"toy" projects as in ones whose failure is bit going to cause me any problems- stuff I'm doing for fun our to try a new idea or whatnot. Not a complicated notion
For a project that isn't a toy, I will generally look for libraries that seem to be far enough along in development that I can expect a degree of stability and correctness. After all, I'm trying to write a program, I don't want ti get tired to in fixing someone else's library. Complete and correct docume ntation is a good signal to look for. Incomplete and incorrect documentation suggests something that's not ready for prime time. Again, this is how I approach the question. Your willy may vary. On Tuesday, August 21 2012, Ricky Clarkson <[email protected]> wrote: > In real world projects as opposed to toy ones(*), you do get > mismatching code and javadoc, and you can't assume that deleting and > rewriting the code is the right approach as you're not privvy to all > the decisions that went into it. Your best bet is to assume the code > works and is correct until you find out the opposite, as chances are > it does work and is correct unless it's in an unused part of the > codebase or you're working on something that flat out doesn't work at > all. > > (*) I'm not sure whether you're willy-waving there but it can > certainly be read as such. /Your company must be tiny if you need to > willy-wave on newsgroups/ :) > > On Tue, Aug 21, 2012 at 5:34 PM, Jon Kiparsky <[email protected]> wrote: >> I would generally assume that if the javadoc is incorrect, then the code if >> either too buggy or too unstable to use in anything but a toy project. >> Just my way off looking at it, your mileage may vary. >> >> >> On Tuesday, August 21, 2012, Ricky Clarkson <[email protected]> >> wrote: >>> I'd rather make a bold than a timid claim. >>> >>> I have better tools for navigating code than I do Javadoc, and if I'm >>> reading code I see the Javadoc too; code is the superset of >>> information. When I want to investigate an API I tend to just open >>> the code in IDEA. I might not happen to read any of it, just use >>> Ctrl-F12 and Ctrl-Q to see the information I need, but if I do need to >>> drill down I'm already in the right place. >>> >>> On Tue, Aug 21, 2012 at 3:44 PM, Jeb Beich <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>>>"And as a user of an api, would you rather read the code or the javadoc >>>>>> ? >>>>>> " >>>> >>>>>The code, in general. It's more likely to be correct. If the code looks >>>>> bad then the javadoc *might* clarify the intent but commit messages are >>>>> more >>>>> likely to be accurate assuming you don't have a 'Latest changes' guy on >>>>> the >>>>> team. >>>> >>>> That seems like a pretty bold claim to make in general. javadoc can be >>>> pretty useful for getting a bird's eye view of the big api, then zooming >>>> in >>>> to what you need. That's nice for a variety of reasons, such as comparing >>>> two similar libraries. >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>>> "Java Posse" group. >>>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>> [email protected]. >>>> For more options, visit this group at >>>> http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en. >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "Java Posse" group. >>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>> [email protected]. >>> For more options, visit this group at >>> http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en. >>> >>> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Java Posse" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected]. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Java Posse" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
