comments : Java Glossary

2006-03-04 by Roedy Green ©1996-2008 Canadian Mind Products
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comments

There are three types of comment in Java, /**… */, /*… */ and //… end-of-line. If you write a piece of code with a /** Javadoc comment, the convention is the comment belongs to the method or declaration following. When you use a // comment on a line containing code, the comment applies to the code to the left.

However, I am not aware of any universally accepted conventions for: /* and // comments on lines by themselves. Do they belong to the line following or preceding? To be consistent, I suggest the following convention: /* belong to the line following, // belong to the line preceding.

It may be advisable to include a blank line prior to a /* comment (and no blank line after that would separate it from the code it describes), or after a run of // comments (and no blank line prior that would separate it from the code it describes) to further clarify your meaning.

I further suggest using /* comments for big-picture forest level overviews and // comments for line-by-line tree level details.

Here are my recommendations for comment style:

Javadoc

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