Code Style and Guidelines

Please observe the following rules when working on MapTool. Failure to do so will typically result in your pull request being rejected.

1. The Google Java Style Guide is incorporated by reference. Submitted code shall follow those guidelines unless modified by one or more of the following rules.
2. Use parameter names different from member field names so that disambiguation using this is not necessary. This rule is relaxed for simple short methods (e.g. setters).
3. Avoid hard-coded strings in code when a property from an external file can be used. In MapTool's case, this means calling I18N.getText(propertyKey) and adding a definition for the propertyKey to i18n.properties. Also, all of the show*() methods in MapTool, such as showError() and showWarning(), take propertyKeys as well as strings -- only use propertyKeys!)
4. Use static final String when hard-coded strings are appropriate. Examples include resources that are embedded inside the MapTool JAR, such as unknown.png -- the question mark image.
5. Report to the user all exceptions that are true errors. InterruptedException while waiting for a timer can be ignored, for example. But all other errors should be handled by calling MapTool.showError(propertyKey) or similar and passing both a propertyKey and the Throwable object representing the exception. Note that the various "show" methods already provide logging to the .maptool/log.txt file.
6. Use the language-defined static variables instead of hard-coded strings when possible. Examples include File.separator instead of "/" and AppActions.menuShortcut instead of "ctrl".

Formatting Source Files

Formatting with Spotless

The gradle build file for MapTool includes the Spotless targets: spotlessCheck and spotlessApply. Make use of them by doing a gradlew spotlessCheck and/or gradlew spotlessApply prior to committing or pushing your changes. Spotless will enforce the majority of the rules but not all.