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Engineering LibreTexts

12.9: Writing Documentation

  • Page ID
    18104
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    As you benefit from reading good documentation, you should “pay it forward” by writing good documentation. A nice feature of the Java language is the ability to embed documentation in your source code. That way, you can write it as you go, and as things change, it is easier to keep the documentation consistent with the code.

    If you include documentation in your source code, you can extract it automatically, and generate well-formatted HTML, using a tool called Javadoc. This tool is included in standard Java development environments, and it is widely used. In fact, the online documentation of the Java libraries is generated by Javadoc.

    Javadoc scans your source files looking for specially-formatted documentation comments, also known as “Javadoc comments”. They begin with /** (two stars) and end with */ (one star). Anything in between is considered part of the documentation.

    Here’s a class definition with two Javadoc comments, one for the class and one for the main method:

    /**
     * Example program that demonstrates print vs println.
     */
    public class Goodbye {
    
        /**
         * Prints a greeting.
         */
        public static void main(String[] args) {
            System.out.print("Goodbye, ");  // note the space
            System.out.println("cruel world");
        }
    }
    

    The class comment explains the purpose of the class. The method comment explains what the method does.

    Notice that this example also includes an inline comment, beginning with //. In general, inline comments are short phrases that help explain complex parts of a program. They are intended for other programmers reading and maintaining the source code.

    In contrast, Javadoc comments are longer, usually complete sentences. They explain what each method does, but they omit details about how the method works. And they are intended for people who will use the methods without looking at the source code.

    Appropriate comments and documentation are essential for making source code readable. And remember that the person most likely to read your code in the future, and appreciate good documentation, is you.


    This page titled 12.9: Writing Documentation is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Allen B. Downey (Green Tea Press) .

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