class. It should be in JavaDoc style, including the author(s). Example:


/** 
* keeps track of the date,
* provides methods for accessing and changing, incrementing and printing 
* the date.
* @author Umberto De-Miguel
*/
public class Date {
  .
  // definition of class Date..
  .
}

Each public method should be explained, including parameters passed to it, return value and any exceptions thrown by it, e.g.:


/**
 * Sets the date. If one of the parameters is out of range the call has no effect.
 * @param day The day in the month to be set (1-31).
 * @param month The month to be set (1-12).
 * @param year The year to be set (1900-2500).
 * @return true if date was changed, false otherwise.
 * @exception LeapYearException if the date is Feb. 29, and year is not a leap year..
 */
public boolean setDate(int day, int month, int year) throws LeapYearException {
  .
  .
}

Each public data member (if any..) should also have a short description:


/**
* default value for the year attribute.
*/
public static final int BASE_YEAR = 1900;

Java

JavaDoc

Data Structures Course Coding Style Requirements

Naming Conventions:

Indentation:

Classes:

Documentation:

Submition Block

JavaDoc