I have another short "Java Programming In General" question. (All of these questions are related to my work on the JTSWarped Library, so I hope it will be useful to OpenJUMP developers at some point in the future.)
When is it appropriate to validate mathod arguments when using a Java library? Should this be done by the client code that uses the library BEFORE arguments are passed to the library code, or should it be done AFTER the client code has made the method call, within the library code? For example: JTSWarped has code that will accept a String representing an angle in Degrees-Minutes-Seconds format that returns the same angle in Decimal Degrees format. Should I check for a valid String argument within this method, or should I indicate that this responsibility belongs to the client code? Here is why I ask. I've been reading about the proper use of Java Exceptions. Most of the material I've read seems to indicate that Exceptions generated by improper use of an API (invalid method arguments as an example) should throw unchecked Exceptions. This makes sense if the client code is responsible for the validity of method arguments. If the library code is responsible, it seems more reasonable to throw checked Exceptions. Thanks for any comments or advice. The Sunburned Surveyor ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2008. http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/ _______________________________________________ Jump-pilot-devel mailing list Jump-pilot-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/jump-pilot-devel
