We are a little inconsistent in our use of setters and getters. I think for the most part well-written code shouldn't have too many setters and getters (especially setters) since they expose internal details of the object. But sometimes you need them. I see three common conventions:
1. Java-style getXyz() and/or setXyz() method 2. xyz() plus semantically named setter that describes what it does. 3. In some newer code I see xyz(x: Option[Int]) There is also a forth option. My understanding of the proper scala idiom was actually that scala automatically created get and set methods for you, and the appropriate thing to do is to override these. This is described here: http://www.codecommit.com/blog/scala/scala-for-java-refugees-part-2 Essentially you can start with just val xyz = ... Then later if you want to override the getter you would do private val x = ... // getter def xyz = if(check_something) x else throw new IllegalStateException Then if you also want to add a setter you do private val x = ... def xyz = if(check_something) x else throw new IllegalStateException def xyz_=(x: Int) {xyz = x} Let's pick one of these and refactor towards it as we see code that doesn't match. My vote would be for option 4. -Jay
