Misc. Tips - Eastside-Catholic/Tutorial GitHub Wiki

• If two people edit the same file, it creates a conflict when the branches are merged. This is difficult to resolve.

  • Code should be split into separate files as much as reasonable.
  • The main class should contain as little as possible.

• Utility functions should be made static and placed into classes according to function.

  • Java does this well:
    • The Math class contains all math functions
    • System contains methods for dealing with the system
  • Example: In a gradebook program, all functions for displaying data should be in Display.java

• Using inheritance can save a lot of work.

  • If there are several classes that do similar things, they should extend a parent class that contains the shared code.
    • For example, the following code saves us from having to add double pacmanDistance() to every type of ghost.
    • This also means if we decide to change double pacmanDistance(), we only need to change it in one place.

    class Ghost:
        double pacmanDistance():
            return 5
    class RedGhost extends Ghost:
        void beARedGhost():
            print "I am red and "+pacmanDistance()+" away from pacman"
    class RedGhost extends Ghost:
        void beAGreenGhost():
            print "I am green and "+pacmanDistance()+" away from pacman"
    class RedGhost extends Ghost:
        void beABlueGhost():
            print "I am blue and "+pacmanDistance()+" away from pacman"